CHAPTER 3 SONG OF SOLOMONWritten and edited by Glenn Pease

1 All night long on my bed I looked for the one my

heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.

Message, "Restless in bed and sleepless through the night, I longed for my lover. I

wanted him desperately. His absence was painful."

1. Tyndale Commentary, "Chapter 3, obviously, starts with the girl waking up from

the dream that was described so beautifully in the previous verses. The tone of the

poem is very intense here. The way the NIV translates the first verse, the girl is in

bed alone and wakes up from her dream. Other translations suggest that the boy

had been with her but is no longer there." John Schultz wrote, "‘One night my lover

was missing from my bed. I got up to look for him but couldn’t find him.’“(TLB).

The latter rendering is probably the most compromising because it suggests that the

boy and the girl had been in the habit of sleeping together. It is true that in the

Hebrew “night” is in the plural. But the rendering “All night long,” as given by the

NIV is quite acceptable. If we see the girl’s reaction as a waking up from a sweet

dream into the reality of her loneliness, the text becomes quite

understandable......Separation of lovers is a form of death and death is the ultimate

separation. Love is expressed in intimacy and intimacy is impossible when there is

separation. Shakespeare may say that parting is sweet sorrow, but the French catch

it better in the proverb: “Leaving is like dying a little.”

1B. She pulls an all nighter looking for love, or for her lover. She is in bed longing

for his presence and so we see a sexual dream is unfolding here. It is not just sex,

however, for a woman wants more than sex in bed. She wants intimacy, and this

means talking and hugging too. Here is the torment of absent love. In 1848 that most

famous of poets, anonymous, wrote,

O were I a cross on thy snowy breast,

O were I a gem in thy woven hair;

O were I the soft-blowing wind of the west,

To play around thy bosom with cooling air.

2. Fear of losing something can cause us to dream of that, and this could be what is

going on here. Anxiety about something can produce these fear dreams. I had them

in college and feared to be late for a test, or not doing well etc. New brides have

dreams of the groom not showing up for the wedding.

"On my bed night after night I sought him Whom my soul loves; I sought him but

did not find him: Every night she longed to be with the shepherd. She longed to

search for him, but of course, without getting up and physically looking, she would

not find him. All she has been doing is thinking about him, and perhaps this can

include her dreams. But one night, which can refer either to an evening after dark

or early morning before dawn, she actually did get up and go to find him. It is all a

dream, but very real to her, for she is so lonely being in the city and away from her

country lover. It is like being homesick when you are away from your normal

surroundings and the people you love. You dream of being back home where you

feel comfortable and loved, and so it is with this young beauty. She is in Solomon's

castle and not at home with her shepherd lover where she longs to be.

3. Many great love stories are about the opposition to their love, and all of the

obstacles they have to overcome to be together. That is the essence of this story.

Hudson Taylor, founder of The China Inland Mission fell in love with a girl who

worked in a school for girls in China. He wanted to marry her, but the woman who

ran the school did all she could to keep them apart. Only a great storm that

threatened the safety of the women brought Hudson to the rescue, and he asked her

to marry him in that crisis situation. They had to write to her guardian, who was in

London, asking for permission, and it came back with permission granted, and they

were married. Frustration and obstacles are a part of many love stories, and this

seems to be the case here.

A mighty pain to love it is,

And tis a pain that pain to miss;

But of all pains, the greatest pain

It is to love, but love in vain. Abraham Cowley

4. There is a longing for more than sex here, but that was likely a part of it as she

lay in bed longing for his presence and his touch. The Jews did not look upon sexual

desire as negative at all. The Talmud encouraged the devout to begin the Sabbath by

reading the Song of Songs and engaging in the marital act. This would put them in a

more joyous mood for worship. Sex was not a hindrance to fellowship with God but

an aid. Jacob Emden, an 18th century Jewish scholar contrasted the Gentile view

with the Jewish view. “The wise men of the other nations claim that there is disgrace

in the sense of touch. This is not the view of our Torah and of its sages....to us the

sexual act is worthy, good, and beneficial even to the soul. No other human activity

compares with it; when performed with pure and clean intentions it is certainly

holy. There is nothing impure or defective about it, rather much exaltation.”

5. Margaret Sangster wrote a beautiful poem about how love of a man made her feel

never alone even when he was gone. It is true, but also true that one can miss that

love and feel lonely without it. There are mixed emotions with love that is not

present. She wrote,

There is a sound of laughter,

In places you have blessed

With your brief, vivid presence!

You fingers have caressed

Things into sudden beauty,

Chill things of wood and stone....

Oh, just because I’ve loved you,

I never am alone!

There is a sense of wonder,

In rooms where you have dwelt;

The books you read are hallowed,

The spots in which you knelt

Have taken on a feeling

That is the soul of prayer...

My heart is never empty,

Because you have been there!

What though I may not see you,

What though the heavy mist

of twilight shrouds your presence!

The lips that you have kissed

Will always be more tender,

Because their warmth had known

Your mouth......Because I’ve loved you,

I never am alone.

6. John Karmelich says the hunger to be with the one you love is a key ingredient in

the lives of those considering marriage. He wrote, "This set of verses is a good model

for those of you considering marriage:

Do you desire to be with your partner when he or she is away?

Do you long for that partner after being away for a while?

The same goes for our relationship with God:

Do you feel “empty” when you haven’t prayed or read God’s word for a while?

That is a true tale sign of your love for God and your commitment to Him. God

always desires a stronger relationship with Him as well as with our spouses.

7. Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote a poem about how hard it is to wait for the one you

love.

How can I wait until you come to me?

The once fleet mornings linger by the way,

Their sunny smiles touched with malicious glee

At my unrest; they seem to pause, and play

Like truant children, while I sigh and say,

How can I wait?

