Song of Solomon 3:4

It was but a little that I passed from them i.e. Hardly had I gone from them when I found him whom my soul loveth.

I held him Rather, I laid hold on him.

and would not let him go Better, either as Oettli, I did not let him go until, &c., or as Driver, Tenses, § 42 β and § 85 note, I would not let him go until, &c. In the former case the impf. form is held to be an impf. consec., though the consec. wawhas been separated from its verb by the negation. Cp. Psalms 8:6 and Job 33:4. Bringing him to her mother's house must signify that he was to be her acknowledged lover.