Song of Songs 3:1-5
New Catholic Bible
Third Poem
Chapter 3
I Found the One My Heart Loves[a]
Bride:
1 Night[b] after night upon my bed
I sought the one my heart loves.
I sought him, but I could not find him.
2 I said, “I will rise and go through the city,
along the streets and in the squares.
I will seek the one my heart loves.”
I sought him, but I could not find him.
3 The watchmen[c] came upon me
as they made their rounds of the city,
and I asked them,
“Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
4 I had hardly gone past them
when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
until I had brought him to my mother’s house,[d]
to the very room where she had conceived me.
Bridegroom:
5 I charge you, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and the wild does:
Do not stir up or awaken love
before its time has come.[e]
Solomon on the Day of His Wedding[f]
Companions:
6 What is this coming up from the desert
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense
and with all the fragrant spices of the merchant?
7 Look, it is Solomon being carried in his litter,
and escorted by sixty valiant guards,
the bravest of the mighty warriors of Israel,
8 all of them expert swordsmen
and experienced in warfare,
each with his sword ready at his side
to guard against the terrors by night.[g]
9 King Solomon had made himself a carriage
from the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its posts of silver,
its base of gold,
its seat of purple cloth,
and its framework inlaid with ivory.
11 Daughters of Zion,[h] come forth
and welcome King Solomon
as he wears the crown
that his mother had placed upon his head
on the day of his wedding,
on the day of his heart’s joy.
Chapter 4
How Beautiful You Are, My Beloved[i]
Bridegroom:
1 How beautiful you are, my beloved;
your beauty has achieved perfection.
Your eyes are doves[j]
behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down the slopes of Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes
that have come up from the washing.
Each one of them has a twin;
not a single one is unpaired with the other.
3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread,
and your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks behind your veil
are like halves of a pomegranate.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David
built layer upon layer;
a thousand bucklers hang upon it,
all of them shields of valiant warriors.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
young twins of a gazelle
that graze among the lilies.
6 Before the dawn comes,
and the shadows flee,
I will hasten to the mountain of myrrh
and the hill of frankincense.
7 You are all-beautiful, my love,
without the slightest blemish.[k]
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my promised bride;[l]
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend quickly from the heights of Amana,
from the peaks of Senir and Hermon,
from the dens of lions,
from the mountains of leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart,
my sister,[m] my bride.
You have stolen my heart with a single glance,
with one jewel of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love,
my sister, my bride!
How much more delightful is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfumes than any spices.
11 Your lips drip with honey,[n] my promised bride,
milk and honey are under your tongue,
and the fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 You are an enclosed garden,
my sister, my promised bride;
you are a garden that is locked,
a fountain that is sealed.[o]
13 You are like an orchard that brings forth pomegranates,
an orchard with the choicest fruits:[p]
14 nard[q] and saffron, calamus and cinnamon,
with all the incense-bearing trees,
myrrh and aloes
with all the finest spices.
15 You are a garden fountain,
a well of living water,
streams flowing down from Lebanon.
Bride:
16 Awake, north wind,
and come, south wind.
Blow upon my garden
so that its fragrance may spread abroad.
Let my beloved come to his garden
and eat its choicest fruits.[r]
Chapter 5
Bridegroom:
1 I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride;
I gather my myrrh and my spices,
I eat my honeycomb and my honey,
I drink my wine and my milk.
Footnotes
- Song of Songs 3:1 Night has come, but in vain has the bride awaited the bridegroom. Driven by the ardor of her love, she hastens through the village to find him. Her love guides her to him so that she will take him home and he will embrace her. Already she seems to hear her husband wish that his weary beloved should be left to take her rest.
Human love remains a symbol of divine love. God hides from those who fail to seek him with all their heart. He lets himself be found by those who love him and render glory to him in the temple of Jerusalem where he is, as it were, the spouse of the chosen nation. It is from there that he watches over his people.
