What Does Song of Solomon 8:10 Mean in the King James?
I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.
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
What the KJV calls “favour” is shalom: she finds wholeness in his eyes while standing as a wall, with her boundary intact.
THE MEANING
You can stand as a wall with towers and still be met in intimacy; the speaker finds wholeness in the beloved’s eyes. What the KJV calls “favour” is shalom, so being seen and keeping your boundary occupy the same image.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the belief that love requires you to lower every boundary: she is a wall with towers, and still finds wholeness in his eyes.
THE ROOT
שָׁלוֹם
shalom
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
To be whole, complete, or sound; also to make good or repay.
The Hebrew word rendered “favour” is shalom, wholeness. She is described as one who finds wholeness in his eyes, not merely someone who receives approval.
ALSO GROWS
shalem: Whole, complete, sound.
שָׁלֵם
This adjective shares the root of shalom and makes the sense of wholeness explicit.
shillem: Repay, make restitution.
שִׁלֵּם
The same root can describe making good what is owed, linking wholeness with a relationship made right.
מִגְדָּלוֹת
migdalot
GROWS FROM
גדל
g-d-l
To grow, become great, or be large.
The word for towers grows from a root of becoming great. The comparison gives her body scale and stature; alongside “I am a wall,” she describes herself in images of strength and height.
ALSO GROWS
gadol: Great, large.
גָּדוֹל
This adjective from the same root echoes the scale of the towers.
migdal: Tower.
מִגְדָּל
The singular form names the structure her breasts are compared to, extending the wall image upward.
THE PATTERN
A boundary can shelter wholeness, while a boundary that separates people must come down.
Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;THE THREAD
Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.The Hebrew word rendered “favour” here is shalom, the same word rendered “peace” in this Psalm. In both verses, shalom and walls meet: the boundary can shelter the wholeness within.
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