This section is made by the Targumist and other Jewish interpreters to adumbrate the condition of Israel in the wilderness; by some Christian expositors, that of the Gentile Church on her first conversion.

I am black - Dark-hued, as the tents of Kedar with their black goats' hair coverings, rough and weather-stained, "but comely (beautiful) as the rich hangings which adorn the pavilion of Solomon. Kedar was the name of an Arab tribe Genesis 25:13; Psalm 120:5. The word itself signifies "dark" or "black." Possibly "tents of Kedar" stand here poetically for shepherds' tents in general Isaiah 60:7.

I am black, but comely - This is literally true of many of the Asiatic women; though black or brown, they are exquisitely beautiful. Many of the Egyptian women are still fine; but their complexion is much inferior to that of the Palestine females. Though black or swarthy in my complexion, yet am I comely - well proportioned in every part.
As the tents of Kedar - I am tawny, like the tents of the Arabians, and like the pavilions of Solomon, probably covered by a kind of tanned cloth. The daughters of Jerusalem are said to represent the synagogue; the bride, the Church of Christ. It is easy to find spiritual meanings: every creed will furnish them.

I [am] (f) black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of (g) Kedar, as the (h) curtains of Solomon.
(f) The Church confesses her spots and sin, but has confidence in the favour of Christ.
(g) Kedar was Ishmael's son, of whom came the Arabians that dwelt in tents.
(h) Which within were all set with precious stones and jewels.

I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,.... The church having obtained of Christ, what she wanted, turns to the daughters of Jerusalem, the same perhaps with the virgins her companions; they seem to be young converts, it may be not yet members of the visible church, but had a great respect for the church, and she for them; and who, though they had but a small knowledge of Christ her beloved, yet were desirous of knowing more of him, and seeking him with her; see Song 3:9; to these she gives this character of herself, that she was "black" in herself (x), through original sin and actual transgression; in her own eyes, through indwelling sin, and many infirmities, spots, and blemishes in life; and in the eyes of the world, through afflictions, persecutions, and reproaches, she was attended with, and so with them the offscouring of all things: "but comely" in the eyes of Christ, called by him his "fair one", the "fairest among women", and even "all fair", Song 1:8; through his comeliness put upon her, the imputation of his righteousness to her; through the beauties of holiness upon her; through, the sanctifying influences of his Spirit; and, being in a church state, walking in Gospel order, attending to the commands and ordinances of Christ; and so beautiful as Tirzah, and comely as Jerusalem, Song 6:4; and upon all accounts "desirable" (y) to Christ, and to his people, as the word may be rendered;
as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon: each of which are thought by some to refer to both parts of her character; and suppose that the tents of Kedar, though they might look poor on the outside, were full of wealth and riches within; and Solomon's curtains, or hangings, might have an outward covering not so rich and beautiful as they were on the inside; but rather the blackness of the church is designed by the one, and her comeliness by the other. With respect to her blackness, she compares herself to the tents of Kedar, to the inhabitants of those tents, who were of a black or swarthy complexion; Kedar signifies the name of a man whose posterity these were, that dwelt in tents, even of Kedar the second son of Ishmael, and who inhabited some part of Arabia; and, their employment being to feed cattle, moved from place to place for the sake of pasturage, and so dwelt in tents, which they could easily remove, and hence were called Scenites; and the tents they dwelt in being made of hair cloth, and continually exposed to the sun and rain, were very black, and yet a number of them made a fine appearance, as Dr. Shaw relates (z); though black, yet were beautiful to behold; he says,
"the Bedouin Arabs at this day live in tents called "hhymes", from the shelter which they afford the inhabitants; and "beet el shaar", that is, "houses of hair", from the materials or webs of goats' hair whereof they were made; and are such hair cloth as our coal sacks are made of; the colour of them is beautifully alluded to, Song 1:5; for nothing certainly can afford (says he) a more delightful prospect than a large extensive plain, whether in its verdure, or even scorched up by the sunbeams, than, these movable habitations pitched in circles upon them; of which (he says) he has seen from three to three hundred.''
And for her comeliness the church compares herself either to the curtains of Solomon, about his bed, or to the rich hangings of tapestry in the several apartments of his palace, which no doubt were very costly and magnificent.
(x) "Nigra per naturam, formosa per gratiam", Aug. de Tempore, serm. 201. p. 354. tom. 10. "Fusca per culpam, decora per gratiam", Ambros. in Psal. cxviii. octon. 2. col. 881. tom. 2. (y) "optabilis", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Mercerus; so Aben Ezra. (z) Travels, p. 220. edit. 2. See Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. Solin. Polyhist. c. 46.

