Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options Listen to Song of Solomon 3:2-4, Song of Solomon 5:8
Close NASB

Song of Solomon 3:2-4
New American Standard Bible

2 ‘[a]I must arise now and [b]go around in the city;
In the (A)streets and in the public squares
[c]I must seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him but did not find him.
3 (B)The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me,
And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
4 (C)Hardly had I [d]left them
When I found him whom my soul loves;
I (D)held on to him and would not let him go
Until I had (E)brought him to my mother’s house,
And into the room of her who conceived me.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 3:2 Or Let me arise
  2. Song of Solomon 3:2 Or Let me go about
  3. Song of Solomon 3:2 Or Let me seek
  4. Song of Solomon 3:4 Lit passed
Close NET

Song of Solomon 3:2-4
New English Translation

2 “I will arise[a] and look all around[b] throughout the town,
and throughout the streets[c] and squares;
I will search for my beloved.”
I searched for him but I did not find him.[d]
3 The night watchmen found me—the ones who guard the city walls.[e]
“Have you seen my beloved?”[f]
4 Scarcely[g] had I passed them by
when I found my beloved!
I held onto him[h] tightly and would not let him go[i]
until I brought him to my mother’s house,[j]
to the bedroom chamber[k] of the one who conceived me.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 3:2 sn Three first person common singular cohortatives appear in verse 2: אָקוּמָה (ʾaqumah, “I will arise”), אֲסוֹבְבָה (ʾasovevah, “I will go about”), and אֲבַקְשָׁה (ʾavaqeshah, “I will seek”). These cohortatives have been taken in two basic senses: (1) resolve: “I will arise…I will go about…I will seek” (KJV, NIV) or (2) necessity: “I must arise…I must go about…I must seek” (NASB, NJPS). There is no ethical or moral obligation/necessity, but the context emphasizes her intense determination (e.g., 3:4b). Therefore, they should be classified as cohortatives of resolve, expressing the speaker’s determination to pursue a course of action. The three-fold repetition of the cohortative form emphasizes the intensity of her determination.tn The emphatic particle of exhortation נא appears in the expression אָקוּמָה נָּא (ʾaqumah nah, “I will arise…”). This particle is used with first person common singular cohortatives to emphasize self-deliberation and a determined resolve to act (BDB 609 s.v. נָא b.3.a) (e.g., Gen 18:21; Exod 3:3; 2 Sam 14:15; Isa 5:1; Job 32:21).
  2. Song of Solomon 3:2 tn The root סָבַב (savav) in the Qal stem means “to go around, to do a circuit” (1 Sam 7:16; 2 Chr 17:9; 23:2; Eccl 12:5; Song 3:3; Isa 23:16; Hab 2:16), while the Polel stem means “to prowl around” (Ps 59:7, 15; Song 3:2) (HALOT 739-740 s.v. סבב). The idea here is that the Beloved is determined to “look all around” until she finds her beloved.
  3. Song of Solomon 3:2 sn There is a consonantal wordplay in 3:2 between the roots בקשׁ and בשׁק, that is, between אֲבַקְשָׁה (ʾavaqeshah, “I will seek [him]”) and בַּשְּׁוָקִים (bashevaqim, “streets”). The wordplay emphasizes that she searched in every nook and cranny.
  4. Song of Solomon 3:2 sn The statement בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו (biqqashtiv veloʾ metsaʾtiv, “I sought him but I did not find him”) appears twice in 3:1-2. In both cases it concludes a set of cola. The repetition depicts her mounting disappointment in her failure to locate her beloved. It stands in strong contrast with 3:4.
  5. Song of Solomon 3:3 tn Heb “those who go around the city” or “those who go around in the city.” The expression הַסֹּבְבִים בָּעִיר (hassovevim baʿir, “those who go around the city”) probably refers to the watchmen of the city walls rather than night city street patrol (e.g., Ps 127:1; Song 5:7; Isa 21:11; 62:6). The Israelite night watchmen of the walls is paralleled by the Akkadian sahir duri (“one who goes around the wall”) which appears in a lexical text as the equivalent of ma-sar musi (“night watchman”) (CAD 4:192). See M. H. Pope, Song of Songs (AB), 419. There is a wordplay in 3:2-3 between the verb וַאֲסוֹבְבָה (vaʾasovevah, “I will go about”) and הַסֹּבְבִים (hassovevim, “those who go around”). This wordplay 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.
  6. Song of Solomon 3:3 tn Heb “the one whom my soul loves—have you seen [him]?” The normal Hebrew word-order (verb-subject-direct object) is reversed in 3:3 (direct object-verb-subject) to emphasize the object of her search: אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי רְאִיתֶם (’et she’ahavah nafshi re’item, “The one whom my soul loves—have you seen [him]?”).
  7. Song of Solomon 3:4 tn Heb “like a little.” The term כִּמְעַט (kimʿat), which is composed of the comparative preposition כ (kaf, “like”) prefixed to the noun מְעַט (meʿat, “the small, the little, the few”), is an idiom that means “within a little” or “scarcely” (BDB 590 s.v. מְעַט b.2.a).
  8. Song of Solomon 3:4 tn Heb “I held him” (אֲחַזְתִּיו, ʾakhaztiv). The term אָחַז (ʾakhaz, “grasp”) denotes to forcefully seize someone to avoid losing hold of him (BDB 28 s.v. אָחַז b).
  9. Song of Solomon 3:4 tn The verb רָפָה (rafah, “to let go”) means to relax one’s grip on an object or a person (HALOT 1276-77 s.v. רפה; BDB 952 s.v. רָפָה 2). The Hiphil stem means “to let loose” (Job 7:19; 27:6; Song 3:4; Sir 6:27) or “to release from one’s hands” (Deut 9:14; Josh 10:6; Ps 37:8). The negative expression לֹא רָפָה (loʾ rafah, “to not let [someone or something] go”) denotes an intense desire or effort to not lose possession of someone or something (Job 27:6; Prov 4:13). Here the expression וְלֹא אַרְפֶּנּוּ (veloʾ ʾarpennu, “I would not let him go”) pictures her determination to hold on to him so she would not lose him again. The shift from a suffix-conjugation (perfect) אֲחַזְתִּיו (ʾakhaztiv, “I grasped him”) to a prefix-conjugation (imperfect) אַרְפֶּנּוּ (ʾarpennu, “I would [not] let him go”) depicts a shift from a completed/consummative action (perfect: she took hold of his hand) to an ongoing/progressive action (imperfect: she would not let go of it). A basic distinction between the perfect and imperfect tenses is that of consummative versus progressive action. The literary/syntactical structure of אֲחַזְתִּיו וְלֹא אַרְפֶּנּוּ (“I grasped him and I would not let him go”) in 3:4 mirrors that of בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו (biqqashtiv veloʾ metsaʾtiv, “I searched for him but I could not find him”) in 3:1-2. This parallelism in the literary and syntactical structure emphasizes the fortunate reversal of situation.
  10. Song of Solomon 3:4 sn 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.”
  11. Song of Solomon 3:4 tn The term חֶדֶר (kheder, “chamber”) literally means “dark room” (HALOT s.v. חֶדֶר 293) and often refers to a bedroom (Gen 43:30; Exod 7:28 HT [8:3 ET]; Judg 3:24; 15:1; 16:9, 12; 2 Sam 4:7; 13:10; 1 Kgs 1:15; 2 Kgs 6:12; 9:2; Eccl 10:20; Isa 26:20; Joel 2:16; Prov 24:4; Song 1:4; 3:4).
Close NLT

