Song of Songs 3:4-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
4 (A)Hardly had I left them
when I found him whom my soul loves.[a]
I held him and would not let him go
until I had brought him to my mother’s house,
to the chamber of her who conceived me.
5 (B)I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and the does of the field,
Do not awaken or stir up love
until it is ready.
Solomon’s Wedding Procession
6 D(C) Who is this coming up from the desert,[b]
like columns of smoke
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all kinds of exotic powders?
Footnotes
- 3:4 Whom my soul loves: the fourfold repetition of this phrase in vv. 1–4 highlights the depth of the woman’s emotion and desire. Mother’s house: cf. 8:2; a place of safety and intimacy, one which implicitly signifies approval of the lovers’ relationship.
- 3:6–11 This may be an independent poem. In context it portrays the lover as King Solomon, escorted by sixty armed men, coming in royal procession to meet a bride.
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