Is the life of the Church anything else but the passionate quest for persons who one day heard the Lord’s call? - Song of Songs 3:1 Night: a symbol of anxious waiting (see Ps 130:6; Isa 5:30; 8:22; 9:1; 21:11; 26:9; 59:9). I sought the one my heart loves . . . but I could not find him: this is symptomatic of the people’s search for God. He can be found only by a true conversion (see Hos 3:5; 5:6, 15; Jer 29:13).
- Song of Songs 3:3 Watchmen: they stood on the walls (see 2 Sam 13:34; Ps 127:1; Isa 52:8) or at the gates of the city (see Neh 3:29) and patrolled the streets as well (Song 5:7).
- Song of Songs 3:4 Mother’s house: mothers are referred to frequently in this Book, though fathers are completely ignored.
- Song of Songs 3:5 See note on Song 2:7.
- Song of Songs 3:6 A dream gives various forms to desire. Like a fairy tale, a love song takes delight in images of splendor. The bride sees the bridegroom come to her in the sumptuous garb of the most pompous of kings accompanied by heroes of his guard; he takes possession of his throne on the day of his espousals! For those in love, the betrothal surpasses all the splendors of the world.
Solomon, whose name signifies “peace,” is one of the figures of the Messiah. Thus, this scene may evoke also the triumphal appearance of a savior before the People of God to effect a definitive restoration for them. The Book of Revelation abounds with sumptuous images to announce the meeting of God and those who love him in the heavenly Jerusalem, that is to say, at the supreme fulfillment of all hopes. - Song of Songs 3:8 The terrors by night: see Ps 91:5.
- Song of Songs 3:11 Daughters of Zion: elsewhere “daughters of Jerusalem” (see note on Song 1:5). Crown: a wedding decoration (see Isa 61:10).
- Song of Songs 4:1 The bridegroom takes delight in detailing the charms of his bride. He compares her to flowers, to fruits, and to all the perfumes of the East. He ardently desires to be united with the one who has reserved herself for him. The bride, too, calls on the breath of the passion that comes to complete the loving embrace.
The comparison is a daring one but it must be made: God, too, contemplates the beauty of his people enriched with the many calls and favors that they have received on earth. Israel is the exclusive property of the Lord, and he invites her to come and encounter him on the hill of incense, i.e., at the temple of Jerusalem. Humankind is precious in the Lord’s eyes: it is still the Church called to partake in the Lord’s love, the unfailing joy of the new times, the feast of God. - Song of Songs 4:1 Doves: see note on Song 1:15. Gilead: a region across the Jordan, with extensive stock farms, whose goats were usually black.
- Song of Songs 4:7 See the description of the Church in Eph 5:27. The Liturgy applies this verse to our Lady in the celebration of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.
- Song of Songs 4:8 Promised bride: i.e., the betrothed. Amana . . . Senir . . . Hermon: names of peaks in the Anti-Lebanon. The Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon are two mountain chains on the borders of Palestine. These far-off mountains symbolize the distance that separates the two lovers.
- Song of Songs 4:9 Sister: a word of endearment that was common in the language of love of the ancient East.
- Song of Songs 4:11 Your lips drip with honey: the bridegroom speaks of love (see Prov 5:3; 16:24). Milk and honey: possibly a reference to the fruitfulness of the Promised Land (see Ex 3:8).
- Song of Songs 4:12 Enclosed . . . locked . . . sealed: words that indicate the bride is the bridegroom’s and faithful to him (see Prov 5:15-19).
- Song of Songs 4:13 The bridegroom sings of the bride’s features that delight him, likening them to sweet-smelling plants.
- Song of Songs 4:14 Nard: see note on Song 1:12. Saffron: a purple-flowered crocus used as a cooking spice. Calamus: an aromatic spice cane used in the anointing oil (see Ex 30:23-24) and in incense (see Isa 43:23-24). Cinnamon: an aromatic spice used in the anointing oil (see Ex 30:23, 25). Myrrh: see note on Song 1:13. Aloes: a fragrant resin used in perfuming nuptial robes (see Ps 48:8).
- Song of Songs 4:16 The beloved invites the bridegroom to come to her.
