Numerous questions come to mind in this verse regarding the role the guards play. What is significant about their finding the young woman? Did they know her lover? Why is her question to the guards unanswered? In a later passage (5.7) the guards are hostile, beating and stripping her. Some see in the guards a symbol of society’s opposition to the relationship, but there is no evidence in the text one way or the other to confirm this interpretation. Translators will simply have to render the text as it is, presenting these characters as secondary participants in the story.
The watchmen, those who guard the city, were normally watching from the city walls. The word “guard” comes from the root meaning “keep” or “protect.” Here they are spoken of as “going about” or patrolling the city, which means they were inside the city walls or walking around the top of them. Note that the author of the poem assumes the guards’ presence in the town. It will be best if translators do the same. Some languages may need a scene-setting clause to begin this part of the episode, such as “There were guards in the city, and….”
Found me means they “discovered” or “came across” her. It suggests a chance meeting, so “saw” or “met” are good choices for translation.
As they went about in the city: see comments on verse 2 above. We can say “as they patrolled the city.”
A delightful play on words is used; the verbs “found” and “going about,” which describe the young woman’s search, are used here of the watchmen. Ironically the one who “seeks” is “found.” A chiastic structure highlights this feature and ties verses 2 and 3 closely together.
There may be several ways to preserve the literary features of this verse. Goulder uses a passive in the second clause, to highlight the verb “find”:
• I sought but found not; I was found
By watchmen on the city’s round.
We can also use focus constructions, conjunctions, or particles (for example, “Instead I was found…”) to show the irony of the situation:
• I looked for him,
But could not find him.
Rather it was me the watchmen found
As they made their way through the streets.
Using similar expressions in both verses will highlight the way these two verses are bound together:
• I said, “I will get up now,
and search the streets,
looking for the one I love.”
I looked for him,
but I could not find him.
Instead the city guards found me,
as they combed the streets, on their night watch.
Have you seen him whom my soul loves?: this sentence is unusual. In Hebrew it lacks an interrogative particle, and the entire expression is very brief, literally “the one my soul loves you have seen.” We therefore have to assume that the young woman asked the guards a question when she met them. Virtually all versions interpret the phrase this way, so we follow the majority view. Good News Translation expresses the idea in an indirect quote: “I asked them whether they had seen my lover.” King James Version does the same. Alternatively we can add a quote formula: “I asked them, ‘Have you seen….’ ”
Have you seen can also be given as “Do you know where…?”
Him whom my soul loves: refer to comments earlier on verse 1. In Hebrew this phrase occurs at the beginning of the sentence and thus shows where the focus of attention lies. It expresses the young woman’s sense of urgency and shows it is her lover who is uppermost in her mind. Many languages will be able to copy this style by translating:
• “The one my heart loves, have you seen him?”
• “My lover, have you seen him?”
Alternatively we can translate as:
• “Have you seen my lover?”
or possibly
• “Do you know where my lover is?”
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 .