1. Song of Solomon 1:5 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why does the young woman describe herself as dark?

Song of Solomon 1:5 (ESV)

5 I am very dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

The young woman speaks for a second time in the Song and she addresses her words to the young women (virgins in Song of Solomon 1:3). They are probably her closest companions. She describes herself as dark, but lovely. The woman is unhappy with the darkness of her skin. This has nothing to do with race, but with being exposed to the sun (Song of Solomon 1:6). The darkness of her skin makes her look like a country bumpkin, a low-class labourer.1

The upper class would have spent their time indoors away from the sun. Their skin would have been fair, and fair skin was seen as a sign of both beauty and refinement. So, the young woman’s self-assessment seems to suggest an element of insecurity. She is self-aware because her dark skin suggests that she is from a lower class, and yet she does describe herself as lovely.