6:1–3 The man was in his garden
In 5:10–16 the woman answered the women’s question by describing the man. Here in 6:1, the women responded with another question. They asked the woman where the man went, and they offered to help her find him (6:1). When she responded in 6:2–3, she said that her beloved was in his garden. (He was not missing.) Maybe she realized where he was when she praised him to the women. She realized that she and her beloved were still committed to each other, as she said in 6:3, “I belong to my beloved and he belongs to me.”
The “garden” in 6:2 is probably a metaphor for the woman. In 4:12–5:1 the man described the woman as a “garden.” In 4:16–5:1 she described herself as “his garden.”
Although 6:1 begins a new chapter, the poetic section continues until 6:3. It is helpful to show in some way that the chapter division does not indicate the end of the poetic section. This may be done with section headings, line breaks, or a footnote.
6:1 The women of Jerusalem questioned the woman
As in 5:9, in this verse the Jerusalem women asked two similar questions. The second question repeats the first one and adds a phrase. The use of two questions with similar meanings may emphasize that the women are serious about wanting to know the answer. The Hebrew text is literally:
1a Where ⌊has⌋ your beloved gone, most beautiful among women? 1b Where ⌊has⌋ your beloved gone so we may seek him with you?
In some languages it is more natural to translate the first part of the question (“Where has your beloved gone”) only once. For example:
Most beautiful among women, where has your beloved gone ? ⌊Tell us⌋ so that we may seek him with you.
Notice that the example changes the word order in the sentence by beginning it with “Most beautiful of women.”
6:1a
Where has your beloved gone: In 5:8 the woman asked the other women to give her beloved a message if they saw him. Because of what she said, the other women thought that she did not know where he was. So in 6:1 they offered to help her find him. They asked her where he went, because they wanted to know where to start their search. This clause is parallel to 6:1c. Some other ways to translate the question are:
where has your lover gone? (Good News Translation)
-or-
Which way did your beloved turn (Revised English Bible)
-or-
tell us where he has gone (Contemporary English Version)
6:1b
O most beautiful among women: The phrase most beautiful among women also occurred in 1:8 and 5:9, and you should translate it the same way in all three verses. For more information, see the notes on 5:9a–b.
6:1c–d
Which way has he turned? We will seek him with you: In 6:1c–d the Jerusalem women repeated the question that they asked in 6:1a, and then they told their purpose for the question: They wanted to help the woman search for her beloved. They implied that she should tell them which way he went when he left her. Some other ways to translate 6:1c–d are:
Where has your beloved turned? Tell us, that we may seek him with you. (NET Bible)
-or-
What direction did he go/take? We want to help you search for him.
Which way has he turned: The clause Which way has he turned is parallel to 6:1a and has a similar meaning. It means “in which direction” or “which way did your beloved go?” Some other ways to translate the clause are:
Tell us which way your lover went (Good News Translation)
-or-
Which way did he turn…? (New Living Translation (2004))
General Comment on 6:1
Scholars have different ideas about why the Jerusalem women wanted to help the woman search for the man. Some scholars think that their motives were good, and they wanted to help their friend find him. Other scholars think that they were teasing or mocking her. Others think that they were jealous, or that they only wanted to look at this handsome man. In the context, it seems most likely that their motives were pure and they really wanted to help the woman.
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