Bible Strands
Song of Solomon 5:14
His arms are rods of gold set with beryl. His body is polished ivory bedecked with sapphires.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The lover speaks to his beloved in the center of a continuous anatomical catalog spanning Song of Solomon 5:13–15. He pauses at verse 14 to describe the arms and torso before moving to the legs in verse 15.
The words — The text uses מְמֻלָּאִים (me.mu.la.'Im), meaning "filled," and שֵׁ֔ן (Shen), meaning "ivory," to describe the arms set with chrysolite and the torso as polished ivory.
The thread — The sapphire imagery parallels Exodus 24:10, while the emphasis on majestic limbs recalls the Lord's right hand in Exodus 15:6 and the enduring foundation language of Isaiah 54:11.
Why it lands — The verse states that the beloved's arms and torso are constructed from gold, chrysolite, polished ivory, and sapphires. It requires the reader to track how the text maps precious-metal craftsmanship onto human anatomy without reducing the metaphor to literal biology or abstract piety.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
Cross-references
- Exodus 24:10 and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.
- Isaiah 54:11 “O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
- Exodus 15:6 Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.
- Exodus 28:20 and in the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. Mount these stones in gold filigree settings.
- Exodus 39:13 and the fourth row had a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. These stones were mounted in gold filigree settings.
- Psalms 99:4 The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Song of Solomon 7:2 Your navel is a rounded goblet; it never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by the lilies.
- Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
- Isaiah 52:13 Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
- Ezekiel 1:16 The workmanship of the wheels looked like the gleam of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. Their workmanship looked like a wheel within a wheel.