How can I wait? Of old, the rapid hours

Refused to pause or loiter with me long;

But now they idly fill their hands with flowers,

And make no haste, but slowly stroll among

The summer blooms, not heeding my one song,

How can I wait?

How can I wait? The nights alone are kind;

They reach forth to a future day, and bring

Sweet dreams of you to people all my mind;

And time speeds by on light and airy wing.

I feast upon your face, I no more sing,

How can I wait?

How can I wait? The morning breaks the spell

A pitying night has flung upon my soul.

You are not near me, and I know full well

My heart has need of patience and control;

Before we meet, hours, days, and weeks must roll.

How can I wait?

How can I wait? Oh, love, how can I wait

Until the sunlight of your eyes shall shine

Upon my world that seems so desolate?

Until your hand-clasp warms my blood like wine;

Until you come again, oh, love of mine,

How can I wait?

8. It is obvious that she is longing for her shepherd lover, for Solomon would not be

out in the city streets at night, and the watchmen not knowing of his whereabouts.

We see Solomon at the end of this chapter in all his glory, and not here as the lost

lover she is dreaming about and searching for.

9. Spurgeon appllies this experience to our losing the presence of Christ. He wrote,

“Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell you the most likely

place to find Him. Have you lost Christ in the closet by restraining prayer? Then it

is there you must seek and find Him. Did you lose Christ by sin? You will find

Christ in no other way but by the giving up of the sin, and seeking by the Holy

Spirit to mortify the member in which the lust doth dwell. Did you lose Christ by

neglecting the Scriptures? You must find Christ in the Scriptures. It is a true

proverb, "Look for a thing where you dropped it, it is there." So look for Christ

where you lost Him, for He has not gone away. But it is hard work to go back for

Christ. Bunyan tells us, the pilgrim found the piece of the road back to the Arbour

of Ease, where he lost his roll, the hardest he had ever travelled. Twenty miles

onward is easier than to go one mile back for the lost evidence.

Take care, then, when you find your Master, to cling close to Him. But how is it you

have lost Him? One would have thought you would never have parted with such a

precious friend, whose presence is so sweet, whose words are so comforting, and

whose company is so dear to you! How is it that you did not watch Him every

moment for fear of losing sight of Him? Yet, since you have let Him go, what a

mercy that you are seeking Him, even though you mournfully groan, "O that I knew

where I might find Him!" Go on seeking, for it is dangerous to be without thy Lord.

Without Christ you are like a sheep without its shepherd; like a tree without water

at its roots; like a sere leaf in the tempest--not bound to the tree of life. With thine

whole heart seek Him, and He will be found of thee: only give thyself thoroughly up

to the search, and verily, thou shalt yet discover Him to thy joy and gladness.

“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for

him with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29, NIV)

10. When Jesus, with his mighty love,

Visits my troubled breast,

My doubts subside, my fears remove,

And I’m completely blest;

I love the Lord with mind and heart,

His people and His ways;

Envy, and pride, and lust depart,

And all his works I praise;

Nothing but Jesus I esteem;

My soul is then sincere;

And everything that’s dear to him,

To me is also dear.

But ah! When those short visits end,

Though not quite left alone,

I miss the presence of my Friend,

Like one whose comfort’s gone.

I to my own return,

My wretched state to feel;

I tire, and faint, and mope, and mourn,

And am but barren still.

More frequent let thy visits be,

Or let them longer last;

I can do nothing without thee;

Make hast, O God, make haste.

- Hart

2 I will get up now and go about the city, through

its streets and squares; I will search for the one

my heart loves. So I looked for him but did not

find him.

Message, "So I got up, went out and roved the city, hunting through streets and

down alleys. I wanted my lover in the worst way! I looked high and low, and didn't

find him.

1. She is desperate to find her lover, but her search is in vain, for he is nowhere to be

found. If you have ever lost a child, or anything of great value to you, you can feel

the frustration of this girl as her search comes up empty time and time again.

Scholors debate wheather this is a literal search, or if it is a nightmare. It seems

more like a nightmare than literal reality.

2. If we think this book is a continuous narrative, we might think we’ve skipped the

love scene and now discover that the Shulamite’s lover has left the bed. She awakes

to find him gone and now pursues him. Or, we might think this yet another poetic

section of the young woman’s yearning for her lover. That “at night” could be

translated “night after night” (Bloch) would suggest the latter interpretation. Either

way, she longs for him on her own bed.

3. The scene is powerful … this young woman, awakened and stirred to love,

discovers her lover gone and longs to find him. Searching for him through the city,

she encounters the sentinels who are protecting the city. “Hey,” she says to them,

“did you happen to see the most beautiful man in the city?” She doesn’t report their

answer — why? Probably because she found him before they had a chance to speak.

Or perhaps because she had no time to pause for an answer. She was determined

and intent on finding her lover and that meant an all-out search.

4. David Walter has a powerful statement on the price of love. Love is not free, but

has a cost involved, and all the way from God's love down to our love for our mates

or friends. He wrote, "Love and Pain was an address about the difficulties and

hardships of caring deeply for someone. We looked at 3:1-5 and 5:2-8, seeing that

love is a two-sided coin, where we experience both the joy of love and the pain of

love, both ecstasy and agony. As a book about real life, Song of Songs speaks about

both. The passages are two dreams about the pain of separation. For this reason,

they group together nicely. In any relationship, there will be hurt, pain and

frustration. Romantic relationships can quickly founder and friendships can

splinter into indifference. The cost of love - loving and being loved - is exposure to

pain and grief, for in an imperfect world with imperfect people, where there's love,

there's pain. We see the incredible pain of God's amazing love in the cross - where

in his death Jesus bears the pain of God's love for sinners. Love is often messy and

relationships are hard. These dreams of love and pain are in Song of Songs to

prepare us for the pain of love, so that we won't be destroyed when love gets rough.

