Limitless Word

Song of Songs 3:2

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.
Song of Songs 3:2 · King James Version
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.
  • BSB 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.
  • 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 5:14Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
  • Rom 13:11And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
  • Isa 64:7And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.
  • Prov 8:34Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
  • Ps 22:1–2My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
  • Prov 1:20–21Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
  • 1 Cor 15:34Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
  • Prov 8:2–3She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.
  • Ps 42:7–9Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
  • Ps 43:2–5For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
  • Ps 77:7–10Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?
  • John 1:6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
  • Jer 5:1Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
  • Luke 14:21–23So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
  • Song 5:5I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
  • Matt 26:40–41And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?

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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.