Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.
Parallel translations
- WEB Without realizing it, my desire set me with my royal people’s chariots.
- BSB Before I realized it, my desire had set me among the royal chariots of my people.
- NKJV Before I was even aware, My soul had made me As the chariots of my noble people. The Beloved and His Friends
- NASB “Before I was aware, my soul set me Over the chariots of my noble people.”
- NLT Before I realized it, my strong desires had taken me to the chariot of a noble man.
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
Caught up by desire, the speaker is suddenly carried away as among royal chariots. The verse vividly conveys love's overwhelming, almost dizzying power.
Overview
This is one of the most difficult verses in the book to translate, and faithful interpreters differ on its precise meaning. The general sense is that strong longing has swept the speaker up unexpectedly, as if among a prince's chariots. However the details are construed, it testifies to the sudden, transporting force of love rightly given to one's beloved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Hos 11:8–9How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together.
- Luke 15:20And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
- Jer 31:18–20I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 6:12 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.