Song of Solomon 6:1
in Song of Solomon 6Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? Whither hath thy beloved turned him, That we may seek him with thee?
KJV
Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 6
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The question put by the chorus, and the answer it receives from the bride, show that the loss and seeking are not to be taken too seriously.
This site's exposition
Where has your beloved gone
on Song of Solomon 6:1-2
The daughters, moved by her portrait, ask, "Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women?" and offer, "We will seek him with you". She answers from within the bond, "My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices," the garden of 4:12-16 and 5:1.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
For when one neighbor speaks to another about Christ, when one inquires of another how He may be found, what else is being searched out but how He ought to be sought? Although this can also be understood of the Synagogue, so that, once converted, …
Where has your beloved gone, etc.? The beloved is said to depart and turn away, not because the Lord ever abandons those whom He has already acquired and continues to acquire others, but because by the power of His divine nature He can be present …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
They still continue their high thoughts of the church, and call her, as before, the fairest among women; for true sanctity is true beauty. And now they raise their thoughts higher concerning Christ: Whither has thy beloved gone, that we may seek him with thee?
(2.) They offer their service to the spouse to accompany her in quest of him: We will seek him with thee. Those that would find Christ must seek him, seek him early, seek him diligently; and it is best seeking Christ in concert, to join with those that are seeking him. We must seek for communion with Christ in communion with saints.
8 ); the spices and lilies are particular believers, the planting of the Lord, and pleasant in his eyes. When Christ comes down to his church it is, (1.) To feed among the gardens, to feed his flock, which he feeds not, as other shepherds, in the open fields, but in his garden, so well are they provided for, Ps. xxiii.
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3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women?.... The title is the same used by them, and by Christ before them, Son 1:8; and here repeated, to assure her that they were serious in asking this question, and that it was in great respect to her they put it; and which, to the same sense, in other words, is expressed, whither is thy beloved turned aside? which way did he take? on what hand did he turn, to the right or left, when he went from thy door?
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Historically, at Jesus Christ's crucifixion and burial, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, and others, joined with His professed disciples. By speaking of Jesus Christ, the bride does good not only to her own soul, but to others (see on So 1:4;
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Whither is thy beloved gone - These words are supposed to be addressed to the bride by her own companions, and are joined to the preceding chapter by the Hebrew and all the versions.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Where has your beloved gone. The nations taunt and provoke Yisroel, “Where has your Beloved gone?” Why has He left you abandoned like a widow? 1 Alternatively, where has He gone? (Gra)
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
My beloved has gone down to his garden. He commanded us to build His Temple, and He will be there with us. 4 Alternatively, He has gone to the “Garden” of Eden. (Gra)
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָ֚נָה | ʾanah | where? | H575 → | |
| הָלַ֣ךְ | halakh | has he gone | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| דּוֹדֵ֔ךְ | dodekh | lover your | H1730 → | 61 times |
| הַיָּפָ֖ה | haiyafah | O beautiful [one] | H3303 → | 42 times |
| בַּנָּשִׁ֑ים | banashim | among <the> women | H802 → | 781 times |
| אָ֚נָה | ʾanah | where? | H575 → | |
| פָּנָ֣ה | panah | has he turned | H6437 → | |
| דוֹדֵ֔ךְ | dodekh | lover your | H1730 → | 61 times |
| וּנְבַקְשֶׁ֖נּוּ | unevakshenu | so we may seek him | H1245 → | 225 times |
| עִמָּֽךְ׃ | ʾimakh | with you | H5973 → | 1050 times |
אָ֚נָהwhere?
ʾanahH575 →
הָלַ֣ךְhas he gone
halakhH1980 →1546 times
דּוֹדֵ֔ךְlover your
dodekhH1730 →61 times
הַיָּפָ֖הO beautiful [one]
haiyafahH3303 →42 times
בַּנָּשִׁ֑יםamong <the> women
banashimH802 →781 times
אָ֚נָהwhere?
ʾanahH575 →
פָּנָ֣הhas he turned
panahH6437 →
דוֹדֵ֔ךְlover your
dodekhH1730 →61 times
וּנְבַקְשֶׁ֖נּוּso we may seek him
unevakshenuH1245 →225 times
עִמָּֽךְ׃with you
ʾimakhH5973 →1050 times
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
Ruth 2:12May the LORD repay your work, and may you receive a rich reward from the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”
it leads to
- Psalms 36:7
How precious is Your loving devotion, O God, that the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings!
- Psalms 91:4
He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
- Psalms 63:7
For You are my help; I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings.
- Psalms 17:8
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings
- Psalms 61:4
Let me dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
- Psalms 36:7
Through
Isaiah 2:5Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
- Ephesians 5:8
Through
Jeremiah 14:8O Hope of Israel, its Savior in times of distress, why are You like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays but a night?
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:13
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of…
- Jeremiah 50:7
All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’
- Jeremiah 17:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Song of Solomon
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5.