Song of Solomon 3:2

Son 3:2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

Ver. 2. I will rise now, and go about the city, &c.] The holy city Jerusalem, whither "the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel." {Psa 122:4} There was the likeliest place to find Christ; there his parents found him once, after three days’ search, {Luk 2:46} sitting in the temple; there he dwelt among men; there he gave gifts unto men, and therehence he went forth abroad the whole world, "conquering, and to conquer." {Rev 6:2} Here, therefore, the spouse seeks him among the people of God, and in his word and ordinances. She knew well that he fed his flock among those lilies, used to go down into that his garden of spices {Son 6:1-2} to take a turn amidst those golden candlesticks, {Rev 1:13} to take a view of his wedding guests, {Mat 22:11} yea, to eat and drink in their presence, and to teach in their streets. {Luk 13:26} Abroad she gets, therefore, and that presently.

I will rise now.] Saith she, lest I lose mine opportunity; for if so, I may seek it with tears, and go without it with sorrow. Men may purpose, promise, and expect a time of healing and curing, when they shall be deceived, and find a time of trouble. {Jer 14:17} "Many, I say unto you, shall seek to enter, and shall not be able," {Luk 13:24} yea, "they shall go with their flocks, and with their herds, to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them." {Hos 5:6} They came too late, belike; they sought not the Lord while he was to be found ( vel sero, vel certe non serlo qucerebant); they called not upon him while he was near; they stayed till he was out of call; {Pro 1:28} till he was resolved to return either no answer at all, or such a sad answer as the Jews had from him, because they stood out their day of grace: "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come." {Joh 7:34} And again, "I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins." {Joh 8:21} Oh, dreadful sentence! The Church herself here, though never so dear to Christ, seems to some to be guilty of sloth and slackness in seeking after Christ, and doing it in her bed (as loath at first to disease herself), or in holding him while she had him, if, while she was sleeping, he slipped away from her side. The wise virgins also were napping and nodding, {Mat 25:1-46} and holy Augustine {a} confesseth that he could not answer that clear text, whereby he was called out of his sinful course. "Awake, thou that sleepest, and stand up from the dead," &c., but only by that wish of the sluggard, Modo et ecce modo, Sinite paululum, &c. A little more sleeps, a little more slumbers, &c.; little, and yet sleeps, in the plural. Thus, Modo et modo non habent modum, et Sinite paululum ibit in Iongum, as that father hath it. Somewhat it was, surely, that makes the Church resolve, as here, "I will rise now," or "Let me rise now"; I will stir up the gift of God that is in me; I will stir up myself to take better hold of Christ. Here is a tacit taxing herself for some former slackness, after her former enjoyments and familiar intercourse with Christ. We are too ready, after we have run well, to lie down and take cold, which may cause a consumption; to please ourselves in unlawful liberties, when we have pleased the Lord in lawful duties. Hezekiah, after his notable service, both of prayer and thanksgiving, fondly over-shoots himself to the Babylonish ambassadors. Jonah, after his embassage, faithfully discharged, to the Ninevites, breaks forth into anger against the Lord. Peter, being commended by Christ for the profession of his faith, fell presently so far wide, that he heard, "Get thee behind me, Satan." {Mat 16:1-28}

