SNG 3:9 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 3:6–5:1: The man and woman married and the man praised her

In 3:6 a new section begins. The author indicates this by several obvious changes from (3:1–5):

The scene changes from a nighttime dream to a public daytime event.
There is a change of speaker.
The search theme in the preceding verses changes to a wedding theme in this section.
The mood changes from anxious searching to joyful celebration.

In this section the author describes the couple’s wedding day. The section has several parts:

3:6–11 The man and woman came to their wedding in a grand procession

4:1–15 The man described his beautiful bride

4:16–5:1 The man and woman consummated their marriage

Paragraph 3:6–11 The poet described the wedding procession

There are several questions that translators need to ask about the meaning of 3:6–11:

What does the author imply when he refers to Solomon in the poem? The name “Solomon” refers figuratively to the man whom the woman loves.At a literal level 3:6–11 seems to be a historical description of Solomon on his wedding day. But which wedding? He had numerous wives! It is more probable that Solomon was the author of the Song, but not one of the characters in it. (For more information about that, see the discussion in 1:1.) The Song describes a nearly ideal love relationship between one man and one woman in which neither of them had other lovers, and the man had no other wives. Yet Solomon was known for having many wives and for his spiritual failure (see 1 Kings 11:1–3). He was not known for his pure love. New Testament passages that mention Solomon refer to his wisdom (Luke 11:31) and his material splendor (Luke 12:27), but not to his love. Solomon’s personal life did not demonstrate the pure monogamous love that we see in the woman’s beloved. If Solomon did write the book, he did so as Israel’s greatest wise man, not as Israel’s ideal lover. References to Solomon in the Song seem to focus on his royal splendor, rather than on Solomon himself or his love. This is certainly true in 1:5 that speaks of the curtains of Solomon. It implies that on his wedding day, the man felt as happy, rich, and powerful as King Solomon. Other verses that refer to Solomon figuratively are 1:4–5; 1:12; 3:6–11; 6:12; and 7:1.The Song uses other figurative motifs, such as a “shepherd” (1:7–8; 6:2–3), gazelle (2:8–9; 2:16–17; 8:14), dove (1:15; 2:14; 4:1; 5:12), lily (2:2; 2:16), vineyard (1:6; 2:15; 8:11–12) mare (1:9–11) and garden (4:12–5:1; 6:2).
Who speaks in this section? Probably the author speaks. If the woman was in the procession, she probably did not describe herself.Some scholars give other suggestions for the speaker here, for example, the man, the daughters of Jerusalem, a chorus, or an unknown speaker.
Does this poem describe an event that really happened? The poem probably does not describe an event that really happened. It uses figurative language, including hyperbole and similes.Bloch and Bloch make a strong point here. Referring to the three passages using this opening formula, “Who is this (fem)…?” (Song 3:6, 6:10, 8:5), they state, “None of these three scenes is realistic; all are hyperboles, evoking images of the triumphant appearance of a majestic, numinous, even godlike figure.” The rhetorical question here calls attention to the radiant and majestic bride’s approach. Bergant understands this poem in 3:6–11 as a metaphorical characterization rather than a description of an actual event. The UBS Handbook leans toward the poetic, non-historical view, as do Munro, Garrett, Gledhill, Keel, and others. The poem begins, “Who is this woman coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke…?” It probably implies that she was surrounded by the smoke of fragrant incense. Like a queen, the woman also had soldiers around her to protect and honor her. The woman was carried in luxury to the man, who waited for her in Jerusalem. He was compared to the greatest of kings. This hyperbole may come from a marriage custom where the bride and groom wore royal crowns on their wedding day.

3:9–10

In 3:9–10 the author describes Solomon’s carriage (litter, couch). Some of the Hebrew words in 3:9–10 are rare, and their meanings are uncertain. There are several ways to interpret these verses. However, the main point of this description is the excellent quality of the materials used to build the carriage. The overall purpose is to emphasize the magnificence of the bride.

3:9a

King Solomon has made his carriage

King Solomon made a wedding couch for himself
King Solomon caused/had a wedding litter to be made to carry his bride.

King Solomon has made his carriage: This clause probably implies that King Solomon hired craftsmen to make a carriage for him. It probably does not indicate that King Solomon himself made it. The context seems to imply that he intended to send the carriage for his bride so that she could travel in it to Jerusalem for their wedding.

The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as carriage is different from the Hebrew word for “carriage” in 3:7. The Notes interprets the two words to refer to the same couch. Some other ways to translate it here are:

King Solomon caused a portable couch to be made for him.

King Solomon made himself a palanquin (RSV)

In some languages a word like carriage may imply a vehicle with wheels, and the couch here did not have wheels. Men carried it on their shoulders. Use an appropriate word in your language to describe it. For more information, see the note on carriage later in this verse.

King Solomon: In this context King Solomon is probably a symbol for the man who is about to be married. For more information about the author’s use of King Solomon as a poetic symbol, see the section on Solomon in the introduction to 3:6–11. In some languages it may be necessary to indicate in some way that the name King Solomon is used figuratively here to refer to the woman’s beloved. For example:

her beloved “King Solomon”

carriage: The word in Hebrew, appiryon, (translated carriage in the BSB) only occurs here in the entire OT. There is debate about its meaning and origin. Some scholars consider it a loan word from Greek, Sanskrit or Persian. The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as carriage occurs only here in the OT. It probably refers to the same couch that the author mentioned in 3:7. In that verse he used a more general word that can refer to any kind of bed or couch. Here in 3:9 the word is more specific. It refers to a bed or chair that was carried on poles by several strong men. Such a carriage is also called a “litter,” “sedan chair,” or “palanquin.”

In this context the couch probably had a small roof and curtains. It is likely that the curtains could be closed to hide the woman as she rode in it. It may have had small walls that could hide her when she lay down. When she was seated with the curtains open, people could see her.

Some ways to translate carriage (3:9a) and “carriage” (3:7a) are:

Use the same word in your language to translate carriage (3:9a) and “carriage” (3:7a). For example, the NIV uses “carriage” in both 3:7 and 3:9:
It is Solomon’s carriage… (3:7)
King Solomon made for himself the carriage… (3:9)
Use two different words in your language to translate carriage (3:9a) and “carriage” (3:7a). The word that you use in 3:7 can be more general than the one in 3:9. For example, the GW has:
sedan chair (3:7)
carriage (3:9)

Translate these words in a clear way in your language.

3:9b

out of the timber of Lebanon.

with lumber from Lebanon.
It was made of the finest cedar wood, which comes from the forests of Lebanon.

out of the timber of Lebanon: The wood that was used to build the palanquin came from the region called Lebanon. Lebanon was famous for its fine cedar trees, and cedar wood from Lebanon was of high quality. So the author implied here that the carriage was made of the best wood available. This wood was used for the frame of the carriage and its base.

Some other ways to translate the phrase out of the timber of Lebanon are:

is made of trees from Lebanon (CEV)

made of wood imported from the country/region of Lebanon

made of the finest wood (GNT)

Lebanon: Lebanon was a mountainous region north of Israel. It was well known for its cedar forests.

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.