Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.
The bride has called herself dark; now the Bridegroom answers, and His first word about her is beauty. Two questions follow: how can a woman who calls herself dark hear twice that she is beautiful, and what does He mean by eyes like doves?
His Answer to Her Confession
The King does not answer her with flattery. He replaces her view of herself with His own. The writers quoted here use an older translation: it says "fair" where the ESV says "beautiful," and "you have doves' eyes" where the ESV says "your eyes are doves."
Hamilton SmithThe bride's perfume has sent out its fragrance, expressing her delight in the Bridegroom; now he expresses his delight in the bride. She had said, "I am black," but the Bridegroom says, "Behold, you are fair." Christ always views His people in the light of His purpose and on the ground of His work. That is why He can say of each one, "You are fair." So the Apostle John can write, "as He is so also are we in this world."
How Anyone Becomes Fair to Him
One writer puts the obvious objection as a question, then answers it.
Andrew MillerWhat is it, some will ask, that can make one defiled and deformed by sin so "fair" to the eye of Jesus? Where, when, how, can it be found? What would all the riches, honours, and glories of this world be, compared with hearing such words from such lips! ... Know then that when a soul is drawn to Jesus, He receives it. He places it in the light of God's presence, in the full value of His finished work, and in the matchless beauty of His adorable Person.
The same writer points to a scene that shows how it happens.
Andrew MillerIn the third chapter of Zechariah we see Joshua standing before the Lord. This chapter is the account, I believe, of how the bride of the King is so "fair" in His sight... Joshua is clothed in filthy garments. Satan is there to resist him. He always seeks to hinder the blessing of souls. But the Lord shelters the defenceless one... The filthy garments are taken away; his sins are all forgiven. There is not a rag left for Satan to lay hold on.
What the Eye of Love Sees
Notice the form of His words.
William KellyNotice now how this expression of love to Him draws out an answer from the Lord!... It is not "I love you," but, "Behold, you are fair, my love." It is what the eye of love sees in her, though perhaps no other eye in the world sees it. ... What a different thing it would be from any other mouth than His!
Doves' Eyes
One writer traces the beauty to its source, then reads the repeated "behold" and the dove.
The Assembly WritersAll this beauty is the fruit of His work of grace in her heart, drawing out her affections to Himself. The repetition shows the ardour of His enraptured heart as He gazes on His bride, now made perfect through His grace. "You have doves' eyes." The dove is the symbol of faithful love, of purity, holiness, and peace. When a dove is separated from her mate, she rests alone and mourns until she sees him again. So she is a fitting emblem of devotion and attachment to Christ. The pigeon and the turtle dove belong to the same family. This was the only bird that could be offered on the altar, as a type of Christ in His love and purity and devotion to God's glory. The Spirit also descended on Christ like a dove (Matt. 3:16).
One writer finds modesty in the picture.
William KellyDoves' eyes are the expression, of course, of the modesty of her who was to be His bride.
A Single Eye
The praise is not general. It describes a way of looking.
Andrew MillerWhen the eye of the Christian is single, chaste, and always fixed on Christ, then these words fit: "You have doves' eyes."
Why He Says It To Her
There is a pattern in the Song: who speaks, and to whom.
William KellyNotice that the bride speaks a great deal about the Beloved to others, while He speaks more about her to herself. This fits her need of reassurance exactly... for He is above all need of the creature, and by His love He creates love. She needs to know that He loves her; and on this He dwells most fully.
Who is the bride? Andrew Miller takes the song as spoken of Israel in prophecy, and says the same great principle holds now, in a deeper sense, for the church.
Summary
- Her word: She called herself dark. He does not argue. He answers, "you are beautiful," and says it twice.
- His ground: He sees His people by His purpose and His finished work, not by what they are in themselves.
- His picture: God takes Joshua's filthy clothes away and forgives his sins, leaving Satan not a rag to grab.
- His words: He does not say "I love you" but "you are beautiful" — what His eye of love sees when no other eye does.
- Her eyes: The dove mourns when its mate is gone. A single, pure eye fixed on Christ is what He praises.