Song of Solomon 3:5

Adjuration Refrain

5 I adjure you, {O maidens of Jerusalem}, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!

Song of Solomon 3:5 Meaning and Commentary

Song of Solomon 3:5

I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem
Which are either the words of Christ, adjuring the young converts not to disturb the church; who had now Christ in her arms, taking repose with him, being wearied with running about in search of him: or they are the words of the church; who having experienced a long absence of Christ, and having been at much pains in search of him, and now had found him, was very unwilling to part with him; and fearing these young converts should by any unbecoming word or action provoke him to depart, she gives them a solemn charge; by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor
awake my love, till he please; (See Gill on Song of Solomon 2:7).

Song of Solomon 3:5 In-Context

3 The sentinels who go about in the city found me. "Have you seen the one whom my {heart} loves?"

4 {Scarcely had I passed} by them when I found him whom my {heart} 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.

5 I adjure you, {O maidens of Jerusalem}, by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!

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}! Sixty mighty men surround {it}, the mighty men of Israel.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "O daughters of Jerusalem"
• [b]. 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"