3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the young women love you!
3 your anointing oils are fragrant; your name is oil poured out; therefore virgins love you.
3 headier than your aromatic oils. The syllables of your name murmur like a meadow brook. No wonder everyone loves to say your name!
3 Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth; Therefore the virgins love you.
3 How fragrant your cologne; your name is like its spreading fragrance. No wonder all the young women love you!
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Song of Solomon 1:3
Commentary on Song of Solomon 1:2-6
(Read Song of Solomon 1:2-6)
The church, or rather the believer, speaks here in the character of the spouse of the King, the Messiah. The kisses of his mouth mean those assurances of pardon with which believers are favoured, filling them with peace and joy in believing, and causing them to abound in hope by the power of the Holy Ghost. Gracious souls take most pleasure in loving Christ, and being loved of him. Christ's love is more valuable and desirable than the best this world can give. The name of Christ is not now like ointment sealed up, but like ointment poured forth; which denotes the freeness and fulness of the setting forth of his grace by the gospel. Those whom he has redeemed and sanctified, are here the virgins that love Jesus Christ, and follow him whithersoever he goes, Ephesians 6:24. The daughters of Jerusalem may mean professors not yet established in the faith. The spouse was black as the tents of the wandering Arabs, but comely as the magnificent curtains in the palaces of Solomon. The believer is black, as being defiled and sinful by nature, but comely, as renewed by Divine grace to the holy image of God. He is still deformed with remains of sin, but comely as accepted in Christ. He is often base and contemptible in the esteem of men, but excellent in the sight of God. The blackness was owing to the hard usage that had been suffered. The children of the church, her mother, but not of God, her Father, were angry with her. They had made her suffer hardships, which caused her to neglect the care of her soul. Thus, under the emblem of a poor female, made the chosen partner of a prince, we are led to consider the circumstances in which the love of Christ is accustomed to find its objects. They were wretched slaves of sin, in toil, or in sorrow, weary and heavy laden, but how great the change when the love of Christ is manifested to their souls!