God has made us for relationships and we can enjoy them with our eyes wide open if

we know that where there's love, there's pain."

5. Only a scholar would know it, but here is what one found that most of us never

would. "There is a word-play in 3:2-3 between the verb (“I will go about”) and

(“those who go around”). This word-play draws attention to the ironic similarity

between the woman’s action and the action of the city’s watchmen. Ironically, she

failed to find her beloved as she went around in the city, but the city watchmen

found her. Rather than finding the one she was looking for, she was found."

3 The watchmen found me as they made their

rounds in the city. "Have you seen the one my

heart loves?"

Message, "And then the night watchmen found me as they patrolled the darkened

city."Have you seen my dear lost love?" I asked.

1. She would not be considered a very nice lady out in the streets at night looking for

a lover. Only the prostitutes would be doing this. She was not being very wise, but

often that is what love does. It acts very radical and not with adequate thought. If

you share in a small group what foolish things you have ever done because of love,

you will discover that is quite common to do stupid things in order to be with the

one you love.. I have purchased a car on the spot with no knowledge of its value to

get to see Lavonne, and one such rapidly purchased car only lasted for 20 miles, and

on another occassion I almost died in a storm to get to see her. Love makes us do

stupid things because our focus is so narrow that we do not see all of the

implications of the choices we make in desperation to be with our loved one.

2. John Karmelich, " Verse 3 is another proof-text that this is a dream. Imagine

asking a cop, “Have you seen the one I love?”It doesn’t make much sense from a

cop’s perspective. That is why most people believe this whole sequence is a dream.

The bride, in this dream...... goes out in the city desperately trying to find her man,

just so that she can be near him.

The watchmen of Mahanaim apparently receive her with some surprise. There is a

touch of agitation in her description of their encounter ("The watchmen found me

as they went about the city..."). Her request, "Have you seen him who my soul

loves?" is gentle and plaintive. One can believe Shulamith is someone the watchmen

know, someone they will treat with compassion. She will not be so kindly treated in

Jerusalem, where she is a stranger! Here again, this confirms that the action in the

two so-called "dream sequences" is literal." This is too strong a statement based on

the two dreams being different, for it is not necessary to assume that two similar

dreams must be alike to be valid dreams. It is just as easy to assume that one dream

is just different than the other.

4 Scarcely had I passed them when I found the

one my heart loves. I held him and would not let

him go till I had brought him to my mother's

house, to the room of the one who conceived me.

Message, "No sooner had I left them than I found him, found my dear lost love. I

threw my arms around him and held him tight, wouldn't let him go until I had him

home again, safe at home beside the fire."

1. Her search was not long, for as soon as she asked for help she didn't need it, for

she found him and grabed hold of him in joy, and in order to assure that she would

not lose him again. Her lover did not resist her clinging to him, for he followed her

to her mother's house, and then into the mother's room, and I think it is safe to

assume that mom was not home at the time. Most mother would not appreciate a

daughter bringing a man home, and then going off to her room. Again, it is hard to

escape the sexual implications of this.

2. It is pointed out be one commentator: "In that culture the women had quarters

separate from the men. A man would only be brought into such a place for one

thing. Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah

and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his

mother's death.Genesis 24:67 (NKJV)

3. John Schultz is not so sure about the above picture. He sees just the opposite as he

writes, "The girl brings her lover to her paternal home. “To my mother’s house, to

the room of the one who conceived me.” Had her intent been on sexual intimacy, she

would not have done so. The reference to the place establishes in a poetical way, a

chain of life. The sexual reference is not to her own experience, but to that of her

parents. It is the place where she was created, the place where she came into the

world. The suggestion is that the fruit of the marriage she anticipates will be the

birth of their own children. She sees herself as a link in the miracle chain of life. The

picture she paints is more than one of mere enjoyment of intimacy with her lover; it

is a picture of life. This is not the typical attitude of people in love. Young loverstend

to forget the consequences of their behavior. This girl is level-headed enough to

realize that if she and her lover would have pre-marital sex it would spoil the reality

of their love. This we understand from the following exhortation in vs. 5, “Do not

arouse or awaken love until it so desires.”

4. Net Bible, "There is debate about the reason why the woman brought her beloved

to her mother’s house. Campbell notes that the mother’s house is sometimes

referred to as the place where marital plans were made (Gen 24:28; Ruth 1:8). Some

suggest, then, that the woman here was unusually bold and took the lead in

proposing marriage plans with her beloved. This approach emphasizes that the

marriage plans in 3:4 are followed by the royal wedding procession (3:6-11) and the

wedding night (4:1-5:1). On the other hand, others suggest that the parallelism of

“house of my mother” and “chamber of she who conceived me” focuses on the

bedroom of her mother’s house. Fields suggests that her desire was to make love to

her beloved in the very bedroom chambers where she herself was conceived, to

complete the cycle of life/love. If this is the idea, it would provide a striking parallel

to a similar picture in 8:5 in which the woman exults that they had made love in the

very location where her beloved had been conceived: “Under the apple tree I

aroused you; it was there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you

conceived you.”

5. Here is a very aggressive female in love. She must have known her folks were out

of town and so she drags him to her parents house and into the bedroom. It is all a

part of the fantasy dream of a lovesick woman longing for the presence of her lover.

Dreams do not always make any sense, but what we see here is a happy ending to

her search, and the couple are reunited in their love after a separation. Why she

took him to her mother's house and to her mother's bed where she was conceived is

a mystery. Is she saying I want to conceive a baby right here where I was conceived?

Your guess is as good as mine.

