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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
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 at Baal Hamon. He leased out the vineyard to keepers. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.
- Luke 12:51–53Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.
- Job 30:30My skin grows black and peels from me. My bones are burned with heat.
- Ps 69:8I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children.
- Mark 4:6When the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
- Jer 12:6For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; even they have cried aloud after you! Don’t believe them, though they speak beautiful words to you.
- Matt 10:35–36For I came to set a man at odds against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
- Matt 10:25It is enough for the disciple that he be like his teacher, and the servant like his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household!
- Ruth 1:19–21So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. When they had come to Bethlehem, all the city was excited about them, and they asked, “Is this Naomi?”
- Matt 10:22You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.
- Mic 7:6For the son dishonors the father, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.
- Gal 4:29But as then, he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now.
- Lam 4:8Their appearance is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: Their skin clings to their bones; it is withered, it has become like a stick.
- Acts 14:22confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God’s Kingdom.
- Jer 8:21For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt: I mourn; dismay has taken hold on 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.