⁵ sn I will be whiter than snow. Whiteness here symbolizes the moral purity resulting from forgiveness (see Isa 1:18).

² tn Some translate these as comparatives, “darker than wine…whiter than milk,” a reference to, presumably, a healthy appearance (so NEB, NIV, NRSV). But understood as a symbol of abundance, the dark or red eyes would be from drinking wine, and the white teeth from drinking milk.