Your head crowns you like Carmel, and your flowing locks are like purple; a king is held captive in the tresses.
The description of the bride has moved up from her feet, and it ends here at her head. She wears a crown of fruitfulness, her hair is like royal purple, and a king is held captive. Two questions follow. What do Carmel and purple stand for? And how can a king be captive to the one He praises?
Who is speaking, and why the praise runs upward
The praise here begins at the feet and moves up. One writer asks who is speaking, and what that order shows.
Andrew MillerIt is hard to say who speaks the first five verses of this chapter to the bride — the daughters of Jerusalem, or the Bridegroom... Here it is different: the description begins with the feet and ends with the head. In this passage she seems to be viewed from earth's point of view... Besides, the portrait given here is not so much her own faultless beauty, which the Bridegroom admires and loves to dwell on, as the setting and associations of royalty. Or perhaps it is national glory more than personal beauty. But we must keep in mind as we go along that the bride stands for great glory and blessing for all Israel.
So commentators differ on the speaker.
Carmel: a crown of fruitfulness
Carmel was a byword for abundance. One writer, working from an older translation, takes the phrase as an ornament worn on the head.
Andrew Miller"Carmel," in scripture, is the type of fruitfulness. It was famous for its vineyards, gardens, and rich pasture. The words "your head upon you" seem to point to an ornament on the head, not to the head itself. They may refer to a crown, or a wreath of laurels, showing "the excellency of Carmel" and picturing the land's fruitfulness — national abundance. Israel is crowned with goodness.
The same writer then weighs that earthly blessing against another kind:
Andrew MillerThey are blessed with every earthly blessing in Emmanuel's land. That will be glorious, and glorious it shall be. Yet it is only the contrast, drawn by God Himself, to the church's blessings, even while she travels through this world as a pilgrim.
Knowledge that bears fruit
The head is where we think. So a crown named "fruitful field" raises a question about what we do with what we know.
The Emmaus Correspondence CourseCarmel means "fruitful field." The head is the seat of intelligence and knowledge. A person may hold a great store of knowledge, but what good is it if it bears no fruit in our lives? ... All divine knowledge is meant to reach the heart and conscience, and so bear fruit in the life. Spiritual light that is not put into practice will only harden the heart and deaden the conscience.
Purple hair: royalty worn in submission
Purple is the colour of a throne. Here it belongs to hair, and hair carries its own meaning.
The Emmaus Correspondence CourseHair is the adornment of the head and the symbol of submission, and purple is the royal colour... But what will mark her above all when she uses royal power at the head of the nations? In a word, whole-hearted submission to the will of the Lord. She will not use her royal power to enforce a will of her own, but only to carry out the will of God... This submission to His will delights the heart of Christ. It holds Him captive, so to speak: "The king is fettered by your ringlets."
That closing line comes from an older translation. The ESV reads, "a king is held captive in the tresses."
The King held — by beauty He Himself gave
The last line is the strangest: a king held captive. One writer points to what holds Him.
Andrew Miller"Purple" is the emblem of royalty. The eye rises from the beautiful shoes to the bridal crown and finds everything perfect. The fair spouse of the king is faultless... The king is overcome by her attractions. He is bound, as it were, by her beauty — beauty which He has put on her... He cannot leave His royal bride. Wondrous love! Wondrous grace!
Another writer shows how she came by that beauty, and how it now speaks for her without words:
Hamilton SmithIn the past her words had given bright witness to the King. Now she herself is a witness to all the beauty the King had put on her. It is the witness of life rather than lips, of ways rather than words. She had been with her Beloved in the garden of spices, and she comes out from His presence with the beauty of the King upon her. The stamp of royalty is on her, and the grace and majesty of the King's presence surround her wherever she goes.
Summary
- Given. Every feature praised here is beauty the King first put on her. He is bound by beauty "which He has put on her."
- Fruitful. Carmel crowns the head with abundance. But knowledge that never reaches the life hardens the heart instead of feeding it.
- Submitted. Royal purple worn as hair pictures power held under God's will, not used to press one's own.
- Displayed. Time in His presence shows: "the witness of life rather than lips, of ways rather than words."
- Held. The King will not leave. He is held by the very submission and grace He gave her.