
Text -- The Song of Songs 3:1 (NET)




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collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Wesley: Sos 3:1 - -- When others compose themselves to sleep, my affections were working towards him.
When others compose themselves to sleep, my affections were working towards him.

I sought for Christ's gracious and powerful presence.

This repetition denotes her perseverance and unweariedness in seeking him.

Wesley: Sos 3:1 - -- For he had withdrawn the manifestations of his love from me, either because I had not sought him diligently, or because I had abused his favour.
For he had withdrawn the manifestations of his love from me, either because I had not sought him diligently, or because I had abused his favour.
JFB: Sos 3:1 - -- Literally, "By nights." Continuation of the longing for the dawn of the Messiah (Son 2:17; Psa 130:6; Mal 4:2). The spiritual desertion here (Son 2:17...
Literally, "By nights." Continuation of the longing for the dawn of the Messiah (Son 2:17; Psa 130:6; Mal 4:2). The spiritual desertion here (Son 2:17; Son 3:5) is not due to indifference, as in Son 5:2-8. "As nights and dews are better for flowers than a continual sun, so Christ's absence (at times) giveth sap to humility, and putteth an edge on hunger, and furnisheth a fair field to faith to put forth itself" [RUTHERFORD]. Contrast Son 1:13; Psa 30:6-7.


JFB: Sos 3:1 - -- No want of sincerity, but of diligence, which she now makes up for by leaving her bed to seek Him (Psa 22:2; Psa 63:8; Isa 26:9; Joh 20:17). Four time...
No want of sincerity, but of diligence, which she now makes up for by leaving her bed to seek Him (Psa 22:2; Psa 63:8; Isa 26:9; Joh 20:17). Four times (Son 3:1-4) she calls Jesus Christ, "Him whom my soul loveth," designating Him as absent; language of desire: "He loved me," would be language of present fruition (Rev 1:5). In questioning the watchmen (Son 3:3), she does not even name Him, so full is her heart of Him. Having found Him at dawn (for throughout He is the morning), she charges the daughters not to abridge by intrusion the period of His stay. Compare as to the thoughtful seeking for Jesus Christ in the time of John the Baptist, in vain at first, but presently after successful (Luk 3:15-22; John 1:19-34).
Clarke -> Sos 3:1
Clarke: Sos 3:1 - -- By night on my bed I sought him - It appears that the bridegroom only saw the bride by night: that on the night referred to here he did not come as ...
By night on my bed I sought him - It appears that the bridegroom only saw the bride by night: that on the night referred to here he did not come as usual. The bride troubled on the account, rose and sought him, inquired of the city guards, and continued to seek till at last she found him, and brought him to her apartment, Son 3:2-4.
Defender -> Sos 3:1
Defender: Sos 3:1 - -- The experience described in Son 3:1-5 is evidently a dream, perhaps brought on by her concern over the "little foxes" which might eventually separate ...
TSK -> Sos 3:1
TSK: Sos 3:1 - -- night : Psa 4:4, Psa 6:6, Psa 22:2, Psa 63:6-8, Psa 77:2-4; Isa 26:9
him whom : Son 1:7, Son 5:8; Joh 21:17; 1Pe 1:8
but : Son 5:6; Job 23:8, Job 23:9...

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Sos 3:1
By night - i. e., In the night-hours.
Haydock -> Sos 3:1
Haydock: Sos 3:1 - -- Bed. The Church, finding Christ by his own revelation, and not by philosophy, holds him fast. (Worthington) ---
He had delayed coming at the usual...
Bed. The Church, finding Christ by his own revelation, and not by philosophy, holds him fast. (Worthington) ---
He had delayed coming at the usual hour, to give us to understand, that he is not found amid delights, nor in a crowd, but that we must seek him diligently, like Magdalene, John xx. (St. Ambrose, de Isaac.) ---
The apostles endeavoured to convert the synagogue, but their offers were rejected, and the guards, or princes, persecuted them. (Menochius) (Chap. v. 7.) (Haydock)
Gill -> Sos 3:1
Gill: Sos 3:1 - -- By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth,.... The day being not yet broke, the night of Jewish darkness still on the church, and the shadow...
By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth,.... The day being not yet broke, the night of Jewish darkness still on the church, and the shadow of the ceremonial law as yet stretched upon her; and having some knowledge of Christ by types and prophecies, desires more, and seeks it in the use of means: though the words may be taken in a more large sense, and represent the state and condition of the church and of all true believers in any age, and at one time as well as another; who, when their beloved is absent, it is "night" with them; as Christ's presence makes day, his absence makes night; and it was now night with the Church, either of affliction, or of darkness and desertion, and indeed of both. The word is plural, "by nights" i; one night after another, successively, she sought her beloved; which both expresses the continuance of her state, and her diligence and constancy in seeking Christ. The place where she sought him was "her bed"; not the same as in Son 1:16; which was both Christ's and hers, and where a different word is used; but this was purely her own: either a bed of affliction, when good men usually seek the Lord, Isa 26:16, Hos 5:15; or rather of carnal ease and security, in which she continued, and rose not up from it to seek her beloved; which shows the cold, lukewarm, lazy frame she was in, and formal manner in which she sought him, and so succeeded not: however, he was stilt the person "whom her soul loved", cordially and sincerely, though not so fervently as she had done; true love, though it may be abated, cannot be lost;
I sought him, but I found him not; because she sought him not aright; not timely, nor fervently and diligently, nor in a proper place; not in her closet, by prayer, reading, and meditation, nor in public ordinances, she afterwards did; but on her bed.

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes: Sos 3:1 Heb “but I did not find him.” The verb מָצָא (matsa’, “to find”) normally describes discov...
Geneva Bible -> Sos 3:1
Geneva Bible: Sos 3:1 By ( a ) night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
( a ) The Church by night, that is, in troubles, seeks ...

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Sos 3:1-11
TSK Synopsis: Sos 3:1-11 - --1 The church's fight and victory in temptation.6 The church glories in Christ.
MHCC -> Sos 3:1-5
MHCC: Sos 3:1-5 - --It was hard to the Old Testament church to find Christ in the ceremonial law; the watchmen of that church gave little assistance to those who sought a...
Matthew Henry -> Sos 3:1-5
Matthew Henry: Sos 3:1-5 - -- God is not wont to say to the seed of Jacob, Seek you me in vain; and yet here we have the spouse for a great while seeking her beloved in vain, b...
Keil-Delitzsch -> Sos 3:1
Keil-Delitzsch: Sos 3:1 - --
1 On my bed in the nights
I sought him whom my soul loveth:
I sought him, and found him not.
She does not mean to say that she sought him beside ...
Constable: Sos 1:2--3:6 - --II. THE COURTSHIP 1:2--3:5
Perhaps the outstanding characteristic of this first major section of the book is the...

Constable: Sos 3:1-5 - --3. The pain of separation 3:1-5
Another incident unfolds in this pericope (vv. 1-4) and conclude...
