Song of Solomonchapter 3
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A.By Night on My Bed I Sought Him Whom My Soul Lovethvv. 1-5
Song of Solomon 3:1-2
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: opens a night search, the clause him whom my soul loveth repeated four times across five verses and driving the passage's urgency. I sought him, but I found him not sends her out of the bed and into the city itself: I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him, an action the ancient world would have read as reckless for a woman alone after dark. Henry reads the search as love unwilling to rest until it finds what it seeks, whether taken as the plain courtship of the poem or, in the church's line of reading, as the soul seeking Christ through a night of his seeming absence.
Song of Solomon 3:1, 3 voicesWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
Song of Solomon 3:1
"In my bed, I sought the one whom my soul loves during the nights." Whoever seeks well, let them seek in their bed, let them seek during the nights, neither on holidays nor on nights of rest. Let no time be vacant from the duty of piety; and if it does not find it at first, let it continue in seeking. ... And since we see heavenly mysteries prefigured in the Gospel on earth, let us come to that Mary, let us come also to Magdalene.
Ambrose of Milan· written before 397· On Isaac and the Soul, 5.38, 42patristic
Song of Solomon 3:1
“By night on my bed I sought him - It appears that the bridegroom only saw the bride by night: that on the night referred to here he did not come as usual. The bride troubled on the account, rose and sought him, inquired of the city guards, and continued to seek till at last she found him, and brought him to her apartment, Son 3:2-4.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:1
“She failed in her endeavour. Sometimes he is found of those that seek him not ( Isa. lxv. 1 ), but here he is not found of one that sought him, either for punishment of her corruptions, her slothfulness and security (we miss of comfort because we do not seek it aright), or for the exercises of grace, her faith and patience, to try whether she will continue seeking.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Song of Solomon 3:2, 1 voice
Song of Solomon 3:2
“We must seek in the city, in Jerusalem, which was a type of the gospel-church. The likeliest place to find Christ is in the temple ( Luke ii. 46 ), in the streets of the gospel-church, in holy ordinances, where the children of Zion pass and repass at all hours.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Song of Solomon 3:3-4
The watchmen that go about the city found me: continues the search into an encounter with the city's night guard, to whom she puts the same question, saw ye him whom my soul loveth. It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth turns the search short and sudden, and I held him, and would not let him go pictures a grip refused to loosen until she had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me, the mother's house named rather than the father's, a detail the bench notes without settling why. Delitzsch reads the mother's house as the customary place a betrothal was concluded in that world.
Song of Solomon 3:3, 2 voices
Song of Solomon 3:3
“The watch-men - The ministers of Christ, and rulers of the church. Go about - To prevent disorders and dangers. Him - She does not name him, because she thought it needless, as supposing a person of such transcendent excellency could not be unknown to men in that capacity.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:3
“Note, We must evince the sincerity of our love to Christ by our solicitous enquiries after him. The children of the bride-chamber will mourn when the bridegroom is taken away ( Matt. ix. 15 ), especially for the sin which provoked him to withdraw; and, if we do so, we shall be in care to recover the sense of his favour and diligent and constant in the use of proper means in order thereunto.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Song of Solomon 3:4, 3 voices
Song of Solomon 3:4
“But otherwise the footstool of the feet of Jesus is the soul of the believer. Happy is he in whose breast the feet of Jesus are daily placed. Would that his feet were placed in my breast too, would that his footprints might ever cling in my heart, would that I too might say with the bride: "I will hold him, and I will not let him go." The bridegroom is quickly offended, he ever loves cleanness: wherever he sees filth, he quickly withdraws.”
Jerome· written before 420· HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 26 (PSALM 98)patristic
Song of Solomon 3:4
“Into my mother’s house - The women in the East have all separate apartments, into which no person ever attempts to enter except the husband. We find Isaac bringing Rebecca into his mother’s tent, when he made her his wife, Gen 24:67. What is here related appears to refer to the third night of the nuptials.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:4
“How desirous she was to make others acquainted with him: " I brought him to my mother's house, that all my relations, all who are dear to me, might have the benefit of communion with him." When Zaccheus found Christ, or rather was found of him, salvation came to his house, Luke xix. Wherever we find Christ we must take him home with us to our houses, especially to our hearts.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Song of Solomon 3:5
that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please: The second of the poem's adjuration refrain falls here, word for word as at 2:7 and again at 5:8 and 8:4: 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. Its return right after the night search closes that scene the way the first closed the banqueting scene, love found and then left to rest in its own time rather than forced toward its next stage. Wesley reads each return of the charge as the poem's own restraint, teaching patience at the very moments desire runs highest.
