About Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon celebrates romantic love and marriage, while also picturing the love between God and His people.

Author: SolomonWritten: c. 965 BCReading time: ~1 minVerses: 11
LoveBeautyDevotionMarriageDesireCovenant

King James Version

Song of Solomon 3

11 verses with commentary

The Bride's Dream

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

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KJV Study Commentary

The bride recounts a night of anxiety: 'By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.' The phrase 'by night on my bed' suggests solitude, darkness, and vulnerability—perhaps physical nighttime or metaphorically a season of spiritual darkness and separation. The threefold use of 'sought' (Hebrew 'biqqashti,' בִּקַּשְׁתִּי) emphasizes earnest, persistent sea...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

**III.** (1) A reminiscence (elaborated in Song of Solomon 5:2 *seq.*) of the intensity of their love before their union, put by the poet into his lady’s mouth. She “arises from dreams” of him, and goes to find him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. So surely are sin and punishment connected (Pr 16:4). wicked, for "wickedness," answers to ignominy, or the state of such; and contempt, the feeling of others to them; and to reproach, a manifestation of contempt.

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.

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KJV Study Commentary

The bride's search intensifies: <strong>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.</strong> The resolve 'I will rise now' (aqumah-na, אָקוּמָה־נָּא) demonstrates determination—she won't remain passively in bed but will actively search. <strong>Go about the city in the streets, and in the broad...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

4. Wise speech is like an exhaustless stream of benefit.

The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

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KJV Study Commentary

The bride's search brings unexpected encounter: <strong>The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?</strong> The 'watchmen that go about the city' (hasshomrim hassobbim ba'ir, הַשֹּׁמְרִים הַסֹּבְבִים בָּעִיר) were night guards patrolling for security. Interestingly, <strong>they found me</strong> (metsa'uni, מְצָאוּנִי)—she didn't find them; they ...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(3) **The watchmen that go about the city**.—“Henceforward until morning the streets are deserted and silent, with only here and there a company returning from a visit, with a servant bearing a lantern before them. The city-guard creeps softly about in utter darkness, and apprehends all found walking in the streets without a light” (Thomson, *Land and Book, *p. 32—in description of Beirût).

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**5. accept the person--**(Compare Psa 82:2). "It is not good" is to be supplied before "to overthrow."

It was but a little that I passed from them, but 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.

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KJV Study Commentary

The bride continues her search narrative: 'It was but a little that I passed from them, but 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.' After seeking unsuccessfully through the city (verse 2-3), the bride finds her beloved 'but a little' distance beyond the watchmen. The disco...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(4) **I held him **. . .—Bossuet, following Bede, regards this as prophetic of Mary Magdalen (type of the Church) on the morning of the Resurrection.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6-7. The quarrelsome bring trouble on themselves. Their rash language ensnares them (Pr 6:2).

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.

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KJV Study Commentary

The bride repeats her adjuration: 'I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.' This refrain (appearing in 2:7; 3:5; 8:4) emphasizes love's proper timing. The context here follows the bride's successful search for her beloved (verses 1-4), celebrating reunion after separation. The warning still appli...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6-7. The quarrelsome bring trouble on themselves. Their rash language ensnares them (Pr 6:2).

Solomon Arrives in His Splendor

Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

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KJV Study Commentary

The scene dramatically shifts: <strong>Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?</strong> The question 'Who is this' (mi-zot, מִי־זֹאת) expresses wonder at a spectacular procession. <strong>Cometh out of the wilderness</strong> (olah min-hamidbar, עֹלָה מִן־הַמִּדְבָּר) pictures ascending from desert...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(6) **Who is this that cometh.**—The dramatic feeling is decidedly shown in the passage introduced by this verse, but we still regard it as a scene passing only in the theatre of the fancy, introduced by the poet in his Epithalamium, partly from his sympathy with all newly-wedded people, partly (as Song of Solomon 8:11) to contrast the simplicity of his own espousals, of which all the joy centred ...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8. (Compare Pr 16:28). **as wounds--**not sustained by the Hebrew; better, as "sweet morsels," which men gladly swallow. **innermost ... belly--**the mind, or heart (compare Pr 20:27-30; Psa 22:14).

Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.</strong> The command 'Behold' (hinneh, הִנֵּה) draws attention to the royal litter/bed. 'His bed, which is Solomon's' (mittato sheli-shlomoh, מִטָּתוֹ שֶׁלִּשְׁלֹמֹה) likely refers to a portable couch or palanquin for traveling. <strong>Threescore valiant men are about it</strong> (shishshim ...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(7) **Bed.**—Heb., *mitta. *Probably, from context, a *litter.*

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. One by failing to get, the other by wasting wealth, grows poor. **waster--**literally, "master of washing," a prodigal.

They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.</strong> These warriors are fully armed—'they all hold swords' (kullam achuzey cherev, כֻּלָּם אֲחֻזֵי חֶרֶב) indicates ready weapons. <strong>Being expert in war</strong> (melummedey milchamah, מְלֻמְּדֵי מִלְחָמָה) means trained, experienced fighters. <strong>Every man hath hi...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(8) **Because of fear**—*i.e., *because of the alarms common at night. For *fear *in the sense of object of fear, comp. Psalm 91:5; Proverbs 3:25.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

**10. name of the Lord--**manifested perfections (Psa 8:1; 20:2), as faithfulness, power, mercy, &amp;c., on which men rely. **is safe--**literally, "set on high, out of danger" (Psa 18:2; 91:4).

King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. a chariot: or, a bed

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.</strong> The Hebrew 'appiryon' (אַפִּרְיוֹן) is a rare word, possibly borrowed from Greek/Persian, describing an ornate portable throne or palanquin. <strong>Made himself</strong> (asah lo, עָשָׂה לוֹ) indicates Solomon personally commissioned this special conveyance. <strong>Of the wood of Lebanon</strong> (me'atsey halevanon, מֵ...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(9) **A chariot.**—Marg., *bed; *Heb., *appiryôn. *A word of very doubtful etymology. Its derivation has been sought in Hebrew, Persian, Greek, and Sanskrit. The LXX. render φορεῖον; Vulg., *ferculum; *and it seems natural, with Gesenius, to trace the three words to the root common in *parah, *φέρω*, *fero, fahren, bear, and possibly the sign of such a common origin in the Sanskrit *pargana = a sa...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

11. contrasts with Pr 18:10 (compare Pr 10:15). Such is a vain trust (compare Psa 73:6).

He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.

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KJV Study Commentary

<strong>He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.</strong> The description details the chariot's opulent construction: <strong>pillars of silver</strong> (amudav asah keseph, עַמֻּדָיו עָשָׂה כֶסֶף), <strong>bottom of gold</strong> (raphidato zahav, רְפִידָתוֹ זָהָב), <st...
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Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers

(10) **Bottom.**—Heb., *rephidah = supports. *Probably the back of the litter on which the occupant leaned. **The midst thereof **. . .—Literally, *its interior paved love from the daughters of Jerusalem. *There are three possible renderings. (1) Its interior made bright by a lovely girl of, and (2) its interior paved in a lovely way by, (3) its interior tesselated as a mark of love by, &c. The la...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. (Compare Pr 15:33; 16:18).

Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.

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KJV Study Commentary

The poet commands: 'Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.' This verse shifts to third-person observation of the bridegroom, identified as 'king Solomon.' The 'daughters of Zion' (Jerusalem's women) are summoned to witness the wedding celebration. The 'crown ...
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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

13. Hasty speech evinces self-conceit, and ensures shame (Pr 26:12).

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