6. It can be a valid and positive use of the imagination to go beyond the real to

experience the ideal. You can by means of the imagination be in a tropical setting on

the beach and have a level of pleasure your present setting does not provide. Day

dreaming can give you some escape from a negative situation. Fantasy is a childlike

ability to enter into a world of make believe. It is a gift that can be abused, but it is a

gift God gave to man, and it can be an escape and emotional outlet.

7. Writers use fantasy to help us see the unseen. It may be in the shapes of clouds

where we see things that are really not there, but give us pleasure. We can see

positive things in nature and in dreams that drive home spiritual truths. Alice in

Wonderland, Winnie-the -Pooh, and Mary Poppins are all full of interesting

surprises that are fun that comes through fantasy. Fantasy can be a good story, and

also have double meanings that convey truth and insight in a clever way that gets

our attention.

8. Einstein said, “When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the

conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for

abstract, positive thinking.” “It is incorrect to think that fantasy is useful only to the

poet. This is an insipid prejudice! It is useful even in mathematics-even differential

and integral calculus could not have been discovered without it. Fantasy is a quality

of the highest importance.”

9. “She sought him; she found him; she held him; and she brought him." She was in

control here, and that is one of the messages of this Song. A woman can be the one in

control. She does not need to be passive waiting for her lover to take control. She

can be the agressive one and go after him. She can iniatiate love making as well as

him. Maybe some men do not like an agressive woman, but masses of men would

love it if their wives were more agressive and dragged them to any room to make

love.

10. Dr. C. Mark Corts wrote, "You don’t have to be ashamed to talk about intimacy

in marriage. God made male and female. Amen? And aren’t you glad He did? What

if this world was just populated with just one or the other? "God made them male

and female." In Genesis chapter 2 God looked and saw that it was not good for man

to be alone. So He created a woman to be with the man. I know that some of you are

called to singleness, and some of you are single because of circumstances, and that’s

fine. God will take care of you. But when a man and a woman are together, God

intends for intimacy. So is it alright to talk about intimacy? Yes. Sex in marriage is

not bad. It was created for the blessing of mankind. We’ll all say an "Amen" to that.

Amen? If it’s in the Bible it’s alright. This book is just as inspired as Romans, did

you know that?

11. Pastor Corts goes on to stress the power of a woman. "You have no idea the

power you have over a man, lady. Take it from me, it’s an enormous power (and all

the men said, "Amen."). The first power is the power that comes from

communicating her passion. "By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought

him, but I did not find him." She was not afraid to speak of that. "I looked for my

lover! Where is he? I want him," she said. "I’m alone." This is the power that a

woman has to communicate her passion and when she does, when she communicates

that to man, an amazing thing happens. It affirms his manhood."

"I want you women to know that God gave you the power to express and

communicate that love you have to a man and many of you are sitting on it. You’ve

been taught that you should never express it. You’ve been taught that you should

never say it. "Wait for him to say it," but you’re married to a man who was raised

in a home where very little affection was shown. His father grew up during the

Depression. He thought you had to fight for everything you have. He thought you

don’t get too touchy-feely or you’ll get too sappy and spoil your children. In that

kind of a marriage, you can turn your husband’s attitude all the way around when

you learn how to communicate passion to him. Sometimes you just need to say to

him, "I really love you and I need you and I want you." When you say that with

passion the bells will go off clear to glory!"

"I like to take my wife in my arms and kiss her. But when my wife initiates that

passion and is unashamed to do that, that does something to me. That lights my

fires. Don’t be afraid to show your passion. Don’t be afraid to show your love. Don’t

be afraid to show who you are. Don’t be afraid to express yourself. Open up that

shell. Come out of the shell and do as God says a woman should do for a man,

expressing her love.It’s getting very silent in here. If I was preaching on hell this

morning, you’d all be shouting and saying "Amen!" But I preach on sex and you sit

there like dummies! The truth is that you think a whole lot more about sex than you

do about hell!"

12. Spurgeon, “Does Christ receive us when we come to Him, notwithstanding all

our past sinfulness? Does He never chide us for having tried all other refuges first?

And is there none on earth like Him? Is He the best of all the good, the fairest of all

the fair? Oh, then let us praise Him! Daughters of Jerusalem, extol Him with

timbrel and harp! Down with your idols, up with the Lord Jesus. Now let the

standards of pomp and pride be trampled under foot, but let the cross of Jesus,

which the world frowns and scoffs at, be lifted on high. O for a throne of ivory for

our King Solomon! let Him be set on high for ever, and let my soul sit at His

footstool, and kiss His feet, and wash them with my tears. Oh, how precious is

Christ! How can it be that I have thought so little of Him? How is it I can go abroad

for joy or comfort when He is so full, so rich, so satisfying. Fellow believer, make a

covenant with thine heart that thou wilt never depart from Him, and ask thy Lord

to ratify it. Bid Him set thee as a signet upon His finger, and as a bracelet upon His

arm. Ask Him to bind thee about Him, as the bride decketh herself with ornaments,

and as the bridegroom putteth on his jewels. I would live in Christ's heart; in the

clefts of that rock my soul would eternally abide. The sparrow hath made a house,

and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O

Lord of hosts, my King and my God; and so too would I make my nest, my home, in

Thee, and never from Thee may the soul of Thy turtle dove go forth again, but may

I nestle close to Thee, O Jesus, my true and only rest.

"When my precious Lord I find,

All my ardent passions glow;

Him with cords of love I bind,

Hold and will not let Him go."

5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the

gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse

or awaken love until it so desires.

Message, "Oh, let me warn you, sisters in Jerusalem, by the gazelles, yes, by all the

wild deer: Don't excite love, don't stir it up, until the time is ripe—and you're

ready."

