7. What advances does Solomon make, but with what result?

⁷ Solomon comes forward. He is unwilling to let her go. He praises her beauty and promises to adorn her with “circlets of gold” and “studs of silver.” The Shulammite resists his advances and lets him know that the only love she can feel is for her beloved.​—1:11.

14. Despite all his arts, how does Solomon lose out in his quest?

¹⁴ Solomon’s final advances (6:4–8:4). King Solomon approaches the Shulammite. Again he tells her how beautiful she is, more lovely than “sixty queens and eighty concubines,” but she rejects him. (6:8) She is here only because an errand of service had brought her near his camp. ‘What do you see in me?’ she asks. Solomon takes advantage of her innocent question to tell her of her beauty, from the soles of her feet to the crown of her head, but the maiden resists all his arts. Courageously she declares her devotion to her shepherd, crying out for him. For the third time, she reminds the daughters of Jerusalem that they are under oath not to awaken love in her against her will. Solomon lets her go home. He has lost out in his quest for the Shulammite’s love.