Song of Solomon 3:5

Son 3:5 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake [my] love, till he please.

Ver. 5. I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem.] As a further fruit of her revived faith, she renews her contestation and charge of sanctification of life, such as becometh the gospel; that Christ, whom she resolves now to retain with her, be not provoked by sin to leave his people. {Num 32:15} And in this vehement adjuration, no doubt, saith an interpreter, but the Church had a special regard to the custom used then, and yet even at this day used among us - namely, that songs are sung before the bride chamber, and certain noises of instruments brought to wake the bride and bridegroom from sleep. {See Trapp on "Son 2:7"}

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.

Read Song 2:7.

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

Verse 5. I charge you] The same adjuration as before, So 2:7.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5. As in ch. Son_2:7. Probably here as there the significance of the adjuration is, that after such a demonstration of her deep-seated love the daughters of Jerusalem should not seek to arouse in her love for another by mere extraneous solicitations.

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.

See Son 2:7 note.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

I. The bridegroom (Calmet) speaks as [in] chap. ii. 7., (Worthington) and chap. viii. 4. He retires early.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

This verse is repeated from Son 2:7, where it is explained. The spouse exhorts herself and all her fellow members to be very circumspect, lest by any unkind or provoking carriage they should give Christ any cause to depart from them. He is supposed to allude to the custom of awakening the bridegroom and bride by songs and musical instruments.

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

5. I charge you, O ye daughters — With this verse ends the rehearsal; and so sweet was this last interview, over which memory fondly broods with miser care, that she urges the hearers to do nothing to divert her affections — unless, in some possible juncture. they of themselves seek another object. See Son_2:7. In all this rehearsal the leading emotions are so delicately and faithfully traced and sustained by given incidents, while so much is skilfully left to the imagination to supply, that, by the rules of rhetoric which we apply to Theocritus or Catullus, to Moore or Burns, it must take rank as a master-piece of soft and brilliant poetry. No wonder that under its infinite suggestion it has furnished material for allegory, often true and tender, applicable to much of Christian experience, to many a phase of both the Church of Israel and the Church of Christ. And this it does all the more solidly for having itself been real, if not literal, at first. That is to say, it was a dramatic truth if not a historic truth.

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

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awaken love, until it please. This is the refrain which divides the poem. We thus perceive that the whole of the preceding passage has been uttered by the bride in the presence of the ladies. There is no occasion to connect a refrain very closely with the words which go before it. Like the ancient Greek chorus, it may express a general sentiment in harmony with the pervading feeling of the whole composition. In this case it seems to be a general note of praise, celebrating the preciousness of pure, spontaneous affection. There have been several beautiful and celebrated imitations of this first part of Solomon"s Song, though they all fall far short of the original. Paul Gerhard has caught its spirit; Laurentius has copied it in his Advent Hymn. Watts, in bk. 1:66-78 of his "Divine gongs;" "Lyra Germanica;" Schaff"s "Christian Song;" and Miss Havergal, in some of her compositions, will furnish examples. Delitzsch quotes an ancient Latin imitation"Quando tandem venies, meus amor? Propera de Libano, dulcis amor! Clamat, amat, sponsula. Veni, Jesu; Dulcis veni Jesu.

This ends Part II, which sets before us the lovely beginning of this ideal love. We must then suppose that the writer imagines himself in Jerusalem, as though one of the court ladies, at the time that Solomon the king returns from the north, bringing with him his bride elect. We pass, therefore, from the banqueting chamber, and recall the scenes which accompanied the arrival of Shulamith at Jerusalem. The remainder of the poem is simply the celebration of married love, the delight of the bridegroom in the bride and of the bride in her husband. The whole book concerns a bride, and not one who is about to be made a bride. Here the dream which is introduced is not the dream of a lover awaiting the beloved one, but the dream of a young wife whose bridegroom tarries. The third part is the nuptial rejoicings; the fourth part is the reminiscence of love days or of the early married life; and the fifth part, which is a conclusion, is a visit of Solomon and his bride to the country home of the latter, pointing to the depth and reality of the influence which this pure maiden had upon his royal nature.

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

General Information:

Translate this verse as in Song of Songs 2:7.

daughters of Jerusalem

"young women of Jerusalem." These young women could not hear her and were not present, but the woman speaks as if they were present and could hear her. (See: Apostrophe)

by the gazelles and the does of the fields

Although the daughters of Jerusalem are not there to hear her, the woman is telling them that the gazelles and the does will punish them they break their promise. (See: Apostrophe)

the gazelles

animals that look like deer and move quickly.

does

female deer

of the fields

"that live in the countryside." This refers to land that has not been farmed.

will not awaken or arouse love until she pleases

Here "love" is spoken of as if it were a person asleep that does not want to be awakened. This is a metaphor that represents the man and woman who do not want to be disturbed until they are finished making love. AT: "will not disturb us until we have finished making love" (See: Personification and Metaphor)

will not awaken or arouse

If your language has only one word for waking people out of sleep, you could combine these words. AT: "will not awaken" (See: Doublet)

translationWords

oath

Jerusalem

deer

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

I adjure you [you] nations, while I am exiled among you.

that you neither awaken nor arouse my beloved’s love from me through seduction or enticement to forsake him, to turn from following him.

while it is desirous as long as I still desire his love.

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.