Note 4 — Chapter IX · The Song of Songs.
Reading edition
1. “Why will ye look upon Shulamith as upon the dance of Mahanaim?” The sense is obscure. Cf. Gen. xxxii. 2, where Jacob names a place Mahanaim, literally two armies or camps; but it was in honor of the angels that met him there, and it is possible that Shulamith is here compared to an angel. If the verse means any blush at the dancer’s display of her person it is the only trace of prudery in the book, and betrays the Alexandrian.