Maiden’s Dream (?): Seeking and Finding

¹ On my bed in the night, I sought¹ him whom my ⌞heart⌟² loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.

1. Or “I seek”
2. Literally “soul”

² Now I will arise, and I will go about in the city, in the streets and in the squares; I will seek him whom my ⌞heart⌟¹ loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.

1. Literally “soul”

³ The sentinels who go about in the city found me. “Have you seen the one whom my ⌞heart⌟¹ loves?”

1. Literally “soul”

Adjuration Refrain

⁴ ⌞Scarcely had I passed⌟¹ by them when I found him whom my ⌞heart⌟² loves. I held him and I would not let him go until I brought him to the house of my mother, into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.

1. Literally “As little that I passed”
2. Literally “soul”

Royal Wedding Procession

⁵ I adjure you, ⌞O maidens of Jerusalem⌟,¹ by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!²

1. Literally “O daughters of Jerusalem”
2. Or “Do not stir up or awaken the love until it is willing,” or “Do not disturb or interrupt our love-making until it is satisfied”

⁶ What is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense from all the fragrant powders of the merchant?

⁷ Look! It is Solomon’s ⌞portable couch⌟!¹ Sixty mighty men surround ⌞it⌟,² the mighty men of Israel.

1. Literally “couch” or “portable sedan chair”
2. Literally “her”

⁸ All of them ⌞wield swords⌟;¹ they are ⌞trained in warfare⌟,² each with his sword at his thigh to guard ⌞against terror⌟³ in the night.

1. Literally “holders of sword”
2. Literally “learnt of war”
3. Literally “because of the fear”

⁹ ⌞King Solomon⌟¹ made for himself a sedan chair from the wood of Lebanon.

1. Literally “The king, Solomon”

¹⁰ He made its column of silver, its back¹ of gold, its seat of purple; its interior is inlaid with leather² by ⌞the maidens of Jerusalem⌟.³

1. Or “its support,” “its base,” “its headrest,” “its litter,” “its cover”
2. Or “love.” The Hebrew term here translated “leather” is spelled the same as the term for “love.” Most likely this is an example of a word play that puns on the intentional ambiguity: “Its interior was inlaid with leatherlove by the maidens of Jerusalem”
3. Literally “by the daughters of Jerusalem”

¹¹ Come out and look, ⌞O maidens of Zion⌟,¹ at ⌞King Solomon⌟,² at the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, on the day of the joy of his heart!

1. Literally “O daughters of Zion”
2. Literally “the king, Solomon”