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3
Woman:
1 One night when I was lying in bed, I longed for the one I love. I longed for him, but he was nowhere to be found. 2 So I said to myself,* “So I told myself”: implied. “I will get up now and go through the city, looking in its streets and squares for the one I love.” I looked for him but I didn't find him. 3 The watchmen found me as they went through the city. “Have you seen the one I love?” I asked them. 4 Only a little farther on after I'd passed them I found my love! I held him close and would not let him go until I'd brought him to my mother's house, to the room of the one who conceived me.† “To the room of the one who conceived me”: or, “into the room of my conceiving,” which may be a euphemism for wishing to have a child. 5 Women of Jerusalem, swear to me by the gazelles or the wild deer that you won't disturb our love until the right time.
Women of Jerusalem:
6 Who is this coming in from the wilderness like a plume of smoke,‡ The dust thrown up by travelers in a dry wilderness would be the first sign of their approach. However, the emphasis of this verse is certainly on the accompanying scent. like a burning sacrifice scented with myrrh and frankincense, with all kinds of imported perfumed powders?§ Some see this speech of the women of Jerusalem as continuing through the next verses.
Woman:
7 Look, it's Solomon's sedan chair,* Literally, “bed” or “couch.” A sedan chair was a portable chair used by royalty, carried on poles. It certainly was not a wheeled carriage, as some translations suggest. accompanied by sixty of Israel's best warriors. 8 All of them are expert swordsmen who have battle experience. They each carry a sword strapped to the thigh, ready for any night-time attacks. 9 (Solomon's sedan chair† “Sedan chair”: a different word is used but the meaning is the same. was made for him with wood from Lebanon. 10 Its posts were covered in silver, and the back was covered in gold. The seat cushion was purple. The interior was lovingly decorated.‡ The meaning of the last part of this verse is unclear. Possibly “The interior was inlaid with ivory.”)
Women of Jerusalem, 11 come out! Look, women of Zion! See King Solomon wearing the crown that his mother placed on his head on his wedding day, his happiest day.

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*3:2 “So I told myself”: implied.

†3:4 “To the room of the one who conceived me”: or, “into the room of my conceiving,” which may be a euphemism for wishing to have a child.

‡3:6 The dust thrown up by travelers in a dry wilderness would be the first sign of their approach. However, the emphasis of this verse is certainly on the accompanying scent.

§3:6 Some see this speech of the women of Jerusalem as continuing through the next verses.

*3:7 Literally, “bed” or “couch.” A sedan chair was a portable chair used by royalty, carried on poles. It certainly was not a wheeled carriage, as some translations suggest.

†3:9 “Sedan chair”: a different word is used but the meaning is the same.

‡3:10 The meaning of the last part of this verse is unclear. Possibly “The interior was inlaid with ivory.”

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher