Introduction: The Third Song - The Maiden's Flight to Her Beloved
We are in the allegorical narrative of Shir HaShirim, within the third song. After many days during which the maiden was confined to the chambers of Shlomo, she began to remember her beloved - her true husband. Spurred by that awakening, she rises from her bed to seek him in the city, but does not find him. From there she continues to the wilderness, where she is finally reunited with him, until the daughters of Jerusalem once again pursue her. Even afterward, their bond continues, and she speaks to him with expressions of affection and closeness. In the chapter before us, the poet describes how the maiden departed from Shlomo's bed, and how the daughters of Jerusalem were unable to prevent her very departure.
"Upon My Bed at Night" - Yearning Awakens
עַל־מִשְׁכָּבִי בַּלֵּילוֹת בִּקַּשְׁתִּי אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו׃ (ג, א) - "Upon my bed at night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him." (3:1)
The maiden begins to remember her beloved and to seek him upon her bed. "At night" - night after night she seeks her beloved, but does not find him.
אָקוּמָה נָּא וַאֲסוֹבְבָה בָעִיר בַּשְּׁוָקִים וּבָרְחֹבוֹת אֲבַקְשָׁה אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו׃ (ג, ב) - "I will rise now and go about the city, in the marketplaces and in the streets; I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I did not find him." (3:2)
She rises from the palace of Shlomo, rising from the bed to seek him in the city. From there she goes out into the marketplaces, and from the marketplaces into the broad streets - and yet, "I sought him, but I did not find him": I sought my husband and my beloved, but I did not find him.
From the Watchmen to Outside the City - And Finding Him There
מְצָאוּנִי הַשֹּׁמְרִים הַסֹּבְבִים בָּעִיר אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי רְאִיתֶם׃ (ג, ג) - "The watchmen who patrol the city found me: 'Have you seen him whom my soul loves?'" (3:3)
She moves forward and exits the city, reaching the outer perimeter where the watchmen stand - those watchmen who patrol the city and guard its gates. There she asks them again: "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?"
כִּמְעַט שֶׁעָבַרְתִּי מֵהֶם עַד שֶׁמָּצָאתִי אֵת שֶׁאָהֲבָה נַפְשִׁי אֲחַזְתִּיו וְלֹא אַרְפֶּנּוּ עַד־שֶׁהֲבֵיאתִיו אֶל־בֵּית אִמִּי וְאֶל־חֶדֶר הוֹרָתִי׃ (ג, ד) - "Scarcely had I passed them when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go, until I had brought him to the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her who conceived me." (3:4)
She had barely passed beyond the watchmen to outside the city, and there she found him whom her soul loved. Now she resolves that this time she will not let him go until she brings him to her mother's house - to a permanent dwelling where she resides, so that she will no longer need to search for him upon the cleft mountains (Harey Bater).
I Adjure You - Do Not Awaken or Arouse
הִשְׁבַּעְתִּי אֶתְכֶם בְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלַ͏ִם בִּצְבָאוֹת אוֹ בְּאַיְלוֹת הַשָּׂדֶה אִם־תָּעִירוּ וְאִם־תְּעוֹרְרוּ אֶת־הָאַהֲבָה עַד שֶׁתֶּחְפָּץ׃ (ג, ה) - "I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the hinds of the field, that you neither awaken nor arouse the love until it desires." (3:5)
The daughters of Jerusalem pursue her, seeking to return her to the palace, and she adjures them not to disrupt this love. This verse recurs in the book, so we will state the explanation briefly: "to awaken" (leha'ir) means to nullify, and "to arouse" (le'orer) means to strengthen. That is: do not create a situation that breaks the love, nor should you try to reinforce it - for this love arises on its own and not through your actions; and certainly do not nullify it.
"Who is this rising from the wilderness" - Wonder at the Escape
מִי זֹאת עֹלָה מִן־הַמִּדְבָּר כְּתִימְרוֹת עָשָׁן מְקֻטֶּרֶת מֹר וּלְבוֹנָה מִכֹּל אַבְקַת רוֹכֵל׃ (ג, ו) - "Who is this rising from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, from all the merchant's powders?" (3:6)
הִנֵּה מִטָּתוֹ שֶׁלִּשְׁלֹמֹה שִׁשִּׁים גִּבֹּרִים סָבִיב לָהּ מִגִּבֹּרֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ (ג, ז) - "Behold, Solomon's bed: sixty warriors surround it, of the mighty of Israel." (3:7)
As it were, the poet stands in wonder: when the maiden returns from the wilderness, anyone watching is astonished at how she managed to slip away and escape from Solomon's bed. After all, "Solomon's bed: sixty warriors surround it" - guards encircle the bed on all sides, all of them among the mighty of Israel. How did they not stop her?
And what is the meaning of "like columns of smoke"? The verse describes the fragrances she was perfumed with because of her beloved, as a result of her union with him. For we have already seen that her beloved was heavily perfumed, as it says, "Your oils have a goodly fragrance," "a cluster of henna" - so that when she returns, a sweet fragrance emanates from her because of her husband, a scent so dense it is like smoke, like something palpable. "Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense" - like incense of myrrh and frankincense. Sometimes a person walks down the street behind someone who spilled some perfume, and you can sense a trail following them. In the same way, when the maiden returns from the wilderness, the fragrance of her bond with her beloved is unmistakable.
