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,