The young man concludes his poem of praise by asking the question that was asked in Song of Solomon 3:6, Who is this?
As in Song of Solomon 3:6, it is referring to the young woman again. It is the woman who is again awesome as an army with banners
(see also Song of Solomon 6:4). But this time, instead of coming up from the desert (Song of Solomon 3:6), she is in the heavens themselves looking down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun.
She dominates both day and night.1 The phrase awesome as an army with banners
has military overtones, and the allusion is to the heavenly host or army, the sun, moon, and stars, pictured as part of the divine army that fights under the command of the Lord of Hosts who is the living God himself. There is wonderous beauty in all of this, but it is beauty with an edge, an awesome loveliness that induces trembling as well as devotion.2
10 “Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?”