Song of Solomon 3:6-11

Royal Wedding Procession

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.
8 All of them {wield swords}; [they are] {trained in warfare}, each with his sword at his thigh [to guard] {against terror} in the night.
9 {King Solomon} made for himself a sedan chair from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its column of silver, its back of gold, its seat of purple; its interior is inlaid [with] leather by {the maidens of Jerusalem}.
11 Come out and look, {O maidens of Zion}, at {King Solomon}, at the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the joy of his heart!

Song of Solomon 3:6-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SONG OF SOLOMON 3

In this chapter an account is given of an adventure of the church, in quest of her beloved; of the time when, and places where, and the persons of whom she sought him; and of her success upon the whole; with a charge she give to the daughters of Jerusalem, So 3:1-5; by whom she is commended, So 3:6; and then Christ, her beloved, is described by her; by his bed, and the guard about it, So 3:7,8; by the chariot he rode in, So 3:9,10; and by the crown he wore on his coronation day, So 3:11.

Footnotes 11

  • [a]. Literally "couch" or "portable sedan chair"
  • [b]. Literally "her"
  • [c]. Literally "holders of sword"
  • [d]. Literally "learnt of war"
  • [e]. Literally "because of the fear"
  • [f]. Literally "The king, Solomon"
  • [g]. Or "its support," "its base," "its headrest," "its litter," "its cover"
  • [h]. Or "love." The Hebrew term here translated "leather" is spelled the same as the term for "love." Most likely this is an example of a word play that puns on the intentional ambiguity: "Its interior was inlaid with leather//love by the maidens of Jerusalem"
  • [i]. Literally "by the daughters of Jerusalem"
  • [j]. Literally "O daughters of Zion"
  • [k]. Literally "the king, Solomon"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.