1. John Karmelich, " A “charge” to the Daughters of Jerusalem is mentioned four

times in Song of Songs, with three of the four being the exact same quote. (Songs:

2:7, 3:5, and 8:4) She is charging the virgin girls of the city to not “go to fast” in

their love relationship. It is a plea to wait until marriage before making physical

love. Here in Chapter 3, she is telling of her longing in absence of her man. The

reunion heated up those sexual passions. I believe she is reminding herself, and

others, that one still needs to wait to the proper time to consummate the marriage,

period."

2. Love takes time to develop, and if people rush into a sexual relationship it can

burn out and the relationship will fail. Love has to be established as the foundation

of the relationship, and then sex will not become dull, for love will always provide

the spark. Many people try to build on sex and passion alone, but they lose the

motivation to stay together because they never developed their love. Sex by itself is

not a stable foundation, and those who build on it without love will regret not taking

their relationship slow so that love could grow first. The key to a lasting relationship

is to go slow, and don't think of sex until you have a strong loving commitment to

each other.

3."She again pleads with the daughters to refrain from pushing her toward someone

for whom she has no desire. The meaning of the language in this plea was explained

at verse 2:7 with the clear message that the Shulamite wants nothing to do with

Solomon's advances."

4. Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote a poem that describes the tug of war between reason

and emotion in the battle of love. This girl in the song has two men seeking her love,

and she is torn at times as she tries to reason out which one is the best choice for her,

but her heart always goes back to her shepherd lover, even though he cannot

provide all that Solomon could. This poem does not parallel her coflict entirely, but

it gives us a picture of the pressure she must have felt at times.

When my blood flows calm as a purling river,

When my heart is asleep and my brain has sway,

It is then that I vow we must part forever,

That I will forget you, and put you away

Out of my life, as a dream is banished

Out of the mind when the dreamer awakes;

That I know it will be, when the spell has vanished,

Better for both of our sakes.

When the court of the mind is ruled by Reason,

I know it is wiser for us to part;

But Love is a spy who is plotting treason,

In league with that warm, red rebel, the Heart.

They whisper to me that the King is cruel,

That his reign is wicked, his law a sin;

And every word they utter is fuel

To the flame that smoulders within.

And on nights like this, when my blood runs riot

With the fever of youth and its mad desires,

When my brain in vain bids my heart be quiet,

When my breast seems the centre of lava-fires,

Oh, then is the time when most I miss you,

And I swear by the stars and my soul and say

That I will have you and hold you and kiss you,

Though the whole world stands in the way.

6 Who is this coming up from the desert like a

column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and

incense made from all the spices of the merchant?

Message, " 6-10 What's this I see, approaching from the desert,

raising clouds of dust,

Filling the air with sweet smells

and pungent aromatics?

Look! It's Solomon's carriage,

carried and guarded by sixty soldiers,

sixty of Israel's finest,

All of them armed to the teeth,

trained for battle,

ready for anything, anytime.

King Solomon once had a carriage built

from fine-grained Lebanon cedar.

He had it framed with silver and roofed with gold.

The cushions were covered with a purple fabric,

the interior lined with tooled leather.

1. We do not know if she is still dreaming and this is all a part of the fantasy, or the

day dreaming she is doing, or a literal experience of seeing Solomon coming in his

carriage with all his warrior guards. If it is fantasy, then she is dreaming of what it

might be like to be a part of a great wedding with him. It would be something

beyond the wildest dreams of anyone in her family or neighborhood. It would be

awesome in its glory.

2. If it was a literal vision, then Solomon is trying to make an impression on her to

woo her in becoming his wife. The show of power and glory would wow most

women, and we know it worked on a good number of women. Someone wrote,

"Solomon is polygamous and seeks to woo as many women as he can. He enters into

marriage relationships as a recreational pursuit of his pleasure lust. Ec. 2:8, "I

provided for myself . . . the pleasures of men -- many concubines. Many of the

marriages were probably for political reasons, but in either case, Solomon was

simply pursuing, as he called it, "testing his heart with pleasure," (Ecc. 2:1). By the

end of his life he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1Kngs 11:1-3). At the time of

our story, he had 60 queens and 80 concubines and a multitude of maidens (ripe for

the picking)." Song of Songs 6:8

3. Another author wrote, "The scene opens with the chorus bringing attention to the

arrival of Solomon into the city in festive formality. He has organized a great feast

in hopes that it will convince the Shulamite to accept his marriage proposal. During

this feast, Solomon will continue to woo her but she will continue to soliloquize

about her shepherd lover and reject Solomon's advances. As he comes into the city,

he is wearing his "wedding" crown which his mother gave to him, apparantly at the

time of his first marriage. Apparantly, he has continued to use the same crown for

the other 59 weddings and intends to turn this feast into wedding celebration

number 61."

4. John Karmelich likens this to the Jewish wedding procession. "I should talk a

little about the ancient Jewish wedding ritual. The ritual required that the bride not

know when the actual wedding is going to take place. She knew she was engaged,

but the actual date and time was not known. I suspect in close-knit communities,

she probably knew when it was soon. Prior to the groom showing up, she would wait

at home for the surprise of the groom and his wedding party coming to get her.

Then, a wedding procession, lead by the groom would come, say, in the middle of

the night to the bride’s home. She would be brisked away to the wedding ceremony.

For those of you who have seen the movie “Fiddler on the Roof”, you get some sort

of idea how the wedding procession would take place.

5. "A royal marriage procession is described (3:6-11). The "what" of 3:6 may also

be translated "who," as in the NIV The same idiom is used in 6:10 and 8:5, where

NASB translates "who." The "this" of 3:6 is a feminine pronoun and likely has

reference to the bride instead of the carriage. If so, we have a scene in which the

groom has sent for his bride, and she comes properly perfumed in a magnificently

appropriate carriage and with an impressive array of protecting attendants

(Kinlaw, Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1227, fn 6).

