Song of Solomon 3:11

The smell is wonderful (verse 6). Perhaps people could smell the procession even before they saw it.

Then the people would see the soldiers. They are impressive (verses 7-8).

Then people would see the carriage. It is beautiful (verses 9-10).

At last, people would see Solomon himself. He is wearing a crown.

And it is a special crown (verse 11).

December 2005

gazelle ~ an animal.
deer ~ an animal.
myrrh ~ something that comes from trees; people use it in incense.
incense ~ a spice that produces a sweet smell.
spice ~ a special plant that has a strong smell and taste. People use spices to make incense and perfume.
perfume ~ a sweet smell.
incense ~ a spice that produces a sweet smell.
spice ~ a special plant that has a strong smell and taste. People use spices to make incense and perfume.
perfume ~ a sweet smell.

The Beautiful Woman behind the Veil

Song of Songs

Sarah Ruth

Chapter 3

The woman has a dream. Some time after that, she tells her friends about it.

Woman

v1 All night I lay in bed.

I looked for the man that I love.

I looked for him but he did not appear.

v2 I thought, ‘I will get up now and I will go into the city.

I will look everywhere for the man that I really love.

I will go through all the streets.

I will look in all the market places.’

So I looked for him.

But I did not find him.

v3 The *security guards were working.

They walked through the streets of the city.

They found me.

I said, ‘Have you seen the man that I love very much?’

v4 I passed them.

Just then, I found the man that I love!

I hugged him. I would not let him go.

I held him until I had brought him to my mother’s house.

I brought him to my mother’s room.

(There my life started, in my mother’s body.)

v5 *Daughters of Jerusalem,

please do not cause someone to feel love for another person;

not until he or she wants to.

I am saying this because I really mean it.

I *beg you on behalf of the *gazelles and the young female *deer in the field.

When the man has gone, the woman begins to sleep. But she does not sleep well. Half-awake and half-asleep, she has a dream. The man has gone to a country place, perhaps. But, in her dream, she thinks that he has gone to the city. Alone in her bed, she had felt lonely. So, in her dream, she looks everywhere for him. She is afraid that she will not see the man again. She would not have said this to anyone the day before. But after her sleep, she understands her thoughts.

The dream shows that she wants to be with the man. Verse 4 may show that she wants to be married to the man. This would mean that he was now part of her *family. Or, the woman may believe that God chose the man for her before her birth. Also, it shows that she wants to be safe. She was safe when she was in her mother’s body. So now, the woman decides that she wants to be always with the man.

In verse 5, the woman repeats what she had said earlier. You may feel that you love someone very much. Be careful then! A result of love can be that someone is no longer alone. But there are times when a man and a woman will not be together. That can be difficult for them. When someone loves another person, good events can happen. But sad events can happen too. For example, one of them may die and so leave the other person alone.

The Writer

v6 Who is this who is appearing from the empty land?

What is this smoke that is rising?

There is a lovely smell of *myrrh and *incense.

The smell of the *trader’s *spices fills the air.

v7 Look! It is King Solomon’s *sedan chair and 60 soldiers are travelling with it.

The soldiers are very brave. They are the best in Israel.

v8 All of them wear a *sword. Each man is ready to use it.

They have all fought in many wars.

They are ready for the dangers of the night.

v9 King Solomon made the *sedan chair for himself.

He made it out of wood from Lebanon.

v10 He made the *posts out of *silver.

He used gold for the part where the passenger’s feet rest.

The *Daughters of Jerusalem put a comfortable *purple cloth over the seat to cover it.

They were careful to make it beautiful inside.

v11 *Daughters of Zion, come out.

Look at King Solomon who is wearing his *crown.

His mother put the *crown on him.

She put it on him on his marriage day.

It was the day that he was very happy.

The ‘smoke’ that is rising may be sand or dirt from the ground. It blows about because many people are moving. But there is a lovely smell of *spice. So the writer is thinking about lovely smells from the smoke of plants that are burning.

Lebanon is a country in the Middle East where there are mountains and many trees. It is next to the country where Solomon was king.

In this book, the writer uses the word *purple to mean something valuable. It is a colour that kings and queens would use.

Verses 7 and 9 may mean that King Solomon is the man in the story. But, if not, maybe the man and woman are singing a song at their marriage. The song that they sing is about Solomon’s marriage.

‘Daughters of Zion’ seems to be another name for the friends. Zion is the name of a hill in Jerusalem. People often use the word Zion to mean all Jerusalem.

This is the one time that we read about the marriage event. This is an important day. So the writer describes things that we can see. He or she describes things that we can touch. The writer describes the soldiers and the *sedan chair. Many people were there. But it seems that we cannot read more about this event. We can find out only that it has happened already. The writer only tells us about the man and woman. The writer does not tell us about all the other people at the marriage day.

The man and his wife have now married. So they will now live together.

security guards ~ men who usually work at night. They walk round the walls of a city to watch over it. If bad people come, they can send them away; or they can lock them in a prison. Security guards are like policemen.'Daughters of Jerusalem ~ this is a name for the woman’s friends.
beg ~ when a person asks another person to do something. But he or she really means it, so the words have authority.
gazelle ~ a wild animal like a deer. It moves quickly.
deer ~ a wild animal. It is the size of a small cow. But it is more beautiful and it moves more quickly.
deer ~ a wild animal. It is the size of a small cow. But it is more beautiful and it moves more quickly.
family ~ family means a father, a mother and their children; but sometimes it includes grandfathers and their children or those that they were born from.
myrrh ~ something that has a lovely strong smell. People get it from a plant. They use it to make incense or perfume.
incense ~ something that makes a lovely smell when it burns.
perfume ~ something that has a very nice smell; people put it on their bodies.
incense ~ something that makes a lovely smell when it burns.
trader ~ someone who buys and sells things. He brings spices from one country to another country.
spices ~ people get these from plants. When someone puts them into food, the food tastes stronger and better than before.
spices ~ people get these from plants. When someone puts them into food, the food tastes stronger and better than before.'sedan chair ~ a chair that important people travelled in. Its weight was light so their servants could carry it. Or it may have been something like a bed that people used in the day. The servants would carry it on their shoulders.
sword ~ a long, sharp thing that people use to attack other people in war. Someone has made it from metal. A person pushes it deep into the enemy’s body to kill him. You can wear it in a belt.
posts ~ long, thin, round pieces of wood or metal that stand up.
silver ~ a valuable metal that shines; it is almost white.
purple ~ a colour; someone can mix red and blue to make purple.'Daughters of Zion ~ this seems to be another name for the woman’s friends. Zion is the name of a hill in Jerusalem. People often use the word Zion to mean all Jerusalem.
crown ~ a king wears this on his head. Someone has made it from valuable metal and valuable stones.