I sought him, but I found him not.] For trial and exercise of her faith and constance. "Then shall ye know, if ye follow on to know the Lord." {Hos 6:3} So then shall we find, if we follow on to seek Christ, fetching him out of his hidingplace, as the woman of Canaan did. For he would have hid himself, saith the text, but he could not, for a certain woman, &c. {Mar 7:24-25} And as she set him out, so she followed him close, refusing to be either said nay, or sit down with silence or sad answers. The like did Jacob. {Gen 32:1-32} He wrestled with might and slight. He would have a blessing whether God would or no, as we may say with reverence. "Let me go," saith God. No, thou shalt not, saith Jacob. "Let me alone, that I may destroy this people." No, by no means, saith Moses. In seeking of Christ, faith is not only importunate, but even impudent, {Luk 11:8} {b} and threatens heaven, as Nazianzen said of his sister Gorgonia. If he have lost his mercy, she will find it for him. {Isa 63:15} If he look strange and stern, she will both know him, and claim him amidst all his austerities. Isa 63:16, "Art not thou our father?" If he be gone never so far, she will "follow hard after him," {Psa 63:8} so David’s phrase is; even as hard as her old legs will carry, as Father Latimer said; with "Return, for thy servant’s sake. We are thine." {Isa 63:17; Isa 63:19} O Lord, saith the Church in Habakkuk, "Art not thou from everlasting, my God, and mine Holy One?" It was a bold question, but God assents to it in a gracious answer, ere he went further. We shall not die, say they abruptly. {Hab 1:12} Nay, "after two days" - for so long, it may be, he will hold us off, to try how we will hold out seeking - "he will revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." {Hos 6:2} Or if we should die in this waiting condition, and in a spiritual desertion, yet we could not miss heaven, because he hath said, "Blessed are all they that wait for him." {Isa 30:18}

{a} Confess., lib. viii. cap. 5.

{b} αναιδειαν propter improbitatem.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Son 3:2. I will rise now — I will immediately apply myself to seek him, without whom my bed can give me no rest, nor comfort; and go about the city — The city of God, the church in which Christ resides. And in the broad ways — Not finding him in private prayer and meditation, I sought him in the places of public assemblies and ordinances; but I found him not — He saw fit still to delay the discoveries of his grace.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:2 The poem is partly about a lover’s being willing and able to overcome all obstacles in order to be with the beloved. • Since the women of Jerusalem are mentioned frequently (3:5), the city is probably Jerusalem. Searching in all its streets and squares was an ambitious effort. • The king of Israel would probably not be outside in the city at night, and if he had his sixty-man entourage with him (3:7-8), she would find him easily. Rather, the woman appears to be looking for a common man in common places.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Showing that although we be not heard at the first, yet we must still continue in prayer, till we feel comfort.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

2. R.V. rightly inserts I said at the beginning of the verse. It is a vivid presentment of what happened, when her hope of her lover’s presence was disappointed. She said in her dream not I will rise now, but Come let me arise and let me go about in the city. The hortative forms of the verb beautifully express the energy, and perhaps the anxiety, with which she seemed in her dream to seek for him whom her soul loved.

the city] Not necessarily a ‘city’ in our sense of the word, but any place of any size which had defences, as distinct from the mere village. Cp. 2Ki_17:9, “They built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city,” where ‘cities’ must include the tower of the watchmen. Consequently, Jerusalem need not here be intended; more probably it is either Shulam or some place in the neighbourhood where her lover resided. Thither she had travelled in her dream.

in the streets and in the broad ways] Better, in the streets and in the open spaces. In ancient cities in Palestine the streets were exceedingly narrow, but just within the gates there were wider spaces, as also where the streets began, and where they crossed each other. These all would be called rìchôbôth. As the mention of the watchmen indicates that even for the dreamer the search takes place at night, the streets and squares cannot be referred to as places of public resort. The refrain, but I found him not, expresses well that feeling of distress at the frustration of our efforts which is the chief pain of dreams.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I will rise now; I will immediately apply myself to seek him, without whom my bed can give me no rest nor comfort.

The city; the city of God, the church, in which Christ resides.

In the streets, and in the broad ways: not finding him in private prayer and meditation, I sought him in the places of public assemblies and ordinances; for the people frequently met together in the streets, not only for civil, but for religious ends, 2Ch 32:6; Neh 8:1,3,16; Pr 1:20,21; Lu 13:26.

