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In the nights on my bed I sought him whom my nefesh loveth; I sought him, but I found him not.

So I will rise then, and go about the city in the streets, and in the rechovot (open squares, places); I will seek him whom my nefesh loveth; I sought him, but found him not.

The shomrim (watchmen) that go about the city found me; to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my nefesh loveth?

Scarcely had I passed from them, when I found him whom my nefesh loveth; I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into the bais immi (the house of my mother), and into the cheder of her that conceived me.

I charge you, O ye banot Yerushalayim, by the gazelles, and by the deer of the sadeh, that ye arouse nor awake HaAhavah till it pleases [i.e., until its own time, see 2:7; 8:4].

Who is this that cometh out of the midbar like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense from all the fragrant powders of the rokhel (merchant)?

Hinei, his conveyance [see palanquin, 3:9], which is Sh’lomo’s; threescore gibborim (valiant men) are around it, of the Gibborei Yisroel.

They all hold swords, being expert in michamah (war); every man hath his cherev (sword) at his side against the pachad (terror, dread) of the nights.

HaMelech Sh’lomo made himself an appiryon (palanquin, mobile throne carried on a litter on the shoulders of men) of the wood of the Levanon.

10 He made the pillars thereof of kesef, the support thereof of zahav, the cushion of it of purple, the interior thereof being inlaid with Ahavah, by the banot Yerushalayim.

11 Come out, O ye banot Tziyon, and behold Sh’lomo HaMelech with the atarah (crown) wherewith his em crowned him in the Yom Chasunoh (day of his wedding), and in the Yom Simchat Libo (day of the gladness of his heart [see Rv 19:6-10; Ep 5:22-33; Yn 3:29; 2C 11:1-2; Yeshayah 54:5-6; Yirmeyah 2:2 Yechezkel 16:8-14,20-21,32,38; Hoshea 2:16,18-20 and here see the Shulamite as a type of the Kehillah of Moshiach and Sh’lomo Ben Dovid a type of Moshiach Ben Dovid the Ro’eh HaTov, the Good Shepherd])

All night long on my bed
    I looked(A) for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
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.
The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.(B)
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
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,(C)
    to the room of the one who conceived me.(D)
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(E)
    by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.(F)

Who is this coming up from the wilderness(G)
    like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh(H) and incense
    made from all the spices(I) of the merchant?
Look! It is Solomon’s carriage,
    escorted by sixty warriors,(J)
    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.(K)
King Solomon made for himself the carriage;
    he made it of wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts he made of silver,
    its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
    its interior inlaid with love.
Daughters of Jerusalem, 11 come out,
    and look, you daughters of Zion.(L)
Look[a] on King Solomon wearing a crown,
    the crown with which his mother crowned him
on the day of his wedding,
    the day his heart rejoiced.(M)

Footnotes

  1. Song of Songs 3:11 Or interior lovingly inlaid / by the daughters of Jerusalem. / 11 Come out, you daughters of Zion, / and look