The passage may be explained in this way (the justification for the interpretation will be given afterwards): It is the beginning of the “king’s week”; the people are gathered to witness the sword-dance of the bride; as she is the “queen” she is spoken of as the “Shulammite” (= “Shunammite”)[309] because this was the type of a “fair damsel” (see 1 Kings i. 3, 4; cp. Cant. i. 8, v. 9); it is an honorific title conferred on brides during their “queenship.” The people cry out to her: “Turn, turn,” i.e. in her dance; it is a word of encouragement, they wish also to observe all her movements. The bridegroom, who is standing by, is pleased at the favourable reception accorded to his bride, and, in oriental fashion, asks them why they gaze upon this fair damsel who is dancing with a sword in her hand? They reply, as he expects them to, with a song in praise of her beauty: “How beautiful are thy feet in sandals ...” (vii. 1 ff.), i.e. they begin with a reference to the dance she is performing before them, to her step and other movements of her body. The expression “dance of Maḥanaim[310]” is applied to the dance because of the sword that is carried and waved about during its performance; there is a warlike look about it, hence the name war-dance or “dance of hosts”; probably also the name contains a reference to the purpose for which the dance was performed; to this we shall come in a moment.
Now there can be little doubt but that this passage reflects the customs at weddings such as are to be seen at the present day among the Syrian peasants who, like the dwellers in the Arabian Desert, have preserved their customs from time immemorial[311]. A most interesting account of a wedding among the Syrian peasants, which throws a flood of light upon this difficult passage in Canticles, is recorded by Wetzstein[312]; the points which specially concern us may be briefly mentioned here. When, among these peasants, the day of a wedding is fixed the neighbours gather at the village threshing-floor where the marriage takes place. The bridegroom and bride are proclaimed king[313] and queen, and are treated as such during the seven days after the wedding, which are given up to dancing and feasting. The throne of the “royal” pair is the threshing-sledge; here they sit and watch the festivities during the “king’s week,” as these seven days are called. The threshing-floor is the court of the king and queen. It is in the evening of the wedding-day that the sword-dance takes place; this is performed by the bride alone before the “king” and the assembled villagers. The sword which the bride carries and brandishes during her dance is said to symbolize and proclaim the fact that she is prepared to defend herself from all unlawful approach from other suitors. This explanation is probably not the original one; for it is questionable whether among the Syrian peasants this dance was always performed by the bride. Kremer describes a marriage, for example, in the neighbourhood of Beirut, at which during the wedding procession a sword-dance took place; it was performed by two young men, friends of the bridegroom; they were very lightly clad in light-blue kumbâz with white turban. Each held a small round shield made of hide and a sword; they fought in rhythmic time, smiting each other’s shields, and moving forward the whole time with the procession[314]. Among the Bedouin Arabs again, according to Doughty[315], a sword-dance forms one of the ceremonies at weddings; here, too, it is performed by friends of the bridegroom. This is also the case among the Moslems in Palestine[316].
The object and meaning of this sword-dance, by whomsoever performed, is difficult to ascertain. It is held, and at first sight the contention seems partly justified, that we have here a relic of the very ancient custom of marriage by capture; but apart from the fact that the sword in the hand of the bride scarcely bears this out, grave doubts exist as to whether there ever was such a custom[317]. There are reasons for believing that this dance may originally have had a different purpose altogether. The subject is far too large and intricate to go into here, but Crawley has shown by numerous examples that certain evil influences are supposed to be abroad at the time of marriages, and that these have to be warded off by various means[318]. To give but one or two of these examples: “Amongst the Bheels and Bheelalahs the groom touches the ‘marriage shed’ with a sword.” This, like the custom among the Bechuanas of the bridegroom throwing an arrow into the hut before he enters to take his bride, is done in order to scare away evil spirits or other harmful influences; this is also the reason, as Crawley points out, of the old Roman custom of a bridegroom combing the bride’s hair with a spear, the coelibaris hasta. So that it is quite conceivable that the sword-dance is a relic of the custom of warding off what are supposed to be invisible foes who gather around at the time of marriages[319].
A dance of another kind, but which may also be a relic of the same custom, is mentioned by Dalman as existing among the Bedouin Arabs. When the bride comes into the house of the bridegroom she performs a dance in slow movement while holding a lighted candle in each hand with outstretched arms; she turns in all directions so as to appear like a star[320].
A few details may now be given of the dance as a marriage rite among the Jews of post-biblical times who have in innumerable ways kept up customs dating from time immemorial. We are not thinking here, any more than in the preceding examples, of the ordinary dancing at weddings which invariably took place as an expression of festive enjoyment; our concern is with ritual dances which, originally at any rate, had a specific and serious object, justifying the epithet “sacred” being applied to them.
During the wedding procession through the streets it was customary for all who could do so to join in and dance in front of the bride, who is spoken of as the “queen”; this was done in her honour. Rabbi Tarphon (2nd century A.D.), we are told, on one such occasion caused the bride to be brought into his house, where she was bathed, anointed, and adorned by his mother and sister. Then he bade his pupils accompany her with songs and dances to the house of the bridegroom[321]. Rabbis of high repute danced in front of brides with myrtle-boughs in their hands. It was also part of the marriage ceremony for a dance, in which the dancers held myrtle-boughs in their hands, to be performed in front of the bridal pair[322]. The perfume of the myrtle is mystically described as dispelling the odour of hell-fire; though why there should be any danger of that odour during the marriage ceremony is not stated. Doubtless we have here an echo of the old-world conception mentioned above. We are reminded of the same thing when we read that among the Jews of Egypt in the Middle Ages during the wedding procession the bride wore a helmet, and, with a sword in her hand, led the procession with a dance[323]. It is possible that the same conception lies behind a custom noted among the Jews of Persia and elsewhere:
traces of the well-known stepping of the bride into seven circles towards the bridegroom appear in some forms of the Jewish wedding service. The Jewish bridegroom was placed in the centre, and the bride turned round him thrice. Or the bride and bridegroom were seated side by side, and the assembled company danced round them[324].
An encircling dance had the purpose (one among others, according to circumstances) of keeping off evil influences.
A different purpose lies behind the dance performed among the Jews of the Caucasus, though the dancers are probably not conscious of it: some days before the wedding
three or four girls, relatives of the bride, put on her clothes and invite other girls to sleep in a special room with her. Toward evening the groom sends meat and rice-flour to the bride and her friends. The latter go out and sprinkle the flour on the young people who dance while the boys and girls clap their hands[325].