Charles Ellicott Commentary Song Of Solomon 7:5

"Thy head upon thee is like Carmel, And the hair of thy head like purple; The king is held captive in the tresses [thereof]." — Song Of Solomon 7:5 (ASV)

Carmel. The marginal note suggests crimson, from reading charmîl, which preserves the parallelism with the next clause better. However, the whole passage uses the author’s favourite figures from localities; and certainly, the comparison of a finely-set head to a mountain is at least as apt as that in the preceding verse, of the nose to a “tower in Lebanon.”

Besides, there may be a play on words, which in turn may have suggested the allusion to purple in the next clause, or possibly the vicinity of Carmel to Tyre may have suggested its famous dyes.

Hair. The Hebrew word dallath most probably means flowing tresses. For comparison:

“Carmine purpurea est Nisi coma.”
“Et pro purpureo dat pœnas Scylla capillo.”

(Compare πορφύρεος πλόκαμος in Lucian, and πορφυρᾶι χᾶιται in Anacreon.) So Collins:

“The youths whose locks divinely spreading,
Like vernal hyacinths in sullen hue.”

Ode to Liberty.

The king is held (the marginal note says bound) in the galleries. For galleries, see the note on Song of Solomon 1:17. Translate: “A king caught and bound by your tresses,” i.e., they are so beautiful that a monarch would be caught by them.

(Compare:
“When I lie tangled in her hair
And fettered in her eye.”)