Maiden’s Dream (?): Seeking and Finding
3 On my bed in the night,
I sought[a] him whom my heart[b] loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 Now I will arise, and I will go about in the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my heart[c] loves.
I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The sentinels who go about in the city found me.
“Have you seen the one whom my heart[d] loves?”
4 Scarcely had I passed[e] by them
when I found him whom my heart[f] loves.
I held him and I would not let him go
until I brought him to the house of my mother,
into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.
Adjuration Refrain
5 I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem,[g]
by the gazelles or by the does of the field,
do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases![h]
Royal Wedding Procession
6 What is this coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense
from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?
7 Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch![i]
Sixty mighty men surround it,[j]
the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them wield swords;[k]
they are trained in warfare,[l]
each with his sword at his thigh
to guard against terror[m] in the night.
9 King Solomon[n] made for himself a sedan chair
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its column of silver, its back[o] of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior is inlaid with leather[p] by the maidens of Jerusalem.[q]
11 Come out and look, O maidens of Zion,[r] at King Solomon,[s]
at the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of the joy of his heart!
Footnotes
- Song of Solomon 3:1 Or “I seek”
- Song of Solomon 3:1 Literally “soul”
- Song of Solomon 3:2 Literally “soul”
- Song of Solomon 3:3 Literally “soul”
- Song of Solomon 3:4 Literally “As little that I passed”
- Song of Solomon 3:4 Literally “soul”
- Song of Solomon 3:5 Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
- Song of Solomon 3:5 Or “Do not stir up or awaken the love until it is willing,” or “Do not disturb or interrupt our love-making until it is satisfied”
- Song of Solomon 3:7 Literally “couch” or “portable sedan chair”
- Song of Solomon 3:7 Literally “her”
- Song of Solomon 3:8 Literally “holders of sword”
- Song of Solomon 3:8 Literally “learnt of war”
- Song of Solomon 3:8 Literally “because of the fear”
- Song of Solomon 3:9 Literally “The king, Solomon”
- Song of Solomon 3:10 Or “its support,” “its base,” “its headrest,” “its litter,” “its cover”
- Song of Solomon 3:10 Or “love.” The Hebrew term here translated “leather” is spelled the same as the term for “love.” Most likely this is an example of a word play that puns on the intentional ambiguity: “Its interior was inlaid with leather//love by the maidens of Jerusalem”
- Song of Solomon 3:10 Literally “by the daughters of Jerusalem”
- Song of Solomon 3:11 Literally “O daughters of Zion”
- Song of Solomon 3:11 Literally “the king, Solomon”