At Night
The Woman
3 All night long on my bed
I sought the one my soul loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 I will get up now and go around the city.
I will go through its markets and squares.
I will seek the one my soul loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The watchmen who patrol the city found me.
“Have you seen the one my soul loves?”
4 I had hardly passed them,
when I found the one my soul loves.
I held him and would not let him go,
until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
to the room of the one who conceived me.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem,
you must swear to me by the gazelles,
and by the does of the field,
that you will not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires.
Who Is This?
The Friends and Other Bystanders
6 Who is this woman coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and with incense,
made from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look! It’s Solomon’s own carriage.[a]
Sixty warriors surround it,
the most heroic of Israel,
8 all of them wearing a sword,
all trained for battle,
each man with his sword at his side,
ready for the terrors of the night.
9 This palanquin[b] King Solomon made for himself
out of wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts he made of silver.
Its base he made of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple.
Its interior was inlaid with love[c]
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Come out, you daughters of Zion,
and look at King Solomon wearing the crown,
the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day his heart rejoiced.
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 3:7 Carriage here does not refer to a wheeled vehicle but to a portable chair or couch carried by porters.
- Song of Songs 3:9 A palanquin is a fancy chair or couch on which a dignitary is carried. The Hebrew word is as exotic as palanquin is.
- Song of Songs 3:10 Or perhaps the term refers to a type of leather.