Go forth, O daughters of Zion: the address is directed to the women (daughters) of Zion. In poetry Zion is usually parallel to or an alternative to the word “Jerusalem.” Strictly speaking Zion is only a small part of the city of Jerusalem; it is the citadel, the location of the Temple and royal palace. If we accept the proposal made for verse 10, daughters of Zion here forms a chiastic structure with “daughters of Jerusalem” at the end of that verse. We should try to retain this form. If that cannot be done, then it may be possible to combine the two lines into one statement, “daughters of Zion [or, Jerusalem], come out, look….”

The imperative Go forth or “Come out” introduces the invitation to these other women to view the advancing procession.

And behold King Solomon: behold is not the same word as occurs in 3.7. Here we have the verb “see” followed by a particle often used in polite requests. The Hebrew phrase is a forceful one, namely “gaze at,” “look closely at,” or more colloquially “feast your eyes on.” If we agree there is a chiastic structure in the verse as suggested above, we may want to add an additional verb to carry this emphasis:

• Daughters of Jerusalem, come out!
Look, daughters of Zion!
Feast your eyes on King Solomon!

With the crown with which his mother crowned him: the second object of the Jerusalem women’s gaze is the royal crown. It may have been that in Israelite custom the groom wore a “crown” on his wedding day. However, we have no evidence this was so. If there was such a custom, it probably was a headdress made of leaves such as appears on some Egyptian paintings of wedding scenes. It was a way of honoring the groom with “royal” significance.

For crown, translators may need to use a descriptive phrase because of the different cultural background. We can say “he is wearing a wedding headdress” or “he wears a wedding hat.” Again, however, the point is not to give such a detailed description that we lose the poetic effect. We must find a phrase that expresses the idea without drawing attention to itself.

With which his mother crowned him: most commentators do not comment on this phrase except to note that nothing is known about such a practice.

We can say “See, he wears a crown [or, wedding hat], the one his mother gave him.”

On the day of his wedding is included in the above description of “wedding hat” and so may not need to be rendered quite so literally. On the other hand, if we use “crown” or “wreath,” then we may need to render this phrase as “when he got married” or “on his wedding day.”

This verse should make it clear that the description in verses 6-11 cannot be of a wedding procession on Solomon’s wedding day as some have suggested, because the poem refers back to the time of that event. The young woman likens her own lover to Solomon on his wedding day; she describes her own room as similar to what Solomon, the actual king, enjoyed when he got married. The Hebrew term for wedding found here is not used anywhere else in the Old Testament.

On the day of the gladness of his heart is the rather literal rendering of this Hebrew phrase. It is parallel to on the day of his wedding, describing what a day of joy that was. Most languages will want to avoid the string of noun phrases used here, preferring verbs instead. We can say “on the day he was so happy” or “on the day his heart was filled with joy.” Not even a king, and not even the great king Solomon, could be any happier than the young woman is now with her lover.

We can translate this passage as:

• on his wedding day, the day of his great joy.

• on the happy occasion of his marriage.

Note that the parallel lines and the repetition of the expression on the day form a proper ending to this beautiful poem.

• Daughters of Jerusalem, come out!
Daughters of Zion, look!
Look at King Solomon, wearing his wedding crown,
The crown his mother gave him on the day he was wed—
The day of his great joy! [or, That happy day!]

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Zogbo, Lynell. A Handbook on the Book of Song of Songs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1998. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .