Thy Strong Word — Song of Solomon 3:1-11: By the Gazelles and the Does

She wakes to an empty bed, hunts the dark streets for the one her soul loves, and refuses to let go once she finds him, then charges the daughters of Jerusalem by the gazelles and the does of the field not to stir up love before it pleases. The scene shifts to Solomon’s wedding procession coming up out of the wilderness in myrrh and frankincense, sixty armed men ringing the carriage, the king wearing the crown his mother set on him the day his heart was glad. Marriage is worth guarding and worth a parade, and the Church knows a Bridegroom who came up out of the wilderness, wore a crown on His wedding day, and takes hold of His bride so she is never left searching in the dark.

The Rev. Scott MacDonald, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Meriden, Connecticut, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Song of Solomon 3:1–11.

To learn more about St. John in Connecticut, visit saintjohnmeriden.org.

The Song of Solomon is a book of love poetry, a bride and her bridegroom singing to each other across eight chapters. God’s people have sung it since Solomon’s day, and Jewish congregations still read it at Passover. The Church has heard in it the voice of Christ and His bride, and Luther quoted the Song in The Freedom of a Christian to describe what happens when Christ takes a sinner as His own. Paul was working the same ground in Ephesians five, where he set marriage beside Christ and the Church and called it a great mystery.

This series works through the whole book verse by verse, from the kiss in chapter one to the seal on the heart in chapter eight. We hear what it says about the body, about desire, and about the marriage God instituted in the garden. We also ask where Christ is in it, since the Church has long heard in these songs the voice of the Bridegroom who gave His life for His bride.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Song of Solomon 3:1-11

The Bride’s Dream

[1] On my bed by night

I sought him whom my soul loves;

I sought him, but found him not.

[2] I will rise 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 found him not.

[3] The watchmen found me

as they went about in the city.

“Have you seen him whom my soul loves?”

[4] Scarcely had I passed them

when I found him whom my soul loves.

I held him, and would not let him go

until I had brought him into my mother’s house,

and into the chamber of her who conceived me.

[5] I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,

by the gazelles or the does of the field,

that you not stir up or awaken love

until it pleases.

Solomon Arrives for the Wedding

[6] What is that coming up from the wilderness

like columns of smoke,

perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,

with all the fragrant powders of a merchant?

[7] Behold, it is the litter of Solomon!

Around it are sixty mighty men,

some of the mighty men of Israel,

[8] all of them wearing swords

and expert in war,

each with his sword at his thigh,

against terror by night.

[9] King Solomon made himself a carriage

from the wood of Lebanon.

[10] He made its posts of silver,

its back of gold, its seat of purple;

its interior was inlaid with love

by the daughters of Jerusalem.

[11] Go out, O daughters of Zion,

and look upon King Solomon,

with the crown with which his mother crowned him

on the day of his wedding,

on the day of the gladness of his heart.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Rev. Dr. Phil Booe

Native North Carolinian Rev. Dr. Phil Booe serves pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, and host of Thy Strong Word on KFUO Radio. His parishioners probably think he can’t teach Bible study without a mug of coffee in his hand, and he’ll always be happy to eat a plate of sushi. When he’s not shepherding his flock or teaching on the radio, you might find him watching bad movies from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and especially binging RiffTrax and MST3K episodes. Some day he’d love to travel to the Lutheran homeland in Germany, but for now he spends time in Minnesota with his wife, son, daughter, and cat, and looks forward to Holy Week every year.