What Does Song of Solomon 7:1 Mean in the King James?
How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word rendered “feet” also means “footfalls,” placing beauty in the beloved’s movement as well as her form.
THE MEANING
Your beauty is named through a moving body: sandals, steps, the curves of the thighs, and the evidence of skilled making. The verse attends closely to physical desire and calls what it sees beautiful. It lets embodied form be spoken of with tenderness and delight.
THE ROOT
פְּעָמַיִךְ
pa'amayikh
GROWS FROM
פעם
The root carries the sense of a beat or striking; the related noun can mean a footfall or step, and also an occurrence or time.
English can make “feet” sound like a static body part, while pa’amayikh also evokes footfalls: the beloved’s beauty is present in her movement. The same word family can mark a beat in time, giving each step the sense of a distinct moment.
ALSO GROWS
pe'amay: My steps or footfalls.
פְּעָמַי
Psalm 119:133 uses the same root for “my steps,” showing that the verse’s “feet” can also be heard as movement.
happa'am: This time; this occasion.
הַפַּעַם
In Genesis 29:34 the same word names an occurrence, a moment in a sequence; here the word family brings footfalls and moments into view together.
THE PATTERN
Embodied life carries beauty and worth in its particular form, including parts and motions that are easily overlooked.
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.THE THREAD
Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.Song names her feet with פְּעָמַיִךְ (pa’amayikh, “your footfalls/steps”), and Psalm 119:133 uses the same root in פְּעָמַי (pe’amay, “my steps”). The shared word lets the praise land in motion: the body’s beauty includes the steps it takes.
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