עַל־מִשְׁכָּבִי בַּלֵּילוֹת בִּקַּשְׁתִּי אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו׃   3:1

Song 3:1   Upon my bed during the nights I seek He Whom my soul loves;

                              I seek Him but do not find Him.

Ah, how many of us believers have to say something like this from time to time!

אָקוּמָה נָּא וַאֲסוֹבְבָה בָעִיר בַּשְּׁוָקִים וּבָרְחֹבוֹת אֲבַקְשָׁה אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו׃   3:2

Song 3:2   I must arise now and circle about the city,

                              on the streets and in the plazas.

                    I must seek He Whom my soul loves.

                              I seek Him but I do not find Him.

מְצָאוּנִי הַשֹּׁמְרִים הַסֹּבְבִים בָּעִיר אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי רְאִיתֶם׃   3:3

Song 3:3   The watchmen encounter me circling about in the city.

                              “Have you seen He Whom my soul loves?”

כִּמְעַט שֶׁעָבַרְתִּי מֵהֶם עַד שֶׁמָּצָאתִי אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי אֲחַזְתִּיו וְלֹא אַרְפֶּנּוּ עַד־שֶׁהֲבֵיאתִיו אֶל־בֵּית   3:4

אִמִּי וְאֶל־חֶדֶר הוֹרָתִי׃

Song 3:4   It is but a little while that I have passed from them

                              until I find He Whom my soul loves.

                     I hold Him and will not let Him go

                              until I bring Him to the house of my Mother,

                     and to the room of my conception.

I suspect “the house of my Mother” is the Temple, and “the room of my conception” is the holy of holies wherein was the ark.

הִשְׁבַּעְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִַם בִּצְבָאוֹת אוֹ בְּאַיְלוֹת הַשָּׂדֶה אִם־תָּעִירוּ וְאִם־תְּעוֹרְרוּ אֶת־הָאַהֲבָה   3:5

עַד שֶׁתֶּחְפָּץ׃

Song 3:5   I urge you, daughters of Jerusalem,

                              by the gazelles and by the does of the field,

                    you should not stir up or awaken that love

                              until He would be pleased.

This verse is identical to Song 2:7, and the remarks there apply here as well.

מִי זֹאת עֹלָה מִן־הַמִּדְבָּר כְּתִימֲרוֹת עָשָׁן מְקֻטֶּרֶת מוֹר וּלְבוֹנָה מִכֹּל אַבְקַת רוֹכֵל׃   3:6

Song 3:6   Who is this coming up from the wilderness like columns of smoke,

                              incense burning, of myhrr and frankincense,

                     from all the aromatic powders of the trader?

הִנֵּה מִטָּתוֹ שֶׁלִּשְׁלֹמֹה שִׁשִּׁים גִּבֹּרִים סָבִיב לָהּ מִגִּבֹּרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃   3:7

Song 3:7   Behold his litter, that it is Solomon's,

                              sixty mighty men around it, the mightiest men of Israel,

כֻּלָּמ אֲחֻזֵי חֶרֶב מְלֻמְּדֵי מִלְחָמָה אִישׁ חַרְבֹּו עַל־יְרֵכֹו מִפַּחַד בַּלֵּילֹות׃   3:8

Song 3:8   all of them holders of the sword, trained in warfare,

                              each his sword at his side,

                     because of terror during the nights.

אַפִּרְיוֹן עָשָׂה לוֹ הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה מֵעֲצֵי הַלְּבָנוֹן׃   3:9

Song 3:9   The king, Solomon, has made a conveyance for himself

                              out of the woods of Lebanon.

עַמּוּדָיו עָשָׂה כֶסֶף רְפִידָתוֹ זָהָב מֶרְכָּבוֹ אַרְגָּמָן תּוֹכוֹ רָצוּף אַהֲבָה מִבְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם׃   3:10

Song 3:10   He made its columns of silver, its covering of gold, its seat of purple.

                              The inside of it was fitted lovingly from the daughters of Jerusalem.

Could this be a reference to Solomon’s palace?

צְאֶינָה וּרְאֶינָה בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן בַּמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה בָּעֲטָרָה שֶׁעִטְּרָה־לּוֹ אִמּוֹ בְּיוֹם חֲתֻנָּתוֹ וּבְיוֹם שִׂמְחַת לִבּוֹ׃   3:11

Song 3:11   Come forth and look, daughters of Zion,

                              upon King Solomon,

                       upon the crown with which his Mother crowned him on the day of his marriage,

                              and on the day of the joy of his heart.

Now in this verse the phrase daughters of Zion is treated differently than the phrase daughters of Jerusalem, although for all intents and purposes, they are poetically identical.  The two imperatives Come forth and look are feminine rather than masculine as in v. 5 above.

However, to what can the last two Englsh lines (the last nine Hebrew words) refer?  Obviously they don’t refer to Solomon in words such as these..  His Mother crowned him?  On the day of his marriage?  Which marriage might that be?

Here’s what I think:  His Mother is the Lord, as I’ve already postulated above (v. 4).  The day of his marriage might refer to when his connection with the Lord was fulfilled.  By the latter I mean when he received his worldly wisdom from heaven.  That may have also been the day of his joyful heart.  Only one “day?”  Later would he regretfully realize what a burden wisdom could be?

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