Song of Solomon 3 · Verse 6

Song of Solomon 3:6

Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

Song of Solomon 3:6, King James Version

Song of Solomon 3:6 in other translations

BSB	Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?
WEB	Who is this who comes up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all spices of the merchant?
ASV	Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant?
YLT	Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Like palm-trees of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, From every powder of the merchant?
DARBY	Who is this, she that cometh up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant?...
BBE	Who is this coming out of the waste places like pillars of smoke, perfumed with sweet spices, with all the spices of the trader?
Webster	Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?

What does Song of Solomon 3:6 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

6. New scene (So 3:6-11). The friends of the Bridegroom see a cortege approach. His palanquin and guard. cometh out--rather, "up from"; the wilderness was lower than Jerusalem [Maurer]. pillars of smoke--from the perfumes burned around Him and His bride. Image from Israel and the tabernacle (answering to "bed," So 3:7) marching through the desert with the pillar of smoke by day and fire by night (Ex 14:20), and the pillars of smoke ascending from the altars of incense and of atonement; so Jesus Christ's righteousness, atonement, and ever-living intercession. Balaam, the last representative of patriarchism, was required to curse the Jewish Church, just as it afterwards would not succumb to Christianity without a struggle (Nu 22:41), but he had to bless in language like that here (Nu 24:5, 6). Angels too joyfully ask the same question, when Jesus Christ with the tabernacle of His body (answering to "His bed," So 3:7; Joh 1:14, "dwelt," Greek "tabernacled," Joh 2:21) ascends into heaven (Psa 24:8-10); also when they see His glorious bride with Him (Psa 68:18; Re 7:13-17). Encouragement to her; amid the darkest trials (So 3:1), she is still on the road to glory (So 3:11) in a palanquin "paved with love" (So 3:10); she is now in soul spiritually "coming," exhaling the sweet graces, faith, love, joy, peace, prayer, and praise; (the fire is lighted within, the "smoke" is seen without, Ac 4:13); it is in the desert of trial (So 3:1-3) she gets them; she is the "merchant" buying from Jesus Christ without money or price (Is 55:1; Re 3:18); just as myrrh and frankincense are got, not in Egypt, but in the Arabian sands and the mountains of Palestine. Hereafter she shall "come" (So 3:6, 11) in a glorified body, too (Php 3:21). Historically, Jesus Christ returning from the wilderness, full of the Holy Ghost (Lu 4:1, 14). The same, "Who is this," &c. (Is 63:1, 5).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness - Going to Egypt was called descending or going down, coming from it was termed coming up. The bride, having risen, goes after her spouse to the country, and the clouds of incense arising from her palanquin seemed like pillars of smoke; and the appearance was altogether so splendid as to attract the admiration of her own women, who converse about her splendor, excellence, etc., and then take occasion to describe Solomon's nuptial bed and chariot. Some think that it is the bridegroom who is spoken of here. With this verse the third night is supposed to end.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Song of Solomon 3:6-11

A wilderness is an emblem of the world; the believer comes out of it when he is delivered from the love of its sinful pleasures and pursuits, and refuses to comply with its customs and fashions, to seek happiness in communion with the Saviour. A poor soul shall come up, at last, under the conduct of the Comforter; like a cloud of incense ascending from the altar, or the smoke of the burnt-offerings. This signifies pious and devout affections, and the mounting of the soul heaven-ward. The believer is filled with the graces of God's Spirit; his devotions now are very lively. These graces and comforts are from the heavenly Canaan. He, who is the Peace of his people, the King of the heavenly Zion, has provided for the safe conveyance of his redeemed through the wilderness of this world. The bed, or palanquin, was contrived for rest and easy conveyance, but its beauty and magnificence showed the quality of its owner. The church is well guarded; more are with her than are against her: believers, when they repose in Christ, and with him, though they have their fears in the night, are yet safe. The chariot here denotes the covenant of redemption, the way of our salvation. This is that work of Christ, which makes him loved and admired in the eyes of believers. It is framed and contrived, both for the glory of Christ, and for the comfort of believers; it is well ordered in all things and sure. The blood of the covenant, that rich purple, is the cover of this chariot, by which believers are sheltered from the wind and storms of Divine wrath, and the troubles of this world; but the midst of it is that love of Christ which passes knowledge, this is for believers to repose upon. Christ, in his gospel, manifests himself. Take special notice of his crown. Applying this to Christ, it speaks the honour put upon him, and his power and dominion.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Song of Solomon 3:6 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

מִ֣יmiwho?H4310

זֹ֗אתZotthisH2063

עֹלָה֙'o.Lah[is] coming upH5927

מִן\־min-fromH4480

הַמִּדְבָּ֔רha.mid.Barthe wildernessH4057

כְּתִֽימֲר֖וֹתke.ti.ma.Rotlike columns ofH8490

עָשָׁ֑ן'a.ShansmokeH6227

מְקֻטֶּ֤רֶתme.ku.Te.ret[who is] perfumed ofH6999

מוֹר֙mOrmyrrhH4753

וּלְבוֹנָ֔הu.le.vo.Nahand frankincenseH3828

מִכֹּ֖לmi.Kolfrom allH3605

אַבְקַ֥ת'av.Kat[the] scent-powder ofH81

רוֹכֵֽל\׃ro.Khela traderH7402

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Song of Solomon 3:6

Song of Solomon 8:5
Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.
Revelation 12:14
And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Song of Solomon 4:6
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
Song of Solomon 1:13
A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Deuteronomy 8:2
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Joel 2:29-31
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
Jeremiah 31:2
Thus saith the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
Song of Solomon 5:5
I 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.
Song of Solomon 4:12-14
A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
Revelation 12:6
And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
Jeremiah 2:2
Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

this.
8:5; De 8:2; Isa 43:19; Jer 2:2; 31:2; Re 12:6,14
like.Probably the clouds of incense arising from the palanquin, which seemed likepillars of smoke.
Ex 13:21,22; Joe 2:29-31; Ac 2:18-21; Col 3:1,2
perfumed.
1:3,13; 4:12-14; 5:5,13; 2Co 2:14-16; Php 4:18; Re 5:8

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Song of Solomon 3:5
I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
Song of Solomon 3:6
Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?
Song of Solomon 3:7
Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.

Read all of Song of Solomon 3

Song of Solomon 3:6 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	¿Quién es ésta que sube del desierto como columnita de humo, sahumada de mirra y de incienso, y de todos polvos aromáticos?
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	*Qui est celle-ci qui monte du désert, comme des colonnes de fumée, parfumée de myrrhe et d’encens, et de toutes sortes de poudres des marchands?
German Elberfelder 1871	Wer ist die, die da heraufkommt von der Wüste her wie Rauchsäulen, durchduftet von Myrrhe und Weihrauch, von allerlei Gewürzpulver des Krämers?
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Quæ est ista quæ ascendit per desertum sicut virgula fumi ex aromatibus myrrhæ, et thuris, et universi pulveris pigmentarii?