Song of Solomon 5:6

I opened for my beloved, but he had turned and gone. My heart sank at his departure. I sought him but did not find him. I called, but he did not answer.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The speaker (the Shulammite woman) addresses her absent beloved in the city streets immediately after rising to let him in. She speaks at the moment of realization that he has slipped away before she could fully unlock the door.

The words — חָמַק (cha.Mak) translates literally to "he had turned away," and נַפְשִׁי יָצְאָה (naf.shi ya.tze.'ah) means "my being went out." These terms describe the sudden withdrawal of the beloved and the speaker's visceral collapse of vitality.

The thread — This pattern of sudden absence followed by desperate seeking appears in Song of Solomon 5:2, where the beloved knocks after she has already slept, and Hosea 5:15, where God withdraws to His place until His people seek Him. Both passages frame pursuit through a cycle of withdrawal and pursuit.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that delayed obedience or missed timing results in irreversible loss. It asks the reader to act decisively when opportunity presents itself, rather than assuming repeated chances will follow.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

פָּתַ֤חְתִּֽיpa.Tach.tiI opened אֲנִי֙'a.NiI לְדוֹדִ֔יle./do.D/ito/ lover/ my וְדוֹדִ֖יve./do.D/iand/ lover/ my חָמַ֣קcha.Makhe had turned away עָבָ֑ר'a.Varhe had passed away נַפְשִׁי֙naf.Sh/ibeing/ my יָֽצְאָ֣הya.tze.'Ahit went out בְדַבְּר֔וֹve./da.be.R/owhen/ turned aside/ he בִּקַּשְׁתִּ֙יהוּ֙bi.kash.Ti./huI sought/ him וְלֹ֣אve./Lo'and/ not מְצָאתִ֔יהוּme.tza.Ti./huI found/ him קְרָאתִ֖יוke.ra.Ti/vI called/ him וְלֹ֥אve./Lo'and/ not עָנָֽנִי׃'a.Na./nihe answered/ me

King James Version

I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

Cross-references

Song of Solomon 5:2 I sleep, but my heart is awake. A sound! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”
Hosea 5:15 Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
Revelation 3:19 Those I love I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
Genesis 42:28 “My silver has been returned!” he said to his brothers. “It is here in my sack.” Their hearts sank, and trembling, they turned to one another and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
1 Samuel 28:6 He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets.
2 Samuel 16:10 But the king replied, “What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses me because the LORD told him, ‘Curse David,’ who can ask, ‘Why did you do this?’”
Psalms 22:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
Psalms 28:1 Of David. To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit.
Psalms 30:7 O LORD, You favored me; You made my mountain stand strong. When You hid Your face, I was dismayed.
Psalms 69:3 I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.