Song of Solomon 3:5, 2 voices
Song of Solomon 3:5
“So So 2:7; but there it was for the non-interruption of her own fellowship with Jesus Christ that she was anxious; here it is for the not grieving of the Holy Ghost, on the part of the daughters of Jerusalem.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Song of Solomon 3:5
“Some make this to be Christ's charge to the daughters of Jerusalem not to disturb or disquiet his church, nor trouble the minds of the disciples; for Christ is very tender of the peace of his church, and all the members of it, even the little ones; and those that trouble them shall bear their judgment, Gal. v. 10 . The Love of the Church to Christ.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
B.Solomon's Palanquin Comes Up Out of the Wildernessvv. 6-11
Song of Solomon 3:6
out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke: Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant opens the wedding procession as a question from onlookers, smoke rising from incense carried before the party across open country toward the city. The wilderness names the real approach a procession would make from outside Jerusalem, and the perfumes name an actual trade, myrrh and frankincense both carried by merchant caravans out of Arabia. Gill reads the question as spoken by the same daughters of Jerusalem who received the adjuration, now startled by the approaching company.
Song of Solomon 3:6, 4 voicesWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
Song of Solomon 3:6-7
“Seeing therefore the daughters of Jerusalem cleaving to Christ and still ascending with Him (for He deigns frequently to meet with them who seek Him, and to descend to raise them), they say: Who is this that ascendeth from the desert? For this desert place of the earth appears rough and uncultivated, covered with the thistles and thorns of our sins.”
Ambrose of Milan· written before 397· On Isaac and the Soul 5.45patristic
Song of Solomon 3:6
“Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness - Going to Egypt was called descending or going down, coming from it was termed coming up. The bride, having risen, goes after her spouse to the country, and the clouds of incense arising from her palanquin seemed like pillars of smoke; and the appearance was altogether so splendid as to attract the admiration of her own women, who converse about her splendor, excellence, etc., and then take occasion to describe Solomon’s nuptial bed and chariot. Some think that it is the bridegroom who is spoken of here.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:6
“Image from Israel and the tabernacle (answering to "bed," So 3:7) marching through the desert with the pillar of smoke by day and fire by night (Ex 14:20), and the pillars of smoke ascending from the altars of incense and of atonement; so Jesus Christ's righteousness, atonement, and ever-living intercession.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Song of Solomon 3:6
“What a monument of mercy is this! The graces and comforts with which she is perfumed are called the powders of the merchant, for they are far-fetched and dear-bought, by our Lord Jesus, that blessed merchant, who took a long voyage, and was at vast expense, no less than that of his own blood, to purchase them for us.”
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Song of Solomon 3:7-8
threescore valiant men are about it: Behold his bed, which is Solomon's names the ceremonial couch or litter carried in the procession, threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel, sixty picked men rather than an ordinary household guard, a number the bench reads as deliberately public and honorific. They all hold swords, being expert in war, every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night describes real armed escort, since a wedding party moving after dark through open country needed genuine protection, not ceremony alone. Clarke reads the guard as historically plausible for a king's procession rather than poetic ornament only.
Song of Solomon 3:7, 2 voices
Song of Solomon 3:7
“Threescore valiant men - These were the guards about the pavilion of the bridegroom, who were placed there because of fear in the night. The security and state of the prince required such a guard as this, and the passage is to be literally understood.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:7
“In So 3:6 the wilderness character of the Church is portrayed; in So 3:7, 8, its militant aspect. In So 3:9, 10, Jesus Christ is seen dwelling in believers, who are His "chariot" and "body." In So 3:11, the consummation in glory. bed--palanquin.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Song of Solomon 3:8, 2 voices
Song of Solomon 3:8
“Each man has his sword on his thigh, etc. By the thigh, carnal propagation is usually designated; hence it is written: All the souls that came out of the thigh of Jacob were seventy (Exod. I). Soldiers of Christ have a sword over their thigh …”
Bede· written before 735· Commentary on the Song of Songspatristic
Song of Solomon 3:8
“Every man - Is prepared and ready to fight, to prevent those dangers which are frequent in the night season. The night may denote the whole time of this life, which may well be called night in respect of that ignorance and error wherewith it is attended, (as the future life is compared to day) this life being the only time wherein such a guard is necessary.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:9-10
a chariot of the wood of Lebanon: King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon names cedar, the same wood used in the temple and in Solomon's own house, a material chosen for status rather than mere availability. 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 catalogues real royal materials, purple dye among the costliest goods of the ancient world, and ends on the one immaterial item in the list, love, set into the litter alongside silver and gold. Delitzsch reads the description as the poem borrowing the vocabulary of Solomon's actual court to dress a wedding no less rich than a king's own.