6. Scot McKnight expresses the frustration at the complexity of the song at this

point, for it leaves so much unsaid that it is hard to be consistent in one's

interpretation. He wrote, "We enter into a difficulty at Song of Solomon 3:6-11: are

there two major characters (Shulamite woman and Solomon, her lover) or three

(Shulamite, her shepherd lover, and Solomon)? I have for a long time fallen prey to

the view that there are three characters and that by the time the Song is over, we see

the woman remaining faithful to her lover when Solomon woos her. This passage

strains that view, as other passages strain the two-character view.

Solomon is arriving — whether in reality or fantasy — in all his glory either to

consummate his marriage with the Shulamite woman or he is drawing near to woo

her or the woman draws attention to the opulence of Solomon’s wedding as a model

celebration for her own delight in her shepherd-lover. Or, does the woman paint her

shepherd-lover as “her own kind of Solomon”? Is the male who speaks at the

beginning of the next section, at 4:1, Solomon or the lover? If the former, we have a

two-character Song? If the latter, which I prefer, we have a three-character Song.

So, I stand here: either Solomon’s wedding is held up as a consummate display of

delight in lover (either in reality or fantasy of her own shepher-lover) or Solomon

comes to woo the woman from her shepherd-husband-lover. If the latter, she he will

say “No!” to Solomon and expose the hideous sinfulness of the Solomonic lifestyle.

But that will come later. Solomon’s wedding or his approach — the approach of the

man who wishes to take captive a woman already married, the approach of power

and of bravado and of sin — is seen in these items:

1. Extravagance and magnificence: his retinue arises like columns of smoke.

2. Might: sixty warriors surround his litter (3:7-8).

3. Opulence and fashion: his bed is made from the wood of Lebanon (3:9) with posts

of silver, upholstery of gold, a seat of purple cloth, its interrior with precious stones

(3:10).

4. Marvelous: she summons the women to gaze upon Solomon’s glory (3:10-11)."

7. Another author expresses the same frustration of questions that the text does not

answer, which forces you to choose one or the other of the one man, or two man

interpretation that changes the whole message of the song. "Virtually every

translator assigns these verses to a narrator. The NIV proposes Shulamith narrates

these verses; a very few commentators think a chorus does. Is this a wedding of

Solomon and a less-than-willing Shulamith (who allegedly dreams of her shepherd

lover in 3:1-4)? Or is this wedding the natural consequence of their mutual love?"

7 Look! It is Solomon's carriage, escorted by sixty

warriors, the noblest of Israel,

1. Net Bible, "A palanquin was a riding vehicle upon which a royal person sat and

which was carried by servants who lifted it up by its staffs. Royalty and members of

the aristocracy only rode in palanquins. The Illustrated Family Encyclopedia of the

Living Bible, 10:55, describes what the typical royal palanquin was made of and

looked like in the ancient world: “Only the aristocracy appear to have made use of

litters in Israel. At a later period, in Greece, and even more so in Rome,

distinguished citizens were carried through the city streets in splendid palanquins.

In Egypt the litter was known as early as the third millennium b.c., as is testified by

the one belonging to Queen Hetepheres, the mother of the Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops),

which was found at Gaza. This litter is made of wood and inlaid in various places

with gold decorations. Its total length is 6 ft. 10 in., and the length of the seat inside

is 3 ft. 3 in. An inscription on the litter, of gold set in ebony, lists the queen’s titles.”

2. Solomon was likely the richest man in the world at this point, and so he would

have nothing but the very best, for cost was no issue with him. It had to be an

awesome sight, and he is doing his best to overwhelm the shulamite girl with a show

of the kind of power and wealth that would be hers if she consented to be his wife.

3. John Schultz, " The Bible doesn’t mention Solomon’s carriage, although he must

have used one. The only mention is found in I King 10:26 where we read: “Solomon

accumulated chariots and horses; he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve

thousand horses, which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in

Jerusalem.” The king must have gone overboard with his vehicles as he did in his

marriage to his one thousand wives. Undoubtedly, the chariots mentioned above

were vehicles of war. The girl does refer to an “armored car” in her description of

her lover’s mode oftransportation, but the carriage she describes is unique. It is not

one of fourteen hundred, but one of a kind."

4. Schultz goes on to write that this is the girls fantasy about her shepherd lover

playing the role of Solomon in her dream. This is really stretching to keep the

shepherd at the forefront. I agree with his view of the shepherd being her one and

only lover, whom she marries in the end, but this does seem as fanciful as those who

allagorize the whole song. He wrote, "She puts her lover in Solomon’s carriage and

surrounds him with a life guard. In modern terms we could say that the girls lets

her fiancee drive up to her house in a Cadillac." "The girl clothes her lover with

glory and makes him ride in Solomon’s carriage, because she sees the beauty and

splendor of his soul. This beauty is exteriorized by love. That is why God sees so

much more in us than we see in ourselves. The theme of protection from danger is

heard in the mentioning of the body guard, the “sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel,

all of them wearing the sword, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at his

side, prepared for the terrors of the night.” What the girl is saying is that she is not

afraid of the dark when the one she loves is with her."

"The girl brings her lover towards her in a carriage of love. The gold, silver and

inlaid motives are not material things but spiritual and emotional experiences of

love. The crowning of the king is not a description of the actual coronation of

Solomon either. It is true that Solomon’s mother interceded with David, which led to

Solomon’s coronation, but he was crowned by the high priest. We read in I Kings

1:39, “Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the sacred tent and anointed

Solomon. Then they sounded the trumpet and all the people shouted, ‘Long live

King Solomon!’“ The Hebrew word for crown here means “diadem” or “wreath”

like the decoration used at the Olympic games. The image probably refers to the

boy’s natural grace and royal bearing. His mother brought him into this world as a

boy who was destined to be the king of the girl’s life. We could compare the scene to

a modern marriage ceremony in which the bridegroom stands at the altar and sees

his bride come into the church on the arm of her father. In Jewish weddings it was

the groom who came to fetch his bride. But the thrill and joyful anticipation are the

same."

