Song of Songs 3
| Song of Songs 3 | |
|---|---|
._Visual_History_of_Nations,_Israel_(1948),_New_Canaan,_CT.jpg) Four thousand years of Jewish history come to life in Arthur Szyk's Visual History of Israel, completed in 1948, depicting, among others, King Solomon (top right), shown holding a copy of 'Song of Songs'. | |
| Book | Song of Songs |
| Category | Ketuvim |
| Christian Bible part | Old Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 22 |
Song of Songs 3 (abbreviated [where?] as Song 3) is the third chapter of the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] This book is one of the Five Megillot, a collection of short books, together with Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, within the Ketuvim, the third and the last part of the Hebrew Bible.[3] Jewish tradition views Solomon as the author of this book (although this is now largely disputed), and this attribution influences the acceptance of this book as a canonical text.[3] This chapter contains a female song about her search for her lover at night and the poem describing King Solomon's procession.[4]
Text
[edit]The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 11 verses.
Textual witnesses
[edit]Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century),[a] and Codex Leningradensis (1008).[6] Some fragments containing parts of this chapter were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls: 4Q106 (4QCanta); 30 BCE-30 CE; extant verses 3–5, 7–11), 4Q107 (4QCantb); 30 BCE-30 CE; extant verses 1–2, 5, 9–11), and 4Q108 (4QCantc); 30 BCE-30 CE; extant verses 7–8).[7][8][9]
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).[10]
Structure
[edit]New King James Version (NKJV) groups this chapter into:
- Song 3:1–5 = A Troubled Night
- Song 3:6–11 = The Coming of Solomon
Female: Search and seizure (3:1-5)
[edit]The first part of this chapter is "a tightly constructed song" of the female protagonist, describing how she looks for her lover at night (or in a dream) in the city streets, until she finds him and brings him into her mother's house.[11] The setting of this poem progresses from the woman's bed (verse 1) to the public areas of the city (verses 2-4b) and finally to the privacy of her mother's bedroom (verses 4c-5).[12] It closes with the second appeal to the 'daughters of Jerusalem'.[11]
Verse 1
[edit]- On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves;
- I sought him, but found him not.[13]
"By night" (Hebrew: בלילות, ba-lê-lō-wṯ[14]) can be read as "nightly" or "night after night":[15][16] the word "refers to more nights than one".[17] The woman had expected her lover to return "before dawn";[18] Hudson Taylor notes that she might have regretted "lightly dismiss[ing] Him, with the thought: A little later I may enjoy His love ... Poor foolish bride!"[19]
Verse 5
[edit]- I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
- By the gazelles or by the does of the field,
- Do not stir up nor awaken love
- Until it pleases.[20]
- Cross references: Song of Songs 2:7; 8:4[15]
- "Charge" or "adjure"[21]
The names of God are apparently substituted with similar sounding phrases depicting 'female gazelles' (צְבָא֔וֹת, tseḇā’ōṯ) for [God of] hosts (צבאות tseḇā’ōṯ), and 'does of the field'/'wild does/female deer' (אילות השדה, ’ay-lōṯ ha-śā-ḏeh) for God Almighty (אל שדי, ’êl shaddai).[22]
Male: Marriage scene (3:6-11)
[edit]This section starts a poetic exposition of love and marriage which form the core of the book (Song 3:6-5:1).[23] Hess applies these six verses to the man,[24] whereas Fox prefers the daughter of Jerusalem as the speakers,[25] and the New King James Version assigns them to "the Shulamite" (= the woman).[26]
Solomon is the focus of this section, as his name is mentioned three times (verses 7, 9 and 11), and the suffix 'his' (-o) refers to him once in verse 7, another in verse 9 and four times in the second part of verse 11.[24] The last word of this part is 'his heart' (libbo), referring directly to the essential aspect of King Solomon and the most relevant to the whole love poem.[24] The mention of Solomon's mother in verse 11 is in line with the focus on mothers in the book, both the woman's (1:6; 3:4; 6:9; 8:1, 2) and the man's (8:5).[27]
See also
[edit]- Jerusalem
- Zion
- Related Bible parts: Song of Songs 2
Notes
[edit]- ^ Since 1947 the current text of Aleppo Codex is missing Song of Songs 3:11, after the word ציון ("Zion"), to the end.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ Halley 1965, p. 278.
- ^ Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
- ^ a b Brenner 2007, p. 429.
- ^ Brenner 2007, pp. 430–431.
- ^ P. W. Skehan (2003), "BIBLE (TEXTS)", New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (2nd ed.), Gale, pp. 355–362
- ^ Würthwein 1995, pp. 36–37.
- ^ Ulrich, Eugene, ed. (2010). The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants. Brill. pp. 740–742. ISBN 9789004181830. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
- ^ Dead sea scrolls - Song of Songs.
- ^ Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (2008). A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p. 42. ISBN 9780802862419. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
- ^ Würthwein 1995, pp. 73–74.
- ^ a b Brenner 2007, p. 430.
- ^ Longman 2001, p. 127.
- ^ Song 3:1 MEV
- ^ Hebrew Text Analysis: Song of Solomon 3:1. Biblehub
- ^ a b Coogan 2007, p. 962 Hebrew Bible.
- ^ Song of Songs 3:1: New Catholic Bible
- ^ Harper, A. (1902), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Song of Solomon 3, accessed 12 January 2023
- ^ Song 2:17: Living Bible
- ^ Taylor, H. (1893), Union and Communion, or Thoughts on the Song of Solomon, 1997 edition retyped by Kathy Sewell, page 15, accessed 12 January 2023
- ^ Song 3:5 NKJV
- ^ Note [a] on Song 3:5 in NKJV
- ^ Bergant 2001, p. 26.
- ^ Hess 2005, p. 36.
- ^ a b c Hess 2005, p. 116.
- ^ Fox, Song, p. 119, apud Hess 2005, p.116
- ^ Song 3:6 NKJV
- ^ Exum 2005, p. 141.
Sources
[edit]- Bergant, Dianne (2001). Cotter, David W.; Walsh, Jerome T.; Franke, Chris (eds.). The Songs of Songs. Berit Olam (The Everlasting Covenant): Studies In Hebrew Narrative And Poetry. Liturgical Press. ISBN 9780814650691.
- Brenner, Athalya (2007). "21. The Song of Solomon". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 429–433. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- Coogan, Michael David (2007). Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; Perkins, Pheme (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 (Augmented 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288810.
- Exum, J. Cheryl (2005). Songs of Songs: A Commentary. Old Testament library (reprint ed.). Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 9780664221904.
- Halley, Henry H. (1965). Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary (24th (revised) ed.). Zondervan Publishing House. ISBN 0-310-25720-4.
- Hess, Richard S. (2005). Songs of Songs. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Series. Baker Academic. ISBN 9780801027123.
- Longman, Tremper (2001). Songs of Songs. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Vol. 26. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802825438.
- Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
External links
[edit]- Jewish translations:
- Shir Hashirim - Song of Songs - Chapter 3 (Judaica Press) translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
- Christian translations:
- Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
- Song of Solomon Chapter 3 King James Version
Song of Solomon public domain audiobook at LibriVox Various versions