black--namely, "as the tents of Kedar," equivalent to blackness (Psalm 120:5). She draws the image from the black goatskins with which the Scenite Arabs ("Kedar" was in Arabia-PetrÃ&brvbr;a) cover their tents (contrasted with the splendid state tent in which the King was awaiting His bride according to Eastern custom); typifying the darkness of man's natural state. To feel this, and yet also feel one's self in Jesus Christ "comely as the curtains of Solomon," marks the believer (Romans 7:18, &c.; Romans 8:1); 1-Timothy 1:15, "I am chief"; so she says not merely, "I was," but "I am"; still black in herself, but comely through His comeliness put upon her (Ezekiel 16:14).
curtains--first, the hangings and veil in the temple of Solomon (Ezekiel 16:10); then, also, the "fine linen which is the righteousness of saints" (Revelation 19:8), the white wedding garment provided by Jesus Christ (Isaiah 61:10; Matthew 22:11; 1-Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 1:28; Colossians 2:10; Revelation 7:14). Historically, the dark tents of Kedar represent the Gentile Church (Isaiah 60:3-7, &c.). As the vineyard at the close is transferred from the Jews, who had not kept their own, to the Gentiles, so the Gentiles are introduced at the commencement of the Song; for they were among the earliest enquirers after Jesus Christ (Matthew 2:1-12): the wise men from the East (Arabia, or Kedar).
daughters of Jerusalem--professors, not the bride, or "the virgins," yet not enemies; invited to gospel blessings (Song 3:10-11); so near to Jesus Christ as not to be unlikely to find Him (Song 5:8); desirous to seek Him with her (Song 6:1; compare Song 6:13; Song 7:1, Song 7:5, Song 7:8). In Song 7:8-9, the bride's Beloved becomes their Beloved; not, however, of all of them (Song 8:4; compare Luke 23:27-28).

