Song of Solomon 3:9-10 Why We Love Weddings, Part 3

[9] King Solomon made himself a carriage
from the wood of Lebanon.
[10] He made its posts of silver,
its back of gold, its seat of purple;
its interior was inlaid with love
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
(Song of Solomon 3:9-10 ESV)


Today we delve further into the wedding of Solomon and his bride, this time examining their love carriage, and all that it means.  There's a surprising amount of stuff we can learn from this, which actually shouldn't be all that surprising, because if Scripture spends time telling us about something, it's a good bet that it's saying something worthwhile.  Let's dive in!


"King Solomon made himself a carriage from the wood of Lebanon."  Throughout these few verses, we're going to see just how much Solomon loves his bride.  He has made an amazing carriage/palanquin for her, with which to pick her up from her mother's house and carry her back to the palace as his wife.  This was common practice for weddings in ancient Israel; the groom travels to his bride's house, where she has lived with her parents up until now, and escorts her back to his house, where they will live together as husband and wife.  We symbolize this today by the bride walking down the aisle towards the groom.  In both cases, the bride is being given by her parents to her beloved.  In Israel, they did this literally; she was carried in this palanquin from her mother's house to Solomon's house.  Today, we are more symbolic, as the bride's father usually walks her down the aisle, handing her off to the man she is marrying.  Instead of being escorted to his house, she is escorted up to him at the front of the church.

In both cultures, this is followed by a celebration.  Today, we have wedding receptions with food, dancing, fellowship, and music, usually lasting for a single night. In ancient Israelite culture, this celebration would be held at the groom's house, much like the wedding Jesus attends in John 2.  Typically, the celebration would last for several days, up to a week, and would include lots of music, dancing, wine, food, and fellowship.  Knowing Solomon, his wedding celebration would have been a truly epic party!

Elsewhere in Song of Solomon, we see his love for his bride poured out as he verbalizes his feelings, telling her how he sees her, praising her beauty with well-chosen words.  That same love carries through in this passage, but here, we get to see a visual representation of Solomon's love for his bride.  Instead of relying on words, Solomon spends a great amount of time and money preparing this lavish palanquin for her, showing her how much he values her by how extravagantly he made this little portable couch.

And this thing is insane.  For starters, he built it from the wood of Lebanon, which was the highest-quality wood available in those days.  It was carried on the shoulders of servants, something only available to the aristocracy of the day.  In our world, it would be equivalent to picking up a lady in the fanciest, most elaborate limousine money could buy.  Except in this case, the limo is carried on the shoulders of servants and covered in bling.

"He made its posts of silver, its back of gold,"  In other words, this thing is ritzy.  Solomon has covered this palanquin with precious metals, sparing no expense.  This woman is invaluable to him; silver and gold mean nothing compared to the prize of getting her!  When she sees the effort and the expense that he has put into this just for her, she'll know what a treasure she is to him.  This is a gift only for her, and it's absolutely extravagant!

"its seat of purple;"  We miss this today, given that we can buy clothing in every color of the rainbow.  Back in the Ancient Near East, purple dye for cloth could only be made using a rare pigment that came from crushing the shells of murex shellfish.  It was rarer than even silver and gold!  Purple cloth was always reserved for the best occasions, the most important people, the rarest and highest of celebrations.  And Solomon, the king of romance, declares that his wedding day to his beautiful bride is the best occasion, the rarest and highest celebration; his bride, to him, is the most important person in the world.

Maybe purple should make a comeback in formal wedding attire...

"its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem."  Solomon wasn't the only one to work on this palanquin.  The daughters of Jerusalem, who have been referenced in both chapters 1 and 2 so far, are most likely the bride's dear friends, women who are as yet unwed but are delighting in the romance of Solomon and his beautiful bride.  These women celebrate this wedding day in part by spending time decorating the palanquin that Solomon and his bride will ride back to the palace.  In this, their heart is much the same as Solomon's; they want to show their dear friend how much they love her by making her wedding carriage as beautiful as it can be!

We reflect this tradition somewhat by decorating the car that the couple rides off in after their wedding.  The tradition has been corrupted slightly by time; we tend to decorate in a mocking sort of way, by doing such outlandish things as filling a car with balloons, drawing on the windows with soap, hiding a dead fish somewhere inside, tying cans to the rear bumper, wrapping the car in streamers, covering it in silly string, etc.  Our method of expression might be a little different, but the message is largely the same.  The friends are expressing that they love the couple, and want them to know it.  Usually we've also lavishly decorated a church or other beautiful location, and usually the car is fairly nice, as well, so we can get away with a bit of silliness at the end.

Finally, let me just say a word about the public and private nature of this little love carriage.  In one sense, it's very public, as we've already discussed.  Part of the honor and esteem for the bride comes from the entire nation seeing that Solomon is delighted to pledge himself to this woman alone for the rest of his life, out of all the other women he could have chosen.

Yet at the same time, this is a private affair for Solomon and his lady.  While everyone can see this marvellous palanquin, they are the only two who get to sit in it.  They are the only two who get to experience in detail all the loving work of Solomon and the daughters of Jerusalem.  They are surrounded by a crowd, but this loving couple is hoisted on shoulders above the people, alone together, celebrating the grandeur of their love for each other.

So men, hear me: on that day when you get to marry a beautiful woman of God, you do everything you possibly can to communicate to her how much you treasure her!  You probably can't build a palanquin these days, but find some other way to go all out, to express to her how much you cherish her.

But let me add one note of caution, for both men and women: make sure that you're going all out for your spouse-to-be, and not for the crowd that will attend your wedding.  You are not decorating a church to show people how rich you are, or how great an eye for fashion you have, or to elevate your esteem in your family's eye.  You decorate a wedding day because you are showing how much you treasure the person you're marrying!  The decorations are in their honor, not in the honor of your guests.  Think about little touches and flourishes you can add that will be special to your spouse, that no one else will get.  Make sure they understand that this is their day, in their honor, showing everyone how highly you treasure them!

So men, maybe you should actually get involved in the wedding planning.  It might not be as immediately enjoyable as another round of Modern Warfare 3, but it can speak volumes to your bride!  Women, I know most of you have a second nature for wedding planning from the day you're born, so let me just admonish you to make sure you are thinking of your future husband as you plan this day.  Yes, it's your day; weddings are almost always the bride's day.  But make sure your husband feels honored and esteemed, as well.

And if you're already married... well, this advice doens't disappear simply because the wedding day is over.  Now that you're married, you have an apartment or a house to decorate, a life together that you can lavish in a similar manner to the palanquin.  Take that loving care, that desire to show your spouse how much you cherish them, and apply it to every area of life.  I promise you, you won't regret showing your love!

And that's it for today!  Come back next Monday for the conclusion of the wedding discussion.  It will deal with a few very important questions, such as: why does this wedding passage spend so much time on Solomon, and so little time talking about his bride?  (Hint: there's a good answer, and no, it's not chauvanistic ;)