8 all of them wearing the sword, all experienced in

battle, each with his sword at his side, prepared

for the terrors of the night.

1. These are real warriors who have been in battle, and they are ready for any

trouble that might arise. If an enemy force tries to attack at night they will not be

sleeping, but fully awake and ready to defend Solomon. What we know about

Solomon's reign is that it was basically peaceful. He married the daughters of just

about every king and national leader, and so there was not much fear of war, for

they would not want to harm their own daughters by attacking Solomon. This

picture seems to be just for show, and to portray Solomon as powerful and in

control of all situations. The girl need not have any fear of being with him.

9 King Solomon made for himself the carriage; he

made it of wood from Lebanon.

1. This whole description of Solomon's carriage at the end of this chapter seems like

mere trivia about his creativity in making a beautiful chariot to ride in. It makes

you wonder, so what? What has this have to do with this wonderful love story? My

own feeling is that this is Solomon's last ditch effort to persuade this lovely girl to

forget her shepherd lover and become his bride. He is showing the glory of his

wealth, and what she could have if she would become his wife. She could become the

first lady of the kingdom and ride around Jerusalem in the most beautiful carriage

to be found anywhere. She could be royalty instead of a vineyard farmer's wife

wasting her life away with caring for sheep and picking grapes.

2. Net Bible, "material out of which their respective parts of the palanquin were

made: the posts, base, and seat. The elaborate and expensive nature of the

procession is emphasized in this description. This litter was constructed with the

finest and most expensive materials. The litter itself was made from the very best

wood: cedar and cypress from Lebanon. These were the same woods which Solomon

used in constructing the temple (1 Kgs 5:13-28). Silver was overlaid over the

“posts,” which were either the legs of the litter or the uprights which supported its

canopy, and the “back” of the litter was overlaid with gold. The seat was made out

of purple material, which was an emblem of royalty and which was used in the

tabernacle (Exod 26:1f; 27:16; 28:5-6) and in the temple (2 Chr 3:14). Thus, the

litter was made of the very best which Solomon could offer. Such extravagance

reflected his love for his Beloved who rode upon it and would be seen upon it by all

the Jerusalemites as she came into the city."

3. An unknown author shows us the debate going on here as the one man and two

man theories fight over the interpretation. He points out what he sees as the

weakness of the two man theory, and then gives his support for the one man theory.

He writes, "Finally, some exegetes (especially some "love-triangle" theorists) accuse

Solomon of betraying gross materialism throughout the Song -- and nowhere more

than at his wedding. This scene, they say, contrasts Solomon's opulence and the

simplicity of the shepherd (which simplicity is nearer to Shulamith's heart). Some

allege the wedding took place rather late in Solomon's life -- when he already had a

sizable harem as well as great wealth -- and some naturally connect it to the Queen

of Sheba's visit.

The music of the Song denies Solomon's materialism throughout -- and nowhere

more emphatically than here. It gives the wedding of the Lovers a highly spiritual

tone. The chant is lyrical, yet noble; the wedding, resplendent with royal pomp --

but also with holy idealism. This wedding must have occurred in Solomon's youth,

while Bathsheba was still alive (verse 11), long before his polygamy and his

materialistic experiments as the Preacher (and long before the Queen of Sheba

visited him as well)."

4. The argument that all of this took place before Solomon was into polygamy is

very weak, for the whole song involves his harem, and even if this girl was his first

wife, he went on to marry hundreds more women, and so how does this become an

ideal love story of the perfect marriage,and faithful to the end love? She was

betrayed hundreds of times over, and did not have a husband that was faithful to

her. And how does this make Solomon a type of Christ who is a faithful bridegroom

who will never be unfaithful to his bride the church. The only interpretation of this

song that makes any sense is the love story of this girl and her shepherd lover who

make it through a lot of obstacles, mainly the ones Solomon puts in their way, and

become the ideal mates who have chosen each other over all other options to be

faithful to each other for life. The one man theory glorifies polygamy, and not ideal

marriage of one man and one women for life.

10 Its posts he made of silver, its base of gold. Its

seat was upholstered with purple, its interior

lovingly inlaid by the daughters of Jerusalem.

1. Okay Solomon, we give you this one. You win when it comes to making a

beautiful chariot to ride in with great comfort. Too bad it did not win over the love

of the shepherd who takes the girl as his bride in the end. If anybody could pull off

enchanting a young girl to leave her country boy lover, it would be you. However,

money and wealth cannot buy love.

2. John Karmelich suggests that even the carvings on this portable bed were

suggestive of sex. Natually, a pleasure hunter like Solomon would have such things

to help him seduce his prey. He doubtless had used it to get other young women into

his harem. He wrote, "The interior had designs by the “daughters of Jerusalem.

Most commentators believe this is a wedding gift from the “daughters”. There was

an ancient custom to decorate or carve images into the wood. Some believe these

images are sexual in nature and are designed to sexually stimulate the bride and

groom."

3. Spurgeon, "Metaphor is suddenly dropped in this last item, and the result is a

complicated, but very expressive form of speech. Some regard the expression as

signifying a pavement of stone, engraved with hieroglyphic emblems of love, which

made up the floor of this travelling chariot; but this would surely be very

uncomfortable and unusual, and therefore others have explained the passage as

referring to choice embroidery, and dainty carpets, woven with cost and care, with

which the interior of the travelling-chair was lined. Into such embroidery, sentences

of love-poetry may have been worked.

