Is Muhammad Named in Song of Songs 5:16?

No. Song of Solomon 5:16Song of Solomon 5:16 · King James VersionHis mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.Song of Solomon 5:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source does not name Muhammad. The Hebrew word in the line the King James renders “altogether lovely” is a plural noun, מַחְמָד, “desire,” not a man’s name.

Key Points

• Song of Solomon 5:16Song of Solomon 5:16 · King James VersionHis mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.Song of Solomon 5:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source says, “yea, he is altogether lovely.” The Hebrew behind that clause is a plural of מַחְמָד, Strong’s H4261, glossed “desire” on this site.
• Ahmed Deedat says Muhammad “is mentioned by name” there, that the word is “Mahammuddim,” and that the ending “IM” is “a plural of respect.”
• The same noun is plural in Lamentations 1:10Lamentations 1:10 · King James VersionThe adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.Lamentations 1:10 · King James VersionOpen the Source and 2 Chronicles 36:192 Chronicles 36:19 · King James VersionAnd they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.2 Chronicles 36:19 · King James VersionOpen the Source, “pleasant things” and “goodly vessels,” things an enemy can seize or destroy.
• Hosea 9:6Hosea 9:6 · King James VersionFor, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.Hosea 9:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source and Ezekiel 24:16Ezekiel 24:16 · King James VersionSon of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.Ezekiel 24:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source use the singular: “pleasant places” and “the desire of thine eyes.”
• The speaker in the verse is describing a beloved to the daughters of Jerusalem. Who Was the Shulamite Woman? is the woman in the Song. The verse is not a prophecy heading.
• Deuteronomy 18 and Isaiah 42 are the other passages offered for Muhammad’s name in the Bible. Neither prints it.

What the Verse Says

Song of Solomon 5:16Song of Solomon 5:16 · King James VersionHis mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.Song of Solomon 5:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source, King James Version:

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Song of Solomon 5:16 · King James Version

The line sits at the end of a description. Verses 10–15 list the beloved’s head, hair, eyes, cheeks, lips, hands, belly, and legs. Verse 16 closes the portrait and names the audience: the daughters of Jerusalem. “Altogether lovely” is the King James rendering of “all of him is desirable things,” a plural. The study data on this site files the form מַחֲמַדִּים under the lemma מַחְמָד, H4261, a masculine plural noun, gloss “desire.” Brown-Driver-Briggs calls that form a plural intensive, “all of him is delightfulness.”

The root is the one Arabic also uses for praise and for the name Muhammad. That is a real overlap of sounds and of the idea of something delightful or praised. It is not a sentence that says “his name is Muhammad.” The King James, and the Hebrew form, say the man being described is wholly desirable, and then “this is my beloved, and this is my friend.”

The Claim in Deedat’s Words

Ahmed Deedat, in What the Bible Says About Muhummed, footnote 1, as the archive.org text of that booklet prints it:

Muhummed is mentioned by name in the Song of Solomon 5:16. The Hebrew word used there is Mahammuddim. The end letters IM is a plural of respect, majesty and grandeur. Minus “im” the name would be Mahammudd translated as “altogether lovely” in the Authorised Version of the Bible or “The Praised One” — “the one worthy of praise” i.e. MUHUMMED!

The claim has three steps. The word is Muhammad’s name. The plural ending is respect, the way a title is magnified. Drop the ending and the rest is the name, which the Authorised Version hid under “altogether lovely.” The spelling Mahammuddim and Muhummed is Deedat’s. The footnote is the argument in his own words.

The Same Word in Other Verses

Hosea 9:6Hosea 9:6 · King James VersionFor, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns shall be in their tabernacles.Hosea 9:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source says Egypt will gather the people and Memphis will bury them, and “the pleasant places for their silver, nettles shall possess them.” The Hebrew noun there is singular, construct, “the desire of their silver,” things of value that nettles will take over. Lamentations 1:10Lamentations 1:10 · King James VersionThe adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.Lamentations 1:10 · King James VersionOpen the Source: “The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things.” The form is plural with a feminine suffix, her desirable things, and the next clause says the nations entered her sanctuary. 2 Chronicles 36:192 Chronicles 36:19 · King James VersionAnd they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.2 Chronicles 36:19 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the Babylonians burned the house of God and “destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.” The same plural, her desirable things, is the vessels. Ezekiel 24:16Ezekiel 24:16 · King James VersionSon of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.Ezekiel 24:16 · King James VersionOpen the Source tells the prophet, “I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke.” The singular is a person he loves, taken by death, not a future prophet’s name.

In this verse, the lexicon analyzes maḥămaddîm as an intensive plural describing the beloved as wholly desirable. Its other biblical occurrences are ordinary vocabulary for desirable or precious things. Those parallels support the ordinary lexical reading here; they do not establish a rule that the same letters could never function as a name in another context. Neither this verse’s grammar nor its surrounding description identifies the beloved as Muhammad.

Who Was the Shulamite Woman? stays with the woman the Song addresses. The book’s superscription, Song of Solomon 1:1Song of Solomon 1:1 · King James VersionThe song of songs, which is Solomon’s.Song of Solomon 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source, calls it the song of songs which is Solomon’s. Nothing in chapter 5 says the beloved is a prophet not yet born.

What a Name in the Bible Would Be

Qur’an 7:157Qur’an 7:157 · Saheeh InternationalThose who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written [i.e., described] in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and prohibits them from what is wrong and makes lawful for them what is good and forbids them from what is evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful.Qur’an 7:157 · Saheeh InternationalOpen the Source says the unlettered prophet is found written in the Torah and the Gospel. Is Muhammad the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18? is the passage most often named for that claim. Does Isaiah Prophesy Muhammad? is Isaiah 42. Song of Solomon 5:16 is offered as the place the name itself appears. The Hebrew on the line is a plural of “desire,” used elsewhere for loot, vessels, and a beloved person who dies. Christians do not say the root has no kinship with a name that means “praised.” They say this verse does not contain the name. Jesus is the one the New Testament says the Scriptures concern. John 5:39John 5:39 · King James VersionSearch the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.John 5:39 · King James VersionOpen the Source and John 1:45John 1:45 · King James VersionPhilip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.John 1:45 · King James VersionOpen the Source say that about him, and Is Jesus God? is who Christians confess him to be.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does Song of Solomon 5:16 Say?

“His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.”

Is Muhammad Mentioned in the Song of Solomon?

Not by name. The argument is that one Hebrew word is his name with a plural ending. The word is a plural noun for what is desirable, and the verse is the close of a description.

Does the Bible Mention Muslims?

It does not use that name. Genesis 16 and Genesis 17 speak of Ishmael and of a great nation. Isaac and Ishmael: Who Received the Covenant? is that promise beside the covenant with Isaac.

Keep Reading

• What Do Muslims Believe?
• Is Muhammad the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18?
• Does Isaiah Prophesy Muhammad?
• Who Was the Shulamite Woman?
• Is Jesus God?
• The Trinity