כֻּלָּם אֲחֻזֵי חֶרֶב מְלֻמְּדֵי מִלְחָמָה אִישׁ חַרְבּוֹ עַל־יְרֵכוֹ מִפַּחַד בַּלֵּילוֹת׃ (ג, ח) - "All of them brandish swords, trained in battle, each man with his sword upon his thigh, against the terror of the nights." (3:8)
All of them hold swords and are trained in warfare, yet they did not stop her when she slipped away from Solomon's bed to meet her beloved. They could not draw their swords against her, and each sword remained resting on the thigh - "each man with his sword upon his thigh." And what was the reason? "Against the terror of the nights" - a dread of the night fell upon them, and consequently she walked out without them being able to harm her or rising to detain her.
"King Solomon made himself a palanquin" - Where Were the Daughters of Jerusalem?
אַפִּרְיוֹן עָשָׂה לוֹ הַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה מֵעֲצֵי הַלְּבָנוֹן׃ (ג, ט) - "King Solomon made himself a palanquin from the trees of Lebanon." (3:9)
Now Scripture comes to answer the second question: Where were the daughters of Jerusalem? After all, they too were guarding her - how did they allow her to go out to her Beloved? And not only that, but even after her return from the wilderness, we see later that her Beloved is secluded with her from time to time, and the separation this time is not absolute. If so, why do the daughters of Jerusalem take no action?
The answer: King Solomon made himself a palanquin (apiryon). Their custom was that at the time of a wedding, on the day of the chuppah, they would seat the bride in a palanquin - a special canopy or enclosed chamber within which they would seat the bride. Solomon wished to betroth the Raya, that she should become his betrothed wife and bride, for until now she had been with him like a concubine (and we have already seen that Solomon had many concubines), and she was guarded and confined by the daughters of Jerusalem like a rose among the thorns. In order to take her to himself as a bride, he made the palanquin, so that he could enter into the chuppah like a bridegroom entering to his bride.
עַמּוּדָיו עָשָׂה כֶסֶף רְפִידָתוֹ זָהָב מֶרְכָּבוֹ אַרְגָּמָן תּוֹכוֹ רָצוּף אַהֲבָה מִבְּנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלָ͏ִם׃ (ג, י) - "He made its pillars of silver, its base of gold, its seat of purple; its interior inlaid with love from the daughters of Jerusalem." (3:10)
He made this palanquin extraordinarily special, from the trees of Lebanon, its pillars of silver, its base of gold, and its seat of purple. And who dwells within it? "Its interior inlaid with love from the daughters of Jerusalem." The Malbim explains that ratzuf ("inlaid") is related to the expression "and in his hand was a glowing coal (ritzpah)" - ritzpah being related to reshef, a spark or flame of fire. There, the verse refers to an angel holding fiery coals to cast upon Jerusalem, which is why it is called a ritzpah. Here, then, the spark of love gathered from all the daughters of Jerusalem dwells within the palanquin: the love Solomon held toward all the daughters of Jerusalem grew and intensified in his love for this Raya far beyond them all, and Scripture describes his love for her as equal to the love of all of them combined.
Go Forth and See - The Raya's Stratagem
צְאֶנָה וּרְאֶינָה בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן בַּמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה בָּעֲטָרָה שֶׁעִטְּרָה־לּוֹ אִמּוֹ בְּיוֹם חֲתֻנָּתוֹ וּבְיוֹם שִׂמְחַת לִבּוֹ׃ (ג, יא) - "Go forth and gaze, O daughters of Zion, upon King Solomon, wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, and on the day of the gladness of his heart." (3:11)
From this, the Raya finds a stratagem to send the daughters of Jerusalem away from her, and this is how she managed to slip away and go out to her Beloved without them hindering her. What does she say to them? King Solomon's mother crowned him with a special crown on his wedding day - on the day of his wedding with the Raya. She tells them: Daughters of Zion, go out now and see the special crown that his mother crowned him with on his wedding day and on the day of the gladness of his heart. And while they went off to see the crown, the Raya slipped out and reunited with her Beloved.
In this way, the two elements converged: regarding the guards of Solomon's couch - she slipped past them and was secluded with her Beloved without them being able to interfere, because of the dread of the night that had fallen upon them; and regarding the daughters of Jerusalem - she used a clever stratagem, sending them off to view the crown that his mother had crowned him with, seizing the opportunity to escape and unite with her Beloved.
In summary: In the third song, the Raya awakens upon her bed at night, seeks her Beloved in the city, in the marketplaces and broad ways, but does not find him. She passes the watchmen patrolling the city, and outside it she finds him, holding him fast, refusing to let him go again. When she returns from the wilderness, perfumed with the fragrance of her Beloved like columns of smoke, onlookers stand in wonder: How did she bypass the sixty valiant men surrounding Solomon's couch? The answer - their sword remained upon their thigh "out of dread in the night." And how did she bypass the daughters of Jerusalem? Solomon had made himself a magnificent palanquin to take her as his bride, and his love for her outweighed the love of all the daughters of Jerusalem; the Raya exploited this with a stratagem: she sent them to look at the crown his mother had crowned him with on his wedding day, and in the meantime slipped away and was reunited with her Beloved.