Do not stare because I am dark, for the sun has gazed upon me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me a keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have neglected.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother’s sons were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards. I haven’t kept my own vineyard.
- KJV Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.
- NKJV Do not look upon me, because I am dark, Because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; They made me the keeper of the vineyards, But my own vineyard I have not kept. (To Her Beloved)
- NASB “Do not stare at me because I am dark, For the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; They made me caretaker of the vineyards, But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.
- NLT Don’t stare at me because I am dark— the sun has darkened my skin. My brothers were angry with me; they forced me to care for their vineyards, so I couldn’t care for myself—my own vineyard.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
She explains her darkened skin came from forced labor in others' vineyards while neglecting her own. It shows hardship endured and a self that has been overlooked.
Overview
Her angry brothers set her to keep the vineyards, so the sun scorched her and her own vineyard went untended. The detail grounds the poem in real life and hints at burdens borne. Some see a picture of the believer who, amid life's demands, must not neglect the keeping of her own soul before the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Song 8:11–12Solomon had a vineyard in Baal-hamon. He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.
- Luke 12:51–53Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division.
- Job 30:30My skin grows black and peels, and my bones burn with fever.
- Ps 69:8I have become a stranger to my brothers and a foreigner to my mother’s sons,
- Mark 4:6But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
- Jer 12:6Even your brothers—your own father’s household—even they have betrayed you; even they have cried aloud against you. Do not trust them, though they speak well of you.
- Matt 10:35–36For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
- Matt 10:25It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
- Ruth 1:19–21So Naomi and Ruth traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred because of them, and the women of the city exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
- Matt 10:22You will be hated by everyone because of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
- Mic 7:6For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies are the members of his own household.
- Gal 4:29At that time, however, the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit. It is the same now.
- Lam 4:8But now their appearance is blacker than soot; they are not recognized in the streets. Their skin has shriveled on their bones; it has become as dry as a stick.
- Acts 14:22strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.
- Jer 8:21For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am crushed. I mourn; horror has gripped me.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The poetry of covenant love between bride and bridegroom pictures, at its highest, the love of Christ for his church — the Bridegroom who gave himself for his bride.
How Song of Songs 1:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.