I found him not; he saw fit still to delay the discoveries of his grace, partly, to chastise my former folly; partly, to try my sincerity and constancy; and partly, that he might be more welcome when he came to me.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. I will rise — A plainer connexion would be made by placing, I said to myself, at the beginning of the verse. The emotions of the Enamoured have become intolerable. About the city, suggests an unusual effort at search, as her home was evidently in the suburbs. Tidings of him at night will more likely be found in the streets of the town and the broad thoroughfares leading to it, than in the fields. Or it may be, that as Palestine has always been infested by robbers, the inhabitants, even of the rural districts, sought the safety of the town by night. Such is the prevailing usage at this time.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(I said) I will rise now, and go about the city, in the streets and in the broad ways; I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not. Delitzsch renders, "So I will arise, then." The words of the maiden are quite inconsistent with the hypothesis of a shepherd lover, for in that case she would seek him, not in the streets, but outside the city. Some think the city referred to is Jerusalem, with its markets and streets the royal city. (cf. Pro_7:11) If it is a dream, it will be unnecessary to decide to what city the words refer. The idea of the speaker would seem to be either that she was at the time within the walls of the city referred to, or that she was in some dwelling near. But a dream is not always consistent with the real circumstances of the dreamer. Taking it as a reminiscence of first love, it seems better to understand the city as only imaginary, or some neighbouring town in the north.

Vers. 2-4. The soul"s guest rewarded.

The romantic incident here poetically related has usually been regarded as a picture of the experiences through which many a soul is permitted to pass during this state of probation and Divine discipline.

I THE SOUL"S SEARCH.

1. The appreciation of Christ involved in this quest. Men seek for gold because they value it; they dive for pearls and dig for precious stones. Multitudes are indifferent to the Saviour because they know him not; because their spiritual susceptibilities are not awakened. But those to whom he is chief among ten thousand cannot be satisfied until they possess him and enjoy his fellowship.

2. The quest may be both earnest and prolonged. The desire for highest good is amongst the noblest and purest of all human characteristics. And seeking is good, even though finding be better. A search which is sincere and patient is in a sense its own reward. And there are those whose spiritual experience can only thus be justly described. It is a low view of human nature which looks upon such high quest with contempt; which takes for its motto, Nil admirari to desire or admire." The young and ardent will do well to make the search after God"s truth, after God himself, the occupation of their life.

II THE SOUL"S DISTRESS.

1. Seeking does not always issue in speedy finding. The soul may seek with a mistaken purpose, or in the wrong way, or with a misguided aim, or at the wrong time, i.e. too late.

2. The absence of the sought Saviour is the cause of distress and complaint. "This is the way I long had sought, And mourned because I found it not.

There is no repose for the heart until Christ be found. "Cor nostrum inquietum est, donec requiescat in te," says St. Augustine heart is restless till it rests in thee." There is something of mystery in the providential arrangement that the lot of man should so often be one of seemingly fruitless search and disappointed endeavour. Yet this is discipline for which many have had reason to give thanks; it has called forth courage, it has braced to patience, it has stimulated aspiration, it has sweetened success.

III THE SOUL"S DISCOVERY.

1. A delayed discovery. The soul has followed hard after him. The moment of revelation has been again and again deferred. The call has been loud, but has met with no answer but the echo.

2. A promised discovery. The word has gone forth from heaven, "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found." The promise has been proclaimed by Christ himself, "Seek, and ye shall find." He does not say, "Seek ye my face in vain.

3. A gracious discovery. "I found him whom my soul loveth." How condescending the revelation! How joyful the sight, the apprehension, the hope"s fulfilment!

4. A discovery which the soul uses for its own lasting satisfaction. As the bride in the poem "held" her spouse, grasped him by the arm in the fulness of her joy, and "brought him into the house," there to enjoy his society, so when the soul finds Christ it finds in him One who satisfies every deep craving of its nature. And to find him is to retain him, not as a wayfaring man who tarrieth for a night, but as an inmate never to be displaced from the heart, a friend to go no more out forever. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The city - The city of God, the church in which Christ resides. Broadways - Not finding him in private prayer, and meditation, I sought him in the places of public assemblies and ordinances. Found not - He saw fit still to delay the discoveries of his grace.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

I will arise now, etc., I will seek (Exod. 32:11): “And Moses prayed”; (ibid. verse 30): “I will go up to the Lord.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.