SNG 3:9 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=minor/spelling Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

BrLXX Φορεῖον ἐποίησεν ἑαυτῷ ὁ βασιλεὺς Σαλωμὼν ἀπὸ ξύλων τοῦ Λιβάνου·
(Foreion epoiaʸsen heautōi ho basileus Salōmōn apo xulōn tou Libanou; )

ULT He made for himself a palanquin, King Solomon,
⇔ from the trees of Lebanon.

UST King Solomon commanded his servants to make that royal portable chair for him;
⇔ it was made with wood from Lebanon.

OEB No OEB SNG book available

WEBBE ⇔ King Solomon made himself a carriage
⇔ of the wood of Lebanon.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET King Solomon made a sedan chair for himself
⇔ of wood imported from Lebanon.

LSV A palanquin King Solomon made for himself,
Of the wood of Lebanon,

FBV (Solomon's sedan chair[fn] was made for him with wood from Lebanon.

3:9 “Sedan chair”: a different word is used but the meaning is the same.

T4T King Solomon commanded his servants to make that portable chair for him;
⇔ it was made with wood from Lebanon.

LEB • King Solomon[fn] made for himself a sedan chair from the wood of Lebanon.

3:? Literally “The king, Solomon”

BBE King Solomon made himself a bed of the wood of Lebanon.

Moff My king has made him a seda
⇔ of wood from Lebanon,

JPS King Solomon made himself a palanquin of the wood of Lebanon.

ASV King Solomon made himself a palanquin
⇔ Of the wood of Lebanon.

DRA King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus:

YLT A palanquin king Solomon made for himself, Of the wood of Lebanon,

Drby King Solomon made himself a palanquin Of the wood of Lebanon.

RV King Solomon made himself a palanquin of the wood of Lebanon.

SLT King Solomon made for himself a litter from the woods of Lebanon.

Wbstr King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.

KJB-1769 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.[fn]

3.9 a chariot: or, a bed

KJB-1611 [fn]King Solomon made himselfe a charet of the wood of Lebanon.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above apart from footnotes)

3:9 Or, a bed.

Bshps Kyng Solomon had made him selfe a pallace of the wood of Libanus,
(King Solomon had made himself a palace of the wood of Libanus,)

Gnva King Salomon made himselfe a palace of the trees of Lebanon.
(King Solomon made himself a palace of the trees of Lebanon. )

Cvdl Kynge Salomon hath made himself a bedsteade of the wodd of Libanus,
(King Solomon hath/has made himself a bedstead of the wood of Libanus,)

Wycl Kyng Salomon made to hym a seete, of the trees of Liban;
(King Solomon made to him a seat, of the trees of Liban;)

Luth Der König Salomo ließ ihm eine Sänfte machen von Holz aus Libanon.
(The king Salomo left/let him a/one litter make from wood out_of Lebanon.)

ClVg Ferculum fecit sibi rex Salomon de lignis Libani;[fn]
(litter he_did to_himself king Salomon from/about wood Libani; )

3.9 Ferculum. Non solum per hoc, quod et in præsenti in lectulo Salomonis quiesco, et ad futurum lectulum festino, et fortissimos custodes habeo, apparet quod salus sit promissa gentibus: sed etiam per hoc, quod de nobis fecit quoddam ferculum, id est quod de loco ad locum ferret sui verbi dispensatores, vel in quibus ipse per mundum feratur. Vel ita: Pacificus, ad cujus lectulum propero, ita munivit me: et hoc fecit per ferculum, id est per apostolos, per quos, sicut in cathedra fertur, quos ad meam salutem vel nostram misit.

3.9 litter. Not/No only through hoc, that and in/into/on present in/into/on bed Salomonis quiesco, and to future bed festino, and strong/powerfulsimos keepers/guards I_have, appears that health/safety be promises nations: but also through hoc, that from/about us he_did thatdam ferculum, that it_is that from/about instead to place to_carryt self words dispensatores, or in/into/on to_whom exactly_that/himself through the_world bearur. Or so/thus: Pacificus, to whose bed propero, so/thus munivit me: and this he_did through ferculum, that it_is through apostles, through which, like in/into/on cathedra fertur, which to of_mine health or ours he_sent.

SOTN 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.

Parallel SNG 3:9

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

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

3:9–10

3:9a

3:9b