Song of Solomon · chapter 3 of 8
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Song of Solomon 3 has two scenes. In the first, the woman searches at night through the city for the one her soul loves, finds him after passing the watchmen and brings him to her mother's house. In the second, a procession comes up from the wilderness with Solomon's litter, guarded by sixty mighty men, on the day of his wedding, the day of the gladness of his heart.
Song of Solomon 3 continues the poem with two contrasting scenes: one in darkness, intimate and anxious, and another in daylight, solemn and public. Between them the refrain to the daughters of Jerusalem appears again. Readers have seen here a dream or an imagined scene, and the poem does not make clear which it is.
The woman says that on her bed by night she sought the one her soul loves. She sought him but did not find him (v. 1). She rose and went about the city, in the streets and in the squares, seeking the one her soul loves, but did not find him (v. 2). The watchmen found her as they went about the city, and she asked whether they had seen the one her soul loves (v. 3). Scarcely had she passed them when she found him; she held him and would not let him go until she had brought him to her mother's house, to the chamber of her who conceived her (v. 4). She repeats to the daughters of Jerusalem the refrain not to stir up or awaken love until it pleases (v. 5).
The second scene begins with a question: who is this coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of the merchant (v. 6)? It is the litter of Solomon, with sixty mighty men around it, some of the mighty men of Israel, all of them wielding swords and skilled in war, each with his sword at his thigh against terror by night (vv. 7-8). King Solomon made himself a carriage of the wood of Lebanon, with posts of silver, a back of gold and a seat of purple, its interior inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem (vv. 9-10).
The chapter ends with an invitation to the daughters of Zion to go out and look on 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 (v. 11).
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
On her bed by night the woman seeks the one her soul loves, but does not find him. The scene expresses the restlessness of a love that misses the other and will not accept absence, and describes a personal search.
Scarcely had she passed the watchmen when she found the one her soul loves; she held him and would not let him go until she had brought him to her mother's house. After the search comes the joy of reunion, and love is brought to family and a place of belonging.
Again the woman charges the daughters of Jerusalem not to stir up or awaken love until it pleases. The refrain closes the scene and recalls that love needs time, wisdom and respect.
The daughters of Zion go out to look at King Solomon with the crown of his wedding day, the day of the gladness of his heart. The poem joins love with public celebration and presents marriage as a feast shared with the community.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: By night, on her bed and then in the streets and squares of the city. — Song of Solomon 3:1-2
Answer: The watchmen who go about the city. — Song of Solomon 3:3
Answer: To her mother's house, to the chamber of her who conceived her. — Song of Solomon 3:4
Answer: Columns of smoke perfumed with myrrh and frankincense. — Song of Solomon 3:6
Answer: Sixty, of the mighty men of Israel. — Song of Solomon 3:7
Answer: On the day of his wedding, the day of the gladness of his heart. — Song of Solomon 3:11
Song of Solomon 3 speaks of a love that seeks and does not resign itself to distance. In a couple or a family, the question is what we do when we feel distance: the woman gets up and searches. In the same way, those who feel distance from God can seek him with perseverance, and many readers have seen in this passage a picture of that longing.
The second scene reminds us that marriage is a public and festive covenant. It is a good occasion to think about how the church accompanies couples at their wedding and afterward, with prayer, support and friendship.
Song of Solomon 3 shows the woman's search and the feast of Solomon's wedding. Chapter 4 continues with the man's detailed praise of his beloved and the image of the locked garden.
The text does not say clearly. Many scholars think it is a dream or an imagined scene, because of its language and because a woman alone at night in the streets would be in great danger. Others read it as an event. In either case the message is the longing of love and the joy of reunion.
The text describes a procession with Solomon's litter, and many understand that it carries the bridegroom, though some think it is the bride. The image of columns of perfumed smoke recalls temple worship. In the spiritual reading of the tradition, the scene has been seen as a picture of the arrival of the King; that sense is an application, not the direct explanation of the text.