Song of Songs 3:1

Song of Songs 3:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
• New International Version (NIV)All night long on my bed I looked for the one my heart loves; I looked for him but did not find him.
• English Standard Version (ESV)On my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but found him not.
• New King James Version (NKJV)By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him.

Context of Song of Songs 3:1

“On my bed night after night [I dreamed that] I sought the one Whom my soul loves; I sought him but did not find him. 2I said ‘So I must arise now and go out into the city; Into the streets and into the squares [places I do not know] I must seek him whom my soul loves.’ I sought him but I did not find him. 3The watchmen who go around the city found me, And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’

Song of Songs 3:1 word by word

עַל־מִשְׁכָּבִי֙ בַּלֵּיל֔וֹת בִּקַּ֕שְׁתִּי אֵ֥ת שֶׁאָהֲבָ֖ה נַפְשִׁ֑י בִּקַּשְׁתִּ֖יו וְלֹ֥א מְצָאתִֽיו׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• By nightלַ֫יְלָהlayil lêyl layelâh · nightH3915
• on my bedמִשְׁכָּבmishkâb · bedH4904
• I soughtבָּקַשׁbâqash · to seekH1245
• him whom my soulנֶ֫פֶשׁnephesh · soulH5315
• lovethאָהֵב'âhab 'âhêb · to love: loverH157
• him, but I foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672

Commentaries on Song of Songs 3:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1By 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, Song of Solomon 3:2-4.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The trials of the church by the withdrawing of Christ. (Song 3:1-5) The excellences of the church, The care of Christ for her. (Song 3:6-11) Verses 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 after him. The night is a time of coldness, darkness, and drowsiness, and of dim apprehensions concerning spiritual things. At first, when uneasy, some feeble…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-5In this dramatic scene, the woman is already apart from her lover and is terrified that she will not see him soon. One night, her worries push her out of bed to search frantically for him. She finds him and takes him to meet her mother.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-11So 3:1-11. 1. By night--literally, "By nights." Continuation of the longing for the dawn of the Messiah (So 2:17; Psa 130:6; Mal 4:2). The spiritual desertion here (So 2:17; 3:5) is not due to indifference, as in So 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 So…Read the comment
• Rashi on Tanakh · v. 1On my bed at night when I was troubled; when I sat in the dark for the entire thirty-eight years that the Israelites were under reproach.Read the comment

Topics related to Song of Songs 3:1

• Seekers

In the dictionaries

• Hold

Commentaries on Song of Songs 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary