Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee.
Commentary for this Verse
The Bridegroom has just looked over His bride feature by feature. Now He sums it all up in one sentence. But elsewhere in this book she calls herself dark. So how can He say this of her, and where does beauty like that come from?
A verdict after close inspection
This is not a glance but a summary. One writer lists the features the Bridegroom has just named.
Andrew MillerAfter assuring her heart, in general terms, that she is "fair" in His sight, He lists seven separate features. He has looked at each one on its own, in detail, with great delight. The eyes, the hair, the teeth, the lips, the temples, the neck, and the breasts. Each feature is perfect in itself. In her He sees perfection and beauty gathered together. "You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." How closely He looks shows His endless interest and delight in her.
Beauty given first, then praised
Human admiration usually follows something attractive. The same writer says the order here runs the other way.
Andrew MillerHow often the human mind dresses up the person it admires with qualities they do not have, and then loves and worships its own picture of them. Not so the divine mind: there, all is real. The Lord invests the bride of His heart with His own attractions, and then admires her. He loved her — blessed be His name — before there was anything about her to admire. This is divine. "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." He has dressed her in His own excellence. Now there is nothing to offend His eye or grieve His heart.
What she says of herself, and what He says of her
The bride's own words about herself sound nothing like this. That gap is the point, and it is not unique to this book.
C. H. MackintoshWhen we turn to the Song of Solomon we see the same thing. There the Bridegroom looks at the bride and says to her, "You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." She, speaking of herself, can only say "I am very dark." So also in John 13 the Lord Jesus looks at His disciples and calls them "completely clean," although within a few hours one of them would curse and swear that he did not know Him. The difference is vast between what we are in ourselves and what we are in Christ — between the place He has given us and the condition we may actually be in.
The ground of the "no flaw"
If the words are true, something must make them true. One writer says what makes them true.
F. W. GrantSin, and what sin has produced, redemption has dealt with; and in God's sight His people have no spot or wrinkle. "You are altogether beautiful, my love," says the Bridegroom of the Song; "there is no flaw in you." And so it must be if Christ is the righteousness of His people — if we are perfect in the beauty He has put on us.
Who the bride is
One writer says the picture reaches beyond Israel.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHe tells her, "Behold, you are beautiful, my love, behold, you are beautiful." He has brought her out of the wilderness and out of the lions' den. After describing the beauty He sees in her, He says, "You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you." He assures her of His delight in her. It is all His own workmanship; she has not made herself beautiful and without spot. His grace and power have accomplished it for her. And what is true of the bride-remnant of Israel is also true of the Church.
Waiting is not rejection
The bride is not always kept at His side. One writer says what that does not mean.
Hamilton SmithIf, for a time, the bride is left behind, it is not because of any lack in herself. In the eyes of the King she is completely beautiful, without a spot. And in the same way the Lord's people, viewed in the light of the Lord's purpose, are "holy and blameless before Him in love."
The word we need as we grow
Self-knowledge deepens over the years. One writer warns where that can lead.
W. T. P. WolstonThe more we know of Christ, the more we know of ourselves; and as we walk with God, as the years roll by, we take lower and lower estimates of ourselves. Each year we think less of ourselves than we did the year before. This can go so far that the heart slips into rule-keeping, measuring itself by what it does. How blessed then, despite all we see in ourselves, that Christ says of us, "There is no flaw in you; you are altogether beautiful, my love!"
Summary
- Love first. He loved her before there was anything to admire, and gave her His own beauty — it is His gift, not her achievement.
- Then beauty. The seven features He names are His own workmanship; she did not make herself without spot.
- Then the verdict. He looks at every detail and finds nothing lacking. The verdict rests on Christ being the righteousness of His people.
- Then the gap. She still says "I am very dark." Both are true at once: what we are in ourselves is not what we are in Christ.
- Then the rest. Delay is not displeasure, and honest self-knowledge should not harden into rule-keeping — because He is still saying this over you.