Solomon 3: A TROUBLED NIGHT, A GLORIOUS WEDDING PROCESSION
“By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please. Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night. King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.”
- Solomon 3 (KJV)
“By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth.” The maiden woke in the middle of the night and instantly felt alone, longing for her beloved. She “sought him” but could not find him anywhere in the house.
This snapshot probably records another dream or daydream of the maiden, as in the previous chapter. With this section ending with her addressing her companions, we don't imagine that they haunted or stalked this loving couple with their actual presence at their intimacy.
Since this is likely another dream or daydream of the maiden, it doesn't matter if she recorded it as a married woman or yet-to-be-married maiden. She had the longings of a married woman (that her beloved would share her home and her bed), but did not act upon those longings until married.
This connotation of the word for bed reminds us of the following words in The Book of Hebrews:
“Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”
-Hebrews 13:4 (KJV)
The Bible consistently condemns sex outside of the marriage commitment (whoremongers and adulterers God will judge). But the Bible celebrates sexual love within the commitment of marriage, as indicated in The Song of Solomon.
“I sought him, but I found him not.”The maiden always longed for her beloved and wanted him close. Yet now, in the middle of the night, she felt the longing more intensely. She felt alone and longed for his presence, so she imagined herself seeking after him.
The word “sought” is very common in the Old Testament, and is used both literally and figuratively. It is always a conscious act, frequently requiring a great deal of effort, usually with little success as we see in the following scripture:
“And Saul's uncle said unto him and to his servant, Whither went ye? And he said, To seek the asses: and when we saw that they were no where, we came to Samuel.”
-1 Samuel 10:14 (KJV)
“If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;”
-Proverbs 2:4 (KJV)
"This is very natural and very beautiful. Love creates a perpetual dread lest the loved one should be lost."
-K. Morgan
"Love not only brings a greater experience of joy, but a deeper capacity for pain as well. So as the joy of the kings' presence became greater, so the sorrow from his absence became deeper."
-R. Glickman
The maiden allowed herself to feel needy without feeling helpless. She felt that she needed her beloved, and did not have an artificial sense of self-sufficiency. The maiden did not feel it was a bad thing for her to need her beloved.
There is something good in the maiden's seeking of her beloved; yet it came after their relationship was well established. The relationship did not begin nor was it founded on her pursuit of him.
"With what constancy she sought this communion. She began at dead of night, as indeed it is never too late to seek renewed fellowship. Yet she sought on. The streets were lonely, and it was a strange place for a woman to be at such a strange time, but she was too earnest in seeking to be abashed by such circumstances."
-C.S. Spurgeon
“I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth.” This emphasizes the urgency and depth of her seeking. She was safe (even under the supervision of the watchmen), but they could not help her find her beloved, even at her request.
"She did not sit down, and say to any one of them, "O watchman of the night, thy company cheers me! The streets are lonely and dangerous; but if thou art near, I feel perfectly safe, and I will be content to stay awhile with thee." Nay, but she leaves the watchmen, and still goes along the streets until she finds him whom her soul loveth." -C.S. Spurgeon
"It is probable that, lighting upon these watchmen, she promised herself much counsel and comfort from them, but was disappointed. It pleaseth God many times to cross our likeliest projects, that himself alone may be leaned upon."
-V. Trapp
“I found him whom my soul loveth.” She dreamt that her diligent search was rewarded. Though the watchmen mentioned in the previous verse could not help her, she nevertheless found the one she loved.
It is repeated four times in these first four verses: “him whom my soul loveth.” This is how she thought of her special man.
“I held him and would not let him go.” It is easy to picture the relieved maiden clinging to her beloved, feeling calmed and secure in his embrace.
“Would not let him go.” It seems to have been the same kind of embrace that Mary Magdalene had upon Jesus when she first saw her resurrected Lord as we read in The Book of John:
“Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
-John 20:16-17 (KJV)
In either interpreting or applying Song of Solomon 3:1-4 to the relationship between Jesus and His people, many commentators have noted that this is an example of how the believer, under some sense of separation from Jesus, must seek after Him.
"When, either in a dream, or in reality we lose our sense of His presence, let us search for Him; and then in the finding, with new devotion, let us hold Him, and refuse to let Him go."
-K. Morgan
“Until I had brought him into my mother's house.” The maiden dreamed of bringing her beloved home with her, to always be together with him, and to enjoy the intimacy of the chamber of her mother's home.
"Still clinging to him, she leads him gently but forcefully to her mother's house and into the maternal bedroom."
The fact that it is in the house of her mother shows that she expected it to be when they were in fact married, and not as a pre-marital sexual rendezvous. "That there I might entertain and embrace him, and gain my mother's consent, and so proceed to the consummation of the marriage."
-D. Poole
"She is not looking for an illicit consummation of their love. Consummation she wants, but even in her dream she wants the consummation to be right. Where in human literature does one find a text so erotic and yet so moral as this?"
-J. Kinlaw
Biblical scholars note that this passage may also reflect ancient Israelite marital customs now unknown to us. Perhaps we should notice that Isaac brought Rebekah into the tent of his mother, even though Sarah was deceased, and there consummated their marriage in The Book of Genesis:
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