a battle (i.e. the engagement) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
man
אִ֤ישׁ'ish
H376
a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
sword
חַרְבּוֹ֙char.Bo
H2719
drought · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
thigh
יְרֵכ֔וֹye.re.Kho
H3409
the thigh (from its fleshy softness) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
fear
מִפַּ֖חַדmi.Pa.chad
H6343
a (sudden) alarm (properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
night
בַּלֵּילּֽוֹתba.lei.Lot
H3915
properly · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine plural 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
Psalms 45:3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.
Nehemiah 4:21-22 So we laboured in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared.
Psalms 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Psalms 149:5-9 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.
Isaiah 27:3 I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
Ephesians 6:16-18 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
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 3:8
They all hold swords,.... Or a "sword" (r); the word is singular, which designs the word of God, called the sword of the Spirit, and said to be sharper than a twoedged sword, Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12; which everyone of the ministers of the Gospel hold in their hands; and which denotes not only their apprehension, but their retention of it, and firm adherence to it; it cleaves to them, and they to that; they and their sword cannot be parted, as Gussetius (s) observes the word signifies; these ministers could not be prevailed upon to drop it, or part with it, but retained it to the last; which shows them to be valiant men;
being expert in war; in military straits, in the spiritual war aga…
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 3:8
Skilled in battle. The battle of Torah, and likewise, the kohanim who surround it, who camp around the Tabernacle, are skilled in the order of their service.
Each with his sword. His weapons are the Masorah [i.e., tradition] and the mnemonics, by which they preserve the correct version and the traditional rendition, so that it will not be forgotten.
For fear of the nights. For if they forget it, and troubles will befall them. And similarly it states, “Arm yourselves with the grain lest He become angry and you lose the way.”10I.e., study the Torah.
Each man has his sword on his thigh, etc. By the thigh, carnal propagation is usually designated; hence it is written: All the souls that came out of the thigh of Jacob were seventy (Exod. I). Soldiers of Christ have a sword over their thigh when they suppress the movement of carnal desires with the severity of the spiritual word. And this is because of the night terrors, that is, lest they be struck down by the traps of the ancient tempter if they are found secure and unarmed, lest, having been overwhelmed, the bed of the true Solomon, which they ought to have guarded, be defiled; this applies to both beds of the eternal King that we mentioned, that is, both the present peace of the Church and the future one can equally be understood. For holy teachers fear lest the status of the present Church be violated by the darkness of heretics; they fear, those who have accustomated to open the eye of the mind to the contemplation of future joys, lest the light of divine revelation be obscured in them by the nocturnal disturbance of demonic perturbation. But if the strongest from Israel, in whom there is no deceit, who are the most skillful in wars, have a sword over their thigh because of the night terrors, what should I and those like me do? With how much fear should we serve the Lord, who are less skilled in spiritual combat and less strong in performing the things we speak of? One refuge alone remains for us, to adhere to Him, to place our hope in Him whom we know cannot be overcome, to seek His protection with the prophet, often saying: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? (Psalm XXXVI). My light, indeed, to train me for battle; my salvation, to make me strong and invincible in battle. For if we persist in preaching, perhaps we too will deserve to hear with the same prophet. His truth will surround you with a shield; you will not fear the terror of the night (Psalm XC). Some strong ones who surround the bed of Solomon interpret this over the angels, who fight against the aerial powers for the peace of the holy Church, whose understanding seems to contradict what is said: Each man has his sword on his thigh; for how can they suppress the enticement of the flesh with the sword of continence, or assess it, who have no nature of flesh from which they subsist? So the Church, coming from the Gentiles, says, Behold the bed of Solomon, seventy…
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
Bed · Ma — Ma
Beds · Made of: Wood — Made of: Wood
War · The Jews: Were expert in — The Jews: Were expert in
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).
