Song of Solomon 4:3 (DBY)

Passage

Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy speech is comely; As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples Behind thy veil.

Nearby Context

Song of Solomon 4:1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are doves behind thy veil; Thy hair is as a flock of goats, On the slopes of mount Gilead.

Song of Solomon 4:2 Thy teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep, Which go up from the washing; Which have all borne twins, And none is barren among them.

Song of Solomon 4:3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy speech is comely; As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples Behind thy veil.

Song of Solomon 4:4 Thy neck is like the tower of David, Built for an armoury: A thousand bucklers hang thereon, All shields of mighty men.

Song of Solomon 4:5 Thy two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, Which feed among the lilies.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "lips", "like", "thread", "scarlet", "speech", "comely", "piece", and "pomegranate". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "lips" and "like", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Thy teeth are like a flock of..." into verse 4's "Thy neck is like the tower of...", so "lips" and "like" belong inside that flow. In Song of Solomon context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "lips" and "like" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.