Song of Solomon 3:2-4
New Living Translation

2 So I said to myself, “I will get up and roam the city,
    searching in all its streets and squares.
I will search for the one I love.”
    So I searched everywhere but did not find him.
3 The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds,
    and I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”
4 Then scarcely had I left them
    when I found my love!
I caught and held him tightly,
    then I brought him to my mother’s house,
    into my mother’s bed, where I had been conceived.

Read full chapter
Listen to Song of Songs 3:2-4, Song of Songs 5:8
Close NIV

Song of Songs 3:2-4
New International Version

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.
3 The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.(A)
    “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
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,(B)
    to the room of the one who conceived me.(C)

Read full chapter
Next
Song of Solomon 2
Song of Solomon 4
Next
Previous Next
Close NASB

Song of Solomon 5:8
New American Standard Bible

8 (A)Swear to me, you daughters of Jerusalem,
If you find my beloved,
As to what you will tell him:
For (B)I am lovesick.”

Read full chapter
Close NET

Song of Solomon 5:8
New English Translation

The Triumph of Love: The Beloved Praises Her Lover

The Beloved to the Maidens:

8 I admonish you, O maidens of Jerusalem—
If you find my beloved, what will you tell him?
Tell him that I am lovesick![a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Song of Solomon 5:8 tn The genitive construct חוֹלַת אַהֲבָה (kholat ʾahavah, “sick of love”) denotes “lovesick.” This is an example of a genitive of cause, that is, the Beloved was (physically/emotionally) sick because of her unrequited love for him. See study note on Song 2:5.
Close NLT

Song of Solomon 5:8
New Living Translation

8 Make this promise, O women of Jerusalem—
    If you find my lover,
    tell him I am weak with love.

Read full chapter
Close NIV

Song of Songs 5:8
New International Version

8 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you(A)—
    if you find my beloved,(B)
what will you tell him?
    Tell him I am faint with love.(C)

Read full chapter
Next
Song of Solomon 4
Song of Solomon 6
Next
dropdown
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

New American Standard Bible is made available by The Lockman Foundation
New English Translation (NET)

NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

July Summer Surge

More on the NIV