On my bed by night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not.
2 I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.
I sought him, but found him not.
3 The watchmen found me
as they went about in the city.
“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed them
when I found him whom my soul loves.
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 who conceived me.
5 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles or the does of the field,
that you not stir up or awaken love
until it pleases.
Solomon Arrives for the Wedding
6 What is that coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?
7 Behold, it is the litter of Solomon!
Around it are sixty mighty men,
some of the mighty men of Israel,
8 all of them wearing swords
and expert in war,
each with his sword at his thigh,
against terror by night.
9 King Solomon made himself a carriage
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, O daughters of Zion,
and look upon King Solomon,
with the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the gladness of his heart. Song of Solomon 3 ESV
Behold, you are beautiful, my love,
behold, you are beautiful!
Your eyes are doves
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
leaping down the slopes of Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing,
all of which bear twins,
and not one among them has lost its young.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like halves of a pomegranate
behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David,
built in rows of stone;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
that graze among the lilies.
6 Until the day breathes
and the shadows flee,
I will go away to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7 You are altogether beautiful, my love;
there is no flaw in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride;
come with me from Lebanon.
Depart from the peak of Amana,
from the peak of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9 You have captivated my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have captivated my heart with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your oils than any spice!
11 Your lips drip nectar, my bride;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride,
a spring locked, a fountain sealed.
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates
with all choicest fruits,
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes,
with all choice spices—
15 a garden fountain, a well of living water,
and flowing streams from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind,
and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden,
let its spices flow. Song of Solomon 4 ESV
Song of Solomon 3 & 4
1-5 Another memory of the Shulamite put to song, awakened from dreamy sleep or sleepless longing. On my bed, this is wear one is left without the occupation of the day, business is gone, but the mind may keep us awake. This is wear she dreams of her beloved. The thought alone is not enough, she goes about, whether in her dream or afoot, to look for him in the city. She ask the watchmen if they have seen her beloved. When she finds him she takes him to her mother's house, and this is the consummation of marriage, the bed undefiled, with the blessing of her mother. She desires to be one with Solomon.
“This is very natural and very beautiful. Love creates a perpetual dread lest the loved one should be lost.” (Morgan) “Love not only brings a greater experience of joy, but a deeper capacity for pain as well. So as the joy of the kings’ presence became greater, so the sorrow from his absence became deeper.” (Glickman)
…66 Then the servant told Isaac all that he had done. 67 And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah as his wife. And Isaac loved her and was comforted after his mother’s death. Genesis 24: 66-67
4 Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers. Hebrews 13:4
Do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases - The does and gazelles I would have to reach too far to understand, but I think this second warning or plea, regarding awakening love, is to leave her in this blissful dream.
6-11 The groom approaching the city with his bride. The litter, also called a Palanquin is a box used in the east and middle east, carrying one passenger, held up by poles shouldered by the servants.
Kinlaw explains that the word translated “this” is in the feminine singular, and believes it refers to the maiden herself. “It is obviously a wedding procession… our picture is of the groom and his men bringing his bride from her home to his city for the wedding.” (Kinlaw)
Song of Solomon 4
1-8 Words of affection.
As he spoke, it was evident that the beloved was skilled at showing affection to his maiden. The Apostle Paul would later write, Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her (1 Corinthians 7:3). It is wrong for a husband to withhold affection from his wife; and since Paul meant this to apply to every Christian marriage, it shows that every wife has affection due her. Paul didn’t think only the young or pretty or submissive wives were due affection; every wife is due affection because she is a wife of a Christian man. Jesus is affectionate to His own Bride after the same pattern. D. Guzik
9-16 It is rare in that culture to see men and women who are close friends outside the bonds of family or matrimony. They are now by matrimony family, and this also elevates her above a concubine. She is his confidant.
“As if he could not express his near and dear relationship to her by any one term, he employs the two. ‘My sister’ – that is, one by birth, partaker of the same nature. ‘My spouse’ – that is, one in love, joined by sacred ties of affection that never can be snapped. ‘My sister’ by birth, ‘My spouse’ by choice. ‘My sister’ in communion, ‘My spouse’ in absolute union with myself.” (Spurgeon)
1 Now Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur. While he was staying in Gerar, 2 Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” So Abimelech king of Gerar had Sarah brought to him. 3 One night, however, God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.”… Genesis 20: 1-3
A garden locked - This is a private place, protected, walled around.
A spring shut up, a fountain sealed: The idea is not that this metaphorical spring or fountain is dried up and useless; rather that it is protected so that its water can only go to its rightful owner. “To ‘seal’ a spring was to enclose it and protect the water for its rightful owner; Hezekiah did this when he had the tunnel dug from the Virgin’s Spring at Gihon to the Pool of Siloam to safeguard Jerusalem’s water supply [2 Kings 20:20].” (Carr)
