What Does Song of Solomon 6:9 Mean?
One is she, my dove, my whole one; she is one to her mother, the clear one to the one who bore her. The daughters see her and call her flourishing, and the queens and concubines praise her.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.THE KEY
Her singularity becomes public: the women who see her call her flourishing and join in praising her.
THE MEANING
You meet a beloved whose place is singular: she is called a dove, a complete one, and her mother’s only one. The daughters see her and call her flourishing; the queens and concubines add their praise. Her belovedness is recognized across the whole company.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that one woman’s being uniquely cherished must make other women rivals: here, the daughters, queens, and concubines see her and join her praise.
THE ROOT
וַיְאַשְּׁרוּהָ
va-ye’ashruha
GROWS FROM
אשר
ʾ-sh-r
To call happy or flourishing; to pronounce someone flourishing.
“call her flourishing” in this verse is va-ye’ashruha. The women’s verb names the flourishing they see, turning recognition into public speech. The same root appears in ashrei, the language of flourishing, so their words announce the life they perceive in her.
ALSO GROWS
ashrei: Flourishing; how happy
אַשְׁרֵי
It carries the same language of flourishing that the women speak over the beloved.
osher: Happiness, well-being
אֹשֶׁר
It shows the family of words behind the public declaration that she is flourishing.
תָּמָתִי
tamati
GROWS FROM
תמם
t-m-m
To be complete, sound, or whole.
“my whole one” in this verse is tamati. The beloved is called tamati, “my complete one.” The root holds wholeness and integrity within the word, so her distinction is expressed as a fullness the others can recognize.
ALSO GROWS
tamim: Whole, complete, blameless
תָּמִים
It shows the root’s range from completeness to being without defect.
tom: Integrity, wholeness
תֹּם
It keeps the sense of completeness present in the beloved’s description.
וִיהַלְלוּהָ
viyhaleluha
GROWS FROM
הלל
h-l-l
To praise or celebrate.
The queens and concubines themselves praise her, making the acclaim shared and audible. The root also forms tehillah, praise or a song of praise, giving this recognition the shape of a voiced celebration.
ALSO GROWS
hallel: Praise
הַלֵּל
It is the same root in a direct form: the women’s action is praise.
tehillah: Praise, song of praise
תְּהִלָּה
It shows how praise from this root can become a voiced declaration.
THE PATTERN
When someone’s flourishing is recognized, the recognition can spread into shared praise.
Her children rise and call her flourishing, her husband too, and he praises her.For he has looked upon the low place of his servant. Look, from now on all generations will call me flourishing.If one limb aches, all the limbs ache with it, and if one is clothed in weight, all of them rejoice with it.THE THREAD
Her children rise and call her flourishing, her husband too, and he praises her.Proverbs repeats both key Hebrew roots in Song: “call her blessed” uses אשר (ashar), and “praiseth her” uses הלל (halal). Together, the verses show a woman’s flourishing recognized by those around her and spoken aloud as praise.
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