Song of Solomon 5:6
in Song of Solomon 5I opened for my beloved, but he had turned and gone. My heart sank at his departure. I sought him, but did not find him. I called, but he did not answer.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I opened to my beloved; But my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone. My soul had failed me when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
KJV
I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 5
Commentary
13 notes on this verse"I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had gone." What is this going? Simply that he has penetrated into the center of the mind as it was said to Mary, "And his sword will pierce your soul." For the living Word of God, as piercing as a sharp sword, comprehends both the limits of bodily thoughts and the secret places of the heart.
This site's exposition
My beloved put his hand to the latch
on Song of Solomon 5:4-6
"My beloved put his hand to the latch; my heart pounded for him," and she rises with hands dripping myrrh. She opens too late, for "he had turned and gone". The cost follows plainly: "I sought him, but did not find him" and "I called, but he did not answer".
This site's exposition
My heart sank at his departure
The words I sought him, but did not find him repeat the night search of 3:1 and 3:2. The search runs through verse 8 with no meeting. Matthew Henry drew that love delayed can miss its moment, and Ambrose read the departure as the Word passing into the inmost soul.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The bride says, "I sought him, but found him not." How can the bridegroom be found when he does not reveal anything of himself? He has no color, form, quality, quantity, place, appearance, evidence, comparison or resemblance. Rather, everything we can discover always transcends our comprehension and completely escapes our search. Therefore the bride says, "I have sought him by my soul's capacities of reflection and understanding. He completely transcended them, and he escaped my mind when it drew near to him."How can that which is always beyond everything we know be designated by a name? For this reason the bride understands every function of a name as a sign of the ineffable good. The significance of each word falls short and shows something inferior to the truth.… The soul thus calls the Word as best it can. It cannot do so as it wishes, for the soul desires more than it is capable of. The soul does not wish what it is incapable of receiving, such as God himself, but its choice is in accord with its wish. Since the one called is unattainable, the bride says, "I called him, but he did not answer."
The Lord seeks us, when he says: "I sought and there was no one. I called, and there was no one to answer." And he himself is sought by his bride who mourns with tears: "On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loved. I sought him and did not find him. I called him, and he gave me no answer."
The Medieval Church3 voices
But he turned aside, etc. For this is what the Psalmist says: "Man approaches a deep heart, and God will be exalted" (Psalm 63). For the more the human heart, purified by faith and prayer, is lifted up to contemplate the glory of the divine …
My soul melted, etc. The sweeter, he says, that I received the voice and proximity of my beloved through the aperture of secret compunction, the more sublimely whatever coldness was in me heated up; whatever was rigid, melted; so much so that I found nothing …
I sought him, and did not find him, etc. This is the voice of those in the holy Church who are accustomed, having transcended the care of fleeting things, to walk only in the highest goods and to always love the entrance to the heavenly …
5 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
We make a bolt for the door when, through the pleasures of the flesh, we bar the entrance of the heart against the Bridegroom. But we open the bolt when, having removed fleeting pleasures, we soften our heart—which had previously been hard—into the love of …
Hence again she says: "My soul melted when the beloved spoke." For the mind of a person not seeking the form of its Creator is badly hardened, because it remains cold in itself. But if it has now begun to burn with desire to follow him whom it loves, melted by the fire of love it runs. It becomes anxious with desire, all things in the world that pleased grow worthless, there is nothing that delights outside the Creator, and things that formerly delighted the soul afterward become grievously burdensome. Nothing consoles its sadness, as long as he who is desired is not yet seen. The mind grieves, the very light is wearisome; and by such fire the rust of guilt is refined in the mind, and the kindled soul, as if in the manner of gold, because through use it lost its appearance, becomes bright through burning.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
With-drawn - Denied me his comfortable presence, as a just punishment for my former neglect. Faded - Hebrew. went out of me: I fainted and was ready to die away, for those endearing expressions related, ver. 2, which then I did not heed. I sought - By diligent enquiry and importunate prayer.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-2-anchored-6-6
I opened to my beloved,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
"The strong He'll strongly try" (1Co 10:13). when he spake--rather, "because of His speaking"; at the remembrance of His tender words (Job 29:2, 3; 142:7), or till He should speak. no answer-- (Job 23:3-9; Weak faith receives immediate comfort (Lu 8:44, 47, 48); strong faith is tried with delay (Mt 15:22, 23).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פָּתַ֤חְתִּֽי | patachti | I opened | H6605 → | 144 times |
| אֲנִי֙ | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| לְדוֹדִ֔י | ledodi | to lover my | H1730 → | 61 times |
| וְדוֹדִ֖י | vedodi | and lover my | H1730 → | 61 times |
| חָמַ֣ק | chamak | he had turned away | H2559 → | |
| עָבָ֑ר | ʾavar | he had passed away | H5674 → | 556 times |
| נַפְשִׁי֙ | nafshi | being my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| יָֽצְאָ֣ה | yatzeah | it went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| בְדַבְּר֔וֹ | vedabero | when turned aside he | H1696 → | |
| בִּקַּשְׁתִּ֙יהוּ֙ | bikashtihu | I sought him | H1245 → | 225 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מְצָאתִ֔יהוּ | metzatihu | I found him | H4672 → | 455 times |
| קְרָאתִ֖יו | kerativ | I called him | H7121 → | |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָנָֽנִי׃ | ʾanani | he answered me | H6030 → |
פָּתַ֤חְתִּֽיI opened
patachtiH6605 →144 times
אֲנִי֙I
ʾaniH589 →874 times
לְדוֹדִ֔יto lover my
ledodiH1730 →61 times
וְדוֹדִ֖יand lover my
vedodiH1730 →61 times
חָמַ֣קhe had turned away
chamakH2559 →
עָבָ֑רhe had passed away
ʾavarH5674 →556 times
נַפְשִׁי֙being my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
יָֽצְאָ֣הit went out
yatzeahH3318 →1067 times
בְדַבְּר֔וֹwhen turned aside he
vedaberoH1696 →
בִּקַּשְׁתִּ֙יהוּ֙I sought him
bikashtihuH1245 →225 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
מְצָאתִ֔יהוּI found him
metzatihuH4672 →455 times
קְרָאתִ֖יוI called him
kerativH7121 →
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
עָנָֽנִי׃he answered me
ʾananiH6030 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Revelation 3:19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:11–12
My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;
- 1 Corinthians 11:32
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
- Hebrews 12:5–11
And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
- Job 5:17
Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
- Revelation 2:5
Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from…
- Proverbs 3:11–12
Through
Hosea 5:15Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 26:16
O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.
- Jeremiah 29:12–14
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Isaiah 26:16
Through
Song of Solomon 6:1Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 5:9
How is your beloved better than others, O most beautiful among women? How is your beloved better than another, that you charge us so?
- Song of Solomon 5:9
About Song of Solomon
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, Concerning Virginity 11:67; Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Gregory of Nyssa, HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 12; Gregory the Dialogist, Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 25; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Cassian, CONFERENCE 13:12; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5.