What other Scriptures emphasize the importance of appreciating physical beauty in marriage? Setting the scene: Songs 1:10 “Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.” The bridegroom openly celebrates his bride’s visible beauty. Scripture here is plain and literal—God designed husband and wife to delight in each other’s physical appearance. A consistent biblical thread From Eden forward, Scripture repeatedly encourages spouses to notice, praise, and enjoy one another’s attractiveness. • Genesis 29:17 – “Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel was shapely and beautiful.” Jacob’s attraction to Rachel is recorded without apology. • Psalm 45:11 – “Then the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.” A royal wedding psalm that highlights the bride’s physical loveliness. • Songs 4:1 – “How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil...” (and vv. 2-7 continue the detailed admiration). • Songs 6:4 – “You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem...” • Songs 7:1-9 – another vivid, head-to-toe praise of the bride’s form. • Proverbs 5:18-19 – “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth... may her breasts satisfy you always; may you be captivated by her love forever.” The husband’s ongoing physical delight in his wife is commanded. • Proverbs 31:30 – “Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” Beauty is acknowledged as real, even while character is given greater weight. • 1 Corinthians 7:3-4 – marital duty includes meeting one another’s physical needs, which assumes an affectionate, appreciative attitude. • Ephesians 5:28 – “Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies.” Caring for her physical well-being and honoring her body is a form of love. Healthy boundaries and balance • 1 Peter 3:3-4 reminds wives (and husbands by implication) that inner beauty must govern outward beauty. • Song of Solomon itself pairs physical praise with repeated affirmations of exclusive, covenant love (e.g., 2:16; 6:3). • Together these texts teach: recognizing physical beauty is good; worshiping it is not. Putting it together Scripture’s literal testimony is clear—physical attraction inside marriage is God-given, God-approved, and meant to be voiced. Calling out a spouse’s loveliness is more than romance; it is obedience to the pattern woven through God’s Word. |
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