GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
SONG OF SOLOMON 3:9-11
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9 King Solomon made for himself the palanquin;
he made it of wood from Lebanon.
As we saw with verse 7, a palanquin (rhymes with “Martin Sheen”) is a covered chair or litter on poles, a sedan chair carried by four or more bearers. Some interpreters think that this is an older type of dwelling, like a tent but obviously a more permanent dwelling in this context, like a cottage. The meaning of this covered chair or cottage is the same in either case: This is the true Church, the Christian church, which has come out of the wilderness (Song 3:6) and which is therefore the bride of Christ.
If we take the sedan chair to be the church, what are we to do with “Solomon made it for himself”? This is the only place in the Song where Solomon takes an active role, and it’s simply to provide a vehicle or a tent for the couple? This reduces Solomon to a small role, something he might have inserted on purpose, to remind him (and all leaders) that we must not be puffed up, or have an over-inflated sense of self-worth, for we are truly unworthy servants; “we have only done our duty” (Luke 17:10). Like Job before God, Solomon slaps his hand over his mouth and asks only that his faith be seen by God, and not his poor excuse for works or deeds (Job 40:4). If Solomon truly accomplished something to aid the church, he did it in terms of his office, appointed as king, and not in terms of his own personal accomplishments. This glorious thing to carry along the church was not made by Solomon’s muscle, or mind, or shaping. It is made of wood, which reminds every reader (in these New Testament centuries) of the cross, and nothing else.
The wood of Lebanon, cedar, was the best building lumber available. The mention of Lebanon suggests getting the very best, and also that God provides his people with everything that we need for body, life, and spirit.
10 Its posts he made of silver,
its base of gold.
Its seat was upholstered with purple,
its interior was inlaid lovingly by the daughters of Jerusalem.
The conveyance of God’s holy people, the church, is now described for us in terms we are invited to apply and interpret as best we can. It has posts– either “legs on which to set it down, or supports for a canopy, or both.” Like the base, it is made of a precious metal, and the combination of silver and gold may have less to do with which item is made of which than it does to serve as a reference of fine, precious things, sturdy yet beautiful. When Abraham’s wealth is first described, it is “in livestock and in silver and gold” (Genesis 13:2). Such wealth is a gift of God for man to use but not to rely on. When John describes the fallen enemies of the church (Revelation 14:8; 18:12) he talks about the cargoes of silver and gold that are lost on account of God’s holy judgment.
The number four is evocative of the four Gospels, of course. These books are the great treasure of the church and of the Scriptures. The Gospels are the account of Christ’s mission and ministry, the greatest record of his works and words, the miracles, parables, sermons, sayings, and other actions of our Lord, cultimating in his Passion; the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Messiah for the sins of all mankind. It is right and fitting to show them as the silver and gold base and support of everything in the church.
The “base” is a word that only occurs here in the Bible, rephidah. Made of metal (gold), it is a solid part of the structure, but whether it means the base, back, headrest, roof (canopy?) or some other feature, is unclear. There is some basis for taking this to be the curved structure (Latin fulchra) at the head or foot of a couch or bed, the “bolster.” That it would be gold rather than a cushion is strange, but then the preciousness of the thing is being described.
The upholstered seat is purple; that is, the cushion or padding are purple. This is a royal color, and also very expensive. Purple cloth was dyed with the extract of a shellfish. Purple dye was an emblem of royalty (Homer, Odyssey XIX:225), and in the Iliad we hear about “seats covered with purple rugs” (Book IX), perhaps very much like the padding or cushion described here. The royal color points to the Messiah, who is the true King of Israel (Mark 15:32; Luke 23:2).
The daughters of Jerusalem are the ones who decorated this part of the vehicle. Perhaps their participation is a reminder that God uses our individual gifts for work in the church, sometimes to carry the gospel forward (by Paul and other missionaries), and sometimes to beautify worship locally, as with the men chosen to decorate the tabernacle in Moses’ time (Exodus 31:1-6). The way that the ivory beds of the wealthy people of Jerusalem and Samaria were decorated (Amos 6:4-7) suggests a lavish delight in physical pleasures, both culinary and sensual. But here the decoration is anything but carnal; it includes the lovely little touches on the fabrics of worship, on the altar, pulpit, and coverings for the sacrament.
11 Come out, you daughters of Zion,
and look at King Solomon wearing the crown,
the crown his mother crowned him with
on the day of his wedding,
the day his heart rejoiced.
Just after we are told about the “daughters” who have decorated the palanquin, they are called out: “Come out, your daughters, and look!” This reminds us of Martha, busy with waiting on the Lord and the other guests, called in to listen to the Lord rather than spend all of her time serving him. “Martha, Martha,” the Lord told her, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. In fact, Mary has chosen that better portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).
What is it they are called out to see? The King wearing his crown. While the crown could be part of a wedding scene (Esther 2:17), it is undeniably a reference to the crowning of Christ, the Messiah. “I will make a horn for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one. I will clothe his enemies with shame, but the crown on his head will be resplendent” (Psalm 132:17-18). Solomon is fond of mentioning his mother from time to time (see Proverbs 31:1), but here the mother of Christ is not so much Mary as she is Eve, to whom the first gospel promise was made. The crown therefore is the rank of the Messiah; the promised anointed one, the title that brings tears to every Christian’s eye, for he is the one who gave himself as a ransom for us all (Jeremiah 31:11; Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45). He died “as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15).
The wedding of Christ and the church is, in a sense, the moment that anyone comes to faith; he is the groom at that moment, always and forever, and the new believer is the bride, entering into the bride’s promise and glory as the one ransomed by the Son of God. And that day– the say of your baptism– is surely a day when his heart rejoiced. That was the day when each of us had the curse lifted from our shoulders; that heavy yoke of slavery by which we were bound together with sin and death, “the bondage of decay” (Romans 8:21), and we were given the light and easy yoke of Christ (Matthew 11:30). It is the burden that is no burden at all; the guiding hand that helps us every day, pointing out the will of God and calling us away from the traps and pitfalls of the devil. It is the marriage of faith, the bond of love, and the promise of life everlasting.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Song of Solomon 3:9-11 Christ and the Church