Song of Solomon 3:9, 3 voicesWhat preachers and commentators have said about these verses, in their own words.
Song of Solomon 3:9
“King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. The word translated chariot is only used in this place; some render it a bride chamber (u); others a nuptial bed (w), such as is carried from place to place; it is used in the Misnah (x) for the nuptial, bed, or open chariot, in which the bride was carried from her father's house to her husband's.”
Song of Solomon 3:9
“Of the wood of Lebanon - Of the cedar that grew on that mount. It is very likely that a nuptial bed, not a chariot, is intended by the original word אפיון appiryon. Montanus properly translates it sponsarum thalamum, a nuptial bed. It may, however, mean a palanquin.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:9
“By this chariot he seems to understand the word of Christ dispensed by his ministers, whereby Christ rides triumphantly in the world, and believers are carried into heavenly glory. Of Lebanon - Of cedars, which wood being incorruptible, doth fitly signify the word of the gospel, which endureth forever, 1 Pet. i, 25.”
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:10, 3 voices
Song of Solomon 3:10
“The pillars - of silver - The bedposts were made of silver, or cased with wrought silver plates, like the king’s chairs brought from Hanover, now, in one of the staterooms in Windsor Castle. The bottom thereof of gold - This may refer to cords made of gold thread, or to the mattress, which was made of cloth ornamented with gold. The covering - of purple - Most probably the canopy.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:10
“THIS portion of the Song describes the royal bridegroom as traveling up from the wilderness in an eastern palanquin, attended by his bodyguard and by those who bear torches and burn perfumes. We have a description of the sumptuous chariot-bed in which this great monarch traveled, describing it as being made of cedar, with pillars of silver, a bottom of gold, curtains of purple, and within it a patterned floor, with pavement, not of precious stones, but of priceless love. Metaphor is suddenly dropped in this last item and the result is a complicated, but very expressive form of speech.”
Charles Spurgeon· The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1134: “Paved With Love” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1873)Particular (Reformed) Baptist / Five-point Calvinist / 1689 LBCF / 19th-c. evangelical
Song of Solomon 3:10
“Pillars with silver sockets supported the veil that enclosed the holy of holies; emblem of Jesus Christ's strength (1Ki 7:21), Margin, "silver," emblem of His purity (Ps 12:6); so the saints hereafter (Re 3:12). bottom--rather, "the back for resting or reclining on" (Vulgate and Septuagint) [MAURER].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Song of Solomon 3:11
the crown wherewith his mother crowned him: 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 closes the procession by naming Bathsheba's part, a mother crowning her son on his wedding day, a custom the text records without further explanation. The day of his espousals and the day of the gladness of his heart name the wedding day twice over, gladness the note the whole procession has been building toward. Henry reads the mother's crown as the highest honor a king's own family could add to the day, the procession's public splendor closed by one private, family act.
Song of Solomon 3:11, 3 voices
Song of Solomon 3:11
“Therefore, when the bride reaches the rest of the bridegroom, they sing a wedding song, saying to the daughters of Jerusalem: Go forth and see King Solomon, in the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding. They sing the wedding hymn and invite the other powers of heaven, or souls, to see the love that Christ has for the daughters of Jerusalem.”
Ambrose of Milan· written before 397· On Isaac and the Soul, 5.46patristic
Song of Solomon 3:11
“The church forged from the Gentiles says this: "Go forth and see." But what it calls the day of his wedding is the day of his passion, when he married the church by his blood.”
Cyril of Alexandria· written before 444· FRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 3:11patristic
Song of Solomon 3:11
“Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion - This is the exhortation of the companions of the bride to the females of the city to examine the superb appearance of the bridegroom, and especially the nuptial crown, which appears to have been made by Bathsheba, who it is supposed might have lived till the time of Solomon’s marriage with the daughter of Pharaoh. It is conjectured that the prophet refers to a nuptial crown, Isa 61:10. But a crown, both on the bride and bridegroom, was common among most people on such occasions.”
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Where the chapter sits
Song of Solomon 3 falls in Wedding and consummation (chapters 3–5). The wedding procession (3:6–11); the bridegroom's descriptive praise of the bride (4:1–7); the chiastic center at 4:16–5:1; the night-seeking and finding (5:2–8).
