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Song of Solomon 3

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The Bride's Nightly Search 1–5

1
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. ​
2
I said, I will rise now, and go about the city; In the streets and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. ​
3
The watchmen that go about the city found me; To whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? ​
4
It was but a little that I passed from them, When I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, Until I had brought him into my mother’s house, And into the chamber of her that conceived me. ​
5
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That ye stir not up, nor awake my love, Until he please. ​

The Magnificent Arrival of Solomon 6–11

6
Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant? ​
7
Behold, it is the litter of Solomon; Threescore mighty men are about it, Of the mighty men of Israel. ​
8
They all handle the sword, andare expert in war: Every man hath his sword upon his thigh, Because of fear in the night.
9
King Solomon made himself a palanquin Of the wood of Lebanon. ​
10
He made the pillars thereof of silver, The bottom thereof of gold, the seat of it of purple, The midst thereof being paved with love, From the daughters of Jerusalem. ​
11
Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon, With the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him In the day of his espousals, And in the day of the gladness of his heart. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Song of Solomon 3

Verse 1

I sought him — Baqash, to seek, is repeated in vv.1–2, and ‘him whom my soul loveth’ (nephesh, the whole person) comes four times in vv.1–4 (also 1:7). The search by night recalls Isa 26:9, ‘With my soul have I desired thee in the night’, and the promise of Jer 29:13: ‘ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.’

Verse 2

I will rise now — ‘Rise’ (qum) is the verb of his call in 2:10 and 2:13, ‘Rise up’; now she rises to seek him. The ‘streets’ (shuq) and ‘broad ways’ (rechov, the open squares) are the public places of the city. The refrain ‘I sought him, but I found him not’ repeats v.1.

Verse 3

The watchmen that go about the city — Shomerim, from shamar, to keep, the word of Isa 62:6, ‘I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem’. The watchmen ‘found’ her, while she had not found him. The meeting is told again in 5:7, where the watchmen ‘smote’ her.

Verse 4

I held him — Achaz, to take hold, and raphah, ‘let him go’, to loosen the grip. The ‘mother’s house’ returns in 8:2. In Gen 24:28 Rebekah tells of ‘her mother’s house’, and Isaac brought her ‘into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife’ (Gen 24:67).

Verse 5

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem — The charge of 2:7 word for word, and again 8:4. ‘Charge’ is shaba, to put under oath, from the word for seven (sheva). ‘Stir not up, nor awake’ uses one verb, uwr, twice, and the thing not to be woken is ‘love’ itself (ahavah).

Verse 6

Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness — The question is asked again in 8:5. ‘Pillars of smoke’ (timrot ashan) is found only here and in Joel 2:30. ‘Perfumed’ is qatar, to burn incense, the verb of the altar in Ex 30:7, and ‘pure myrrh’ and ‘pure frankincense’ are among the tabernacle spices (Ex 30:23, 34). ‘Powders’ (abaqah) is found only here.

Verse 7

his bed, which is Solomon’s — Mittah is a bed or couch, the word for the ‘bier’ Abner was carried on (2 Sam 3:31). The sixty are ‘valiant’ (gibborim, mighty men), the word for David’s ‘mighty men’ (2 Sam 23:8). ‘Of Israel’ names the whole people as the source of the guard.

Verse 9

a chariot of the wood of Lebanon — Appiryon occurs only here, a carrying-seat or litter, so ‘chariot’ renders a word found nowhere else. Lebanon was where Solomon sourced timber: ‘cedar trees out of Lebanon’ (1 Kgs 5:6), and ‘the house of the forest of Lebanon’ he built (1 Kgs 7:2).

Verse 10

the covering of it of purple — ‘Purple’ (argaman) is the dyed wool of the tabernacle (Ex 25:4) and the dress of the king’s court (Esth 8:15). Silver, gold and purple stand together in the tabernacle’s materials (Ex 25:3–4). The inside is ‘paved’ (ratsaph, inlaid) ‘with love’ (ahavah) for the daughters of Jerusalem.

Verse 11

the day of his espousals — Chathunnah, a wedding, occurs only here. ‘Crown’ (atarah) is the royal crown, like the ‘great crown of gold’ of Esth 8:15. The ‘daughters of Zion’ are called out to see the king. In Zech 9:9 they are told, ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion… behold, thy King cometh unto thee’, quoted of Christ in Matt 21:5.