Needlework was probably the material of which it was composed; skillful fingers

would therein set forth emblems and symbols of love. As the spouse in the second

chapter sings, "His banner over me was love," probably alluding to some love-word

upon the banner; so, probably, tokens of love were carved or embroidered, as the

case may have been, upon the interior of the chariot, so that "the interior thereof

was paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem." We need not, however, tarry

long over the metaphor, but endeavor to profit by its teaching.

This palanquin or traveling chariot in which the king is carried, represents the

covenant of grace, the plan of salvation, and, in fact, the whole system by which the

Lord Jesus comes down in mercy among men, and by which he bears his people

along with himself through the wilderness of this world, onward to the rest which he

has prepared for them. It is, in a word, the mediatorial work of Jesus.

The 'ark' was carried through the wilderness preceded by the pillar of cloud and

fire, as the symbol of the divine presence in mercy, and here we have a somewhat

similar representation of the great King of grace, borne in regal splendor through

the world, and bearing his elect spouse with him. May it be ours to be made to ride

like Jeshurun, upon the high places of the earth in happy fellowship with him whose

goings forth were of old, even from everlasting."

Charles Wesley

1 COME, let us ascend,

My companion and friend,

To a taste of the banquet above;

If thy heart be as mine,

If for Jesus it pine,

Come up into the chariot of love.

2 Who in Jesus confide,

We are bold to outride

The storms of affliction beneath;

With the prophet we soar

To the heavenly shore,

And outfly all the arrows of death.

3 By faith we are come

To our permanent home:

By hope we the rapture improve:

By love we still rise,

And look down on the skies,

For the heaven of heavens is love.

4 Who on earth can conceive

How happy we live,

In the palace of God, the great King?

What a concert of praise,

When our Jesus's grace

The whole heavenly company sing!

5 What a rapturous song,

When the glorified throng

In the spirit of harmony join:

Join all the glad choirs,

Hearts, voices, and lyres,

And the burden is, "Mercy divine!"

6 Hallelujah, they cry,

To the King of the sky,

To the great everlasting I AM;

To the Lamb that was slain,

And liveth again,

Hallelujah to God and the Lamb!

7 The Lamb on the throne,

Lo! he dwells with his own,

And to rivers of pleasure he leads;

With his mercy's full blaze,

With the sight of his face,

Our beatified spirits he feeds.

8 Our foreheads proclaim

His ineffable name;

Our bodies his glory display;

A day without night

We feast in his sight,

And eternity seems as a day!

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, the day his heart rejoiced.

1. Clarke wrote, "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, Isaiah lxi.

10. But a crown, both on the bride and bridegroom, was common among most

people on such occasions. The nuptial crown among the Greeks and Romans was

only a chaplet or wreath of flowers.

2. If you read 1st Kings Chapter 1, you will note that King Solomon’s mother

arranged for Solomon to be crowned as king after his half-brother Adonijah tried to

seize the throne. The other view is that this refers to a special crown made just for

the wedding. Those who follow the one man theory see this as the crown he received

for his wedding here with the Shulamite girl, but those who follow the two man

theory see this as a crown that Bathsheba made for him for his first wedding, which

would have been 60 weddings back. The implication being that he wore it for all of

his weddings, and was ready to wear it again if he could persude this girl to be his

wife.

3. This chapter ends with Solomon in all his glory, but Jesus said that it did not

match the glory of the lily, and as we read on to the conclusion of the song, we see

that he lost the lily of this beautiful girl to the shepherd lover. All his power and

glory could not win her over, and she stayed faithful to her love, and thereby,

making this truly the song of songs about a pure love that will not let powerful

temptation lead her to forsake her first love. What a powerful example of the love

we are to have for our bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to resist all

temptations to be unfaithful to him, and let none of the world's attractions lead us to

betray or forsake him.

APPENDIX A

JAMES PRATT

Twas night, but e'er I thought of rest,

My own beloved — with heart oppressed —

I sought ; but sought in vain.

Alas ! how could I close these eyes ?

I cried, " Ah, let me now arise.

And look for him again."

I pass'd thro* all the city wards,

I met the night-patrolling guards.

Of them I askM with anguish keen,

" Oh, have, you my beloved one seen ? "

Scarce from the nightly watch I passM

When my beloved I found at last.

Soon on his neck I gladly hung,

Soon to his arm I fondly clung,

And with rapture past all telling,

Brought him- to my parentis ^ dwelling.

Daughters of Zion, by the swift gazelles

And gentle hinds that roam throughout our dells,

I charge you not to tempt my faithful heart

From my beloved one ever to depart.

III.

A Hall in the Kin^s Palace at yemsalein, and

afterwards in the outer Court in front of the

Palace?

The Shulamite, addressing the Daughters of

Jerusalem,

Oh say what is this from the country ascending

In pillars of smoke drawing nigh ?

The breezes sweet odours of incense are blending,

And wafting aloft to the sky.

The Daughters of Jerusalem.

Lo, 'tis the royal palanquin,

Around it three-score men are seen,

From Israel's hosts of might,

All fully arm^d, in war expert,

And with their glittering weapons girt.

Against the foe by night.

The king's rich palanquin behold,

Its wood from far-famed Lebanon brought,

Its silver pillars based in gold,

Its seat in costly purple wrought,

With lovely broidery all inlaid,

The work of many a Jewish maid.

The King's Attendants.

Daughters of Zion — beauteous train —

Come forth, the great King Solomon to see.

He wears upon his head again,

His mother's gift — the crown ' of royalty ;

His joyous marriage-day it graced,

When first upon his head 'twas placed.