Before it: Opening songs: courtship, chapters 1–2. After it: Mature love and the book's close, chapters 6–8.
The whole shape of Song of Solomon→Key words
The Hebrew words this chapter turns on, by how often it uses them. Each one opens its word study.
| Word | What it means | Verses |
|---|---|---|
| בָּקַשׁbâqash4 times, as בִּקַּ֕שְׁתִּי, בִּקַּשְׁתִּ֖יו, אֲבַקְשָׁ֕ה | to seek | 1, 2 |
| אָהַבʼâhab4 times, as שֶׁאָהֲבָ֖ה, שֶׁאָהֲבָ֥ה | whom it loves | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| נֶפֶשׁnephesh4 times, as נַפְשִׁ֑י, נַפְשִׁ֖י | self my | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| מָצָאmâtsâʼ4 times, as מְצָאתִֽיו׃, מְצָא֙וּנִי֙, שֶֽׁמָּצָ֔אתִי | i found him | 1, 2, 3, 4 |
| בַּתbath3 times, as בְּנ֤וֹת, מִבְּנ֖וֹת, בְּנ֥וֹת | daughter | 5, 10, 11 |
| שְׁלֹמֹהShᵉlômôh3 times, as שֶׁלִּשְׁלֹמֹ֔ה, שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה, שְׁלֹמֹ֑ה | Solomon | 7, 9, 11 |
Cross references
The 8 chapters this one speaks with, most first. Open a row for the verses it shares.
Song of Solomon 83 verses
Song of Solomon 3:4
Song of Solomon 8:2I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.Song of Solomon 3:5
Song of Solomon 8:4I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.Song of Solomon 3:6
Song of Solomon 8:5Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.- Read Song of Solomon 8 →
Song of Solomon 52 verses
Song of Solomon 3:1
Song of Solomon 5:6I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.Song of Solomon 3:3
Song of Solomon 5:7The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.- Read Song of Solomon 5 →
Song of Solomon 12 verses
Song of Solomon 3:1
Song of Solomon 1:7Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?Song of Solomon 3:7
Song of Solomon 1:16Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.- Read Song of Solomon 1 →
Proverbs 82 verses
Song of Solomon 3:2
Proverbs 8:2She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.Song of Solomon 3:4
Proverbs 8:17I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.- Read Proverbs 8 →
The rest of the chapters this one speaks with, 4 of them, for a reader following a thread past the four above
- 1 Peter 11 verse
- Romans 131 verse
- Ephesians 51 verse
- John 201 verse
Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.
The world behind itThe place, the time and the people around this chapter, for a reader who wants the setting.
The world behind this chapter
Song of Solomon 3The history
"The watchmen that go about the city found me." Walled towns posted a night watch that patrolled the streets and manned the gate, calling the hours. A woman out alone at night would be stopped and questioned, which is why the detail is here.
"I brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me." Israelite courtship ran through the women's side of the household; the mother's room is where a daughter's marriage was arranged and blessed. Naming it is not incidental, it means this is heading toward a wedding, not an escapade.
The procession is described piece by piece. Solomon's litter, a curtained chair or bed carried on poles, comes up out of the wilderness in a column of smoke from burning myrrh and frankincense. "Threescore valiant men are about it… every man hath his sword upon his thigh, because of fear in the night." Armed escort was standard for a royal party on the roads, where brigandage was a genuine risk after dark.
The materials are royal inventory: cedar wood from Lebanon, pillars of silver, a base of gold, a covering of purple, the murex dye from the Phoenician coast that cost more by weight than most metals.
"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." Bridegrooms in Israel wore a crown or garland on the wedding day, placed by the mother. The custom lasted for centuries; the Mishnah records that it was finally banned during the war with Rome, when celebration was thought inappropriate.
What it meant to them
The chapter puts a woman's anxious night search beside a magnificent public procession, and the two belong together: the wanting and the wedding.
For the guests hearing it, the crown placed by the bridegroom's mother was something they had seen at every wedding in their town. The song takes an ordinary village custom and shows it on a king.
Sources cited
- The Mishnah , Sotah 9:14 (Danby translation)
- Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
Featured studies
Pages of this site that take up something in this chapter. Each one opens on its own.
- The Watchmanv. 3
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Song of Solomon 3. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on 11 works. Open for the list.
This page draws on Adam Clarke; Ambrose of Milan; Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1134: “Paved With Love” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1873); Cyril of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 3:11; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871); Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 26 (PSALM 98); John Gill; John Wesley and Matthew Henry.