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Song of Songs 3:2

I will arise now and go about the city, through the streets and squares. I will seek the one I love. So I sought him but did not find him.
Song of Songs 3:2 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB I will get up now, and go about the city; in the streets and in the squares I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, but I didn’t find him.
  • KJV 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.
  • NKJV “I will rise now,” I said, “And go about the city; In the streets and in the squares I will seek the one I love.” I sought him, but I did not find him.
  • NASB ‘I must arise now and go around in the city; In the streets and in the public squares I must seek him whom my soul loves.’ I sought him but did not find him.
  • NLT So I said to myself, “I will get up and roam the city, searching in all its streets and squares. I will search for the one I love.” So I searched everywhere but did not find him.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

She rises to search the city streets for her beloved, still not finding him. It shows persistent, determined seeking despite no answer.

Overview

Unable to rest, she goes through the streets and squares seeking the one her soul loves, yet again does not find him. Her persistence reveals the depth of her love. The believer too is called to seek the Lord diligently, even when He seems far, trusting that those who seek will find (Matt. 7:7; Deut. 4:29).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • Eph 5:14So it is said: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
  • Rom 13:11And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
  • Isa 64:7No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.
  • Prov 8:34Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my doorway.
  • Ps 22:1–2For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
  • Prov 1:20–21Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;
  • 1 Cor 15:34Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame.
  • Prov 8:2–3On the heights overlooking the road, at the crossroads she takes her stand.
  • Ps 42:7–9Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and waves have rolled over me.
  • Ps 43:2–5For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?
  • Ps 77:7–10“Will the Lord spurn us forever and never show His favor again?
  • John 1:6There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John.
  • Jer 5:1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
  • Luke 14:21–23The servant returned and reported all this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
  • Song 5:5I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt.
  • Matt 26:40–41Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter.

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Christ at the center

The poetry of covenant love between bride and bridegroom pictures, at its highest, the love of Christ for his church — the Bridegroom who gave himself for his bride.

How Song of Songs 3:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.