Theodore of Mopsuestia, on Song 1:5

“Do not consider me that I am brown, because the sun hath altered my colour: the sons of my mother have fought against me, they have made me the keeper in the vineyards: my vineyard I have not kept.”

“[Solomon] took Pharaoh's daughter as his wife. But … she was dark, as all the Egyptian and Ethiopian women are.… The Hebrews and their beautiful wives, and the other princesses as well, ridiculed her on account of her unseemliness, her small height and her dark complexion. To avoid any irritation on her part and so that no hostility would result between him and the Pharaoh, Solomon exclusively built for her a house of valuable stones [and decorated it] with gold and silver. During the meals he chanted [the Song of Songs] in her presence in order to honor her, and he made known with it that she was dark yet beautiful and loved by him.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.