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Song of Songs 3:3

WEBKJVBSBESVNKJVNASBNLT
The watchmen who go about the city found me; “Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”
Song of Songs 3:3 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?
  • BSB I encountered the watchmen on their rounds of the city: “Have you seen the one I love?”
  • NKJV The watchmen who go about the city found me; I said, “Have you seen the one I love?”
  • NASB “The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me, And I said, ‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
  • NLT The watchmen stopped me as they made their rounds, and I asked, “Have you seen the one I love?”

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

The city watchmen find her, and she asks them about her beloved. It shows her single-minded focus amid her search.

Overview

Encountering the night watchmen, her only thought is her beloved, whom she asks them about. Her love consumes her attention and effort. So the seeking soul is preoccupied with finding the Lord above all else, counting nothing else as the goal (Ps. 27:4, 8).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Song 5:7The watchmen who go about the city found me. They beat me. They bruised me. The keepers of the walls took my cloak away from me.
  • John 20:15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
  • Ezek 33:2–9Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman;
  • Isa 21:6–8For the Lord said to me, “Go, set a watchman. Let him declare what he sees.
  • Isa 21:11–12The burden of Dumah. One calls to me out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?”
  • Heb 13:17Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.
  • Ezek 3:17“Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel. Therefore hear the word from my mouth, and warn them from me.
  • Isa 62:6I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. They will never be silent day nor night. You who call on Yahweh, take no rest,
  • Isa 56:10His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.

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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 3:3 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.

The watchmenשָׁמַרthat go aboutסָבַבthe cityעִירfoundמָצָאme: to whom I said, Sawרָאָהye him whom my soulנֶפֶשׁlovethאָהַב
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