After this choral song, Shulamith, who has listened to the singers not without being examined by their inquisitive glances as a strange guest not of equal rank with them, now speaks:
5 Black am I, yet comely, ye daughters of Jerusalem,
As the tents of Kedar, as the hangings of Solomon.
From this, that she addresses the ladies of the palace as "daughters of Jerusalem" (Kerı̂ ירושׁלים, a du. fractus; like עפרין for עפרון, 2-Chronicles 13:19), it is to be concluded that she, although now in Jerusalem, came from a different place. She is, as will afterwards appear, from Lower Galilee; - and it may be remarked, in the interest of the mystical interpretation, that the church, and particularly her first congregations, according to the prophecy, was also Galilean, for Nazareth and Capernaum are their original seats; - and if Shulamith is a poetico-mystical Mashal or emblem, then she represents the synagogue one day to enter into the fellowship of Solomon - i.e., of the son of David, and the daughters of Jerusalem, i.e., the congregation already believing on the Messiah. Yet we confine ourselves to the nearest sense, in which Solomon relates a self-experience. Shulamith, the lightly esteemed, cannot boast that she is so ruddy and fair of countenance as they who have just sung how pleasant it is to be beloved by this king; but yet she is not so devoid of beauty as not to venture to love and hope to be loved: "Black am I, yet comely." These words express humility without abjectness. She calls herself "black," although she is not so dark and unchangeably black as an "Ethiopian" (Jeremiah 13:23). The verb שׁחר has the general primary idea of growing dark, and signifies not necessarily soot-blackness (modern Arab. shuhwar, soot), but blackness more or less deep, as שׁחר, the name of the morning twilight, or rather the morning grey, shows; for (Arab.) saḥar
(Note: After an improbable etymology of the Arab., from saḥar, to turn, to depart, "the departure of the night" (Lane). Magic appears also to be called sihar, as nigromantia (Mediaev. from nekromantia), the black art.)
denotes the latter, as distinguished from (Arab.) fajr, the morning twilight (vid., under Isaiah 14:12; Isaiah 47:11). She speaks of herself as a Beduin who appears to herself as (Arab.) sawda, black, and calls
(Note: The houri (damsel of paradise) is thus called ḥawaryyt, adj. relat. from ḥawra, from the black pupil of the eye in the centre of the white eyeball.)
the inhabitants of the town (Arab.) ḥawaryyat (cute candidas). The Vav we have translated "yet" ("yet comely"); it connects the opposite, which exists along with the blackness. נאוה is the fem. of the adj. נאוה = נאוה = נאוי, which is also formed by means of the doubling of the third stem-letter of נאה = נאו, נאי (to bend forward, to aim; to be corresponding to the aim, conformable, becoming, beautiful), e.g., like רענן, to be full of sap, green. Both comparisons run parallel to nigra et bella; she compares on the one hand the tents of Kedar, and on the other the tapestry of Solomon. אהל signifies originally, in general, the dwelling-place, as בּית the place where one spends the night; these two words interchange: ohel is the house of the nomad, and baith is the tent of him who is settled. קדר (with the Tsere, probably from (Arab.) ḳadar, to have ability, be powerful, though of after the Hebrews. manner, as Theodoret explains and Symm. also translates: σκοτασμός, from (Hebrews.) Kadar, atrum esse) is the name of a tribe of North. Arab. Ishmaelites (Genesis 25:13) whom Pliny speaks of (Cedraei in his Hist. Nat. Song 5:11), but which disappeared at the era of the rise of Islam; the Karaite Jefeth uses for it the word (Arab.) Ḳarysh, for he substitutes the powerful Arab tribe from which Muhammed sprung, and rightly remarks: "She compares the colour of her skin to the blackness of the hair tents of the Koreishites," - even to the present day the Beduin calls his tent his "hair-house" (bêt wabar, or, according to a more modern expression, bêt sa'r, שׂער בּית); for the tents are covered with cloth made of the hair of goats, which are there mostly black-coloured or grey. On the one hand, dark-coloured as the tents of the Kedarenes, she may yet, on the other hand, compare herself to the beautiful appearance of the יריעות of Solomon. By this word we will have to think of a pleasure-tent or pavilion for the king; pavillon (softened from Lat. papilio) is a pleasure-tent spread out like the flying butterfly. This Hebrews. word could certainly also mean curtains for separating a chamber; but in the tabernacle and the temple the curtains separating the Most Holy from the Holy Place were not so designated, but are called פּרכת and מסך; and as with the tabernacle, so always elsewhere, יריעות (from ירע, to tremble, to move hither and thither) is the name of the cloths or tapestry which formed the sides of the tent (Isaiah 54:2); of the tent coverings, which were named in parall. with the tents themselves as the clothing of their framework (Habakkuk 3:7; Jeremiah 4:20; Jeremiah 10:20; Jeremiah 49:29). Such tent hangings will thus also be here meant; precious, as those described Ex 26 and 36, and as those which formed the tabernacle on Zion (2 Sam 7; cf. 1-Chronicles 17:1) before the erection of the temple. Those made in Egypt
(Note: Vid., Wetzstein's Isaiah (1869), p. 698.)
were particularly prized in ancient times.

Black - I confess, as to myself, I am contemptible and deformed. She alludes to the complexion of Pharaoh's daughter. Comely - Yet I am glorious within, and comely through the beauty which my husband hath put upon me, by his graces conferred upon me, in justification and sanctification. Daughters - By which she understands particular believers, whose mother, Jerusalem is called, Galatians 4:26. The tents - Of the wild Arabians, the posterity of Kedar, Genesis 25:13, who dwelt in tents, and were black and uncomely. The curtains - As the hangings wherewith Solomon's house was furnished, which none can doubt were most beautiful and glorious. So these two last clauses answer to the two first, and that in the same order in which they lie.