Song of Songs 3:1

1 All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.

Song of Solomon 3:1 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
English Standard Version (ESV)
1 On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not.
New Living Translation (NLT)
1 One night as I lay in bed, I yearned for my lover. I yearned for him, but he did not come.
The Message Bible (MSG)
1 Restless in bed and sleepless through the night, I longed for my lover. I wanted him desperately. His absence was painful.
American Standard Version (ASV)
1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
1 Night after night on my bed I looked for the one I love. I looked for him but did not find him.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
1 "All night long on my bed I searched for the one my heart loves. I looked for him but didn't find him.

Song of Songs 3:1 Meaning and Commentary

Song of Solomon 3:1

By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth
The day being not yet broke, the night of Jewish darkness still on the church, and the shadow of the ceremonial law as yet stretched upon her; and having some knowledge of Christ by types and prophecies, desires more, and seeks it in the use of means: though the words may be taken in a more large sense, and represent the state and condition of the church and of all true believers in any age, and at one time as well as another; who, when their beloved is absent, it is "night" with them; as Christ's presence makes day, his absence makes night; and it was now night with the Church, either of affliction, or of darkness and desertion, and indeed of both. The word is plural, "by nights" F9; one night after another, successively, she sought her beloved; which both expresses the continuance of her state, and her diligence and constancy in seeking Christ. The place where she sought him was "her bed"; not the same as in ( Song of Solomon 1:16 ) ( 3:7 ) ; which was both Christ's and hers, and where a different word is used; but this was purely her own: either a bed of affliction, when good men usually seek the Lord, ( Isaiah 26:16 ) ( Hosea 5:15 ) ; or rather of carnal ease and security, in which she continued, and rose not up from it to seek her beloved; which shows the cold, lukewarm, lazy frame she was in, and formal manner in which she sought him, and so succeeded not: however, he was stilt the person "whom [her] soul loved", cordially and sincerely, though not so fervently as she had done; true love, though it may be abated, cannot be lost; I sought him, but I found him not;
because she sought him not aright; not timely, nor fervently and diligently, nor in a proper place; not in her closet, by prayer, reading, and meditation, nor in public ordinances, she afterwards did; but on her bed.


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (twlylb) (en nuxin) , Sept. "per noctes", V. L. Junius & Tremeilius, Piscator; "in noctibus", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine versions, Marckius, Michaelis.

Song of Songs 3:1 In-Context

1 All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.
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. “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, to the room of the one who conceived me.
5 Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you by the gazelles and by the does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Song of Songs 5:6; Isaiah 26:9
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