Translation
Not long after I passed them I found
Go to footnote numberthe one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother’s house,
Go to footnote numberto the bedroom
Go to footnote numberof the one who conceived me.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
Not long after I passed them I found the one who can fulfill my heart’s longings.
When I found him, I focused all my attention on him until I could call him my own, until our special place was the same as my special place.
Footnotes
1: “I found”
The implication here is that the ones responsible for safety and security did not help her find safety and security. She was left on her own to find the solution to that basic need, and though God is not mentioned, there may be some reference here to His intervention. Once she found Solomon, she knew he was the one to meet that need.
2: “My mother’s house”
The man traditionally took his bride to live in the apartment he had built onto his parent’s place, they did not live with her parents. I see this reversal not as a change in customs but an attempt to communicate something else, see the paraphrase.
3: "bedroom"
The word used here means “chamber,” implying “inner chamber” which we understand as a bedroom.
4: “Special place” in the right hand column
Covenant relationships had this concept of a “special place”—usually a temple. When your special place and my special place are the same, then we are in complete unity.