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?

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
cometh	עֹלָה֙ 'o.Lah	H5927	to ascend · verb, qal active participle, feminine singular absolute
wilderness	הַמִּדְבָּ֔ר ha.mid.Bar	H4057	a pasture (i.e. open field · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
pillars	כְּתִֽימֲר֖וֹת ke.ti.ma.Rot	H8490	a column · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
smoke	עָשָׁ֑ן 'a.Shan	H6227	smoke · noun, common masculine singular absolute
perfumed	מְקֻטֶּ֤רֶת me.ku.Te.ret	H6999	to smoke · verb, pual passive participle, feminine singular construct
myrrh	מוֹר֙ mOr	H4753	myrrh (as distilling in drops · noun, common masculine singular absolute
frankincense	וּלְבוֹנָ֔ה u.le.vo.Nah	H3828	frankincense (from its whiteness or perhaps that of its… · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
powders	אַבְקַ֥ת 'av.Kat	H81	light particles (as volatile) · noun, common feminine singular construct
merchant	רוֹכֵֽל ro.Khel	H7402	to travel for trading · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

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 th…
Song of Solomon 1:13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
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.
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…
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,…
Song of Solomon 1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
Song of Solomon 4:12-14 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
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.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

John Gill on Song of Solomon 3:6

Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness,.... This is said by the daughters of Jerusalem, adjured in Sol 3:5; who, upon the happy meeting of Christ and his church, saw a greater glory and beauty in her than they had seen before; and therefore put this question, not as ignorant of her, but as admiring at her. By the wilderness she is said to "come out" of is meant either a state of nature, as Theodoret; in which all the elect of God are before conversion, and out of which they are brought by efficacious grace; called a wilderness, because of the barrenness and unfruitfulness of persons in such a state; and because of the perplexed ways and tracks in it, which bewilder a man that he knows…

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Tyndale Open Study Notes on Song of Solomon 3:6-11

According to the three-character dramatic interpretation, Solomon’s humility and generosity show in his attending this wedding of a woman who preferred a common shepherd’s love over his. With Solomon in attendance, this ordinary wedding becomes a magnificent ceremony. • If the Song is an anthology, this poem describes what appears to be Solomon’s wedding procession. People are amazed by the opulence of his carriage and the power represented by his entourage. All of this reflects on the significance of marriage in the same way that expensive and beautiful wedding dresses and tuxedos do in modern marriages.

Rashi on Song of Solomon 3:6

Who is this ascending from the wilderness. When I was traveling in the wilderness and the pillar of fire and the cloud were going before me, killing snakes and scorpions and burning the thorns and thistles to make a straight path, and [when] the cloud and the smoke were ascending, the nations saw them, and marveled at my greatness, and they would say, “Who is this?” i.e., “How great is she [Bnei Yisroel] who is ascending from the wilderness, etc.!” With palm-like pillars of smoke. Tall and erect as a palm tree [=תָּמָר. In a cloud of myrrh. [It is so called] because the cloud of incense which would rise straight up from the inner altar. Perfume seller. A spice merchant who sells all types…

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The Church Fathers

For Solomon made himself a bed of wood from Lebanon. Its pillars were of silver, its bottom of gold, its back strewn with gems.
— Ambrose of Milan, Concerning Virginity 3.5.21

"Behold the litter of Solomon surrounded by sixty mighty men from the powerful of Israel, each one equipped with a sword and trained for battle." O blessed sight! O litter of sabbath rest! For Solomon's litter reveals nothing other than Christ himself.
— Hippolytus of Rome, TREATISE ON THE SONG OF SONGS 27:1

"Lo, it is Solomon's bed." Let us understand the bridegroom's bed to be the divine Scriptures. When the bride reclines on them, as it were, along with the bridegroom, and receives the seeds of teaching, she conceives, bears, is in labor and gives birth to spiritual benefit.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 3

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Perfumes — Were used in religious worship, and for personal and domestic enjoyment (Ex. 30:35-37; Prov. 7:17; Cant. 3:6; Isa. 57:9); and also in embalming the dead, and in other funeral ceremonies (Mark 14:8;…
Commerce · Articles of: Perfumes — Articles of: Perfumes
Deserts · Illustrative of: The world — Illustrative of: The world
Frankincense · A perfume — A perfume
Merchant · 10:15,28; — 10:15,28;
Myrrh · Used as a perfume — Used as a perfume
Perfume · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).