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Amplified Bible

Song of Solomon 5:3

"I had taken off my dress, How can I put it on again? I had washed my feet, How could I get them dirty again?

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ablution;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Feet, the;  

Dictionaries:

- Easton Bible Dictionary - Coat;   Dress;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Canticles;   ;   Washing;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Song of Solomon;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Dress;   Foot;   Song of Songs;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Garments;   Song of Solomon;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Garments;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Dress;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Feet (wash);  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Bath;   Defile;   Dress;   Sometime;   Song of Songs;   Washing of Feet;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Baths, Bathing;   Coat;   Costume;   Feet, Washing of;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I have taken off my clothing.How can I put it back on?I have washed my feet.How can I get them dirty?
Hebrew Names Version
I have taken off my robe. Indeed, must I put it on? I have washed my feet. Indeed, must I soil them?
King James Version
I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
English Standard Version
I had put off my garment; how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them?
New American Standard Bible
"I have taken off my dress, How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet, How can I dirty them again?
New Century Version
I have taken off my garment and don't want to put it on again. I have washed my feet and don't want to get them dirty again.
World English Bible
I have taken off my robe. Indeed, must I put it on? I have washed my feet. Indeed, must I soil them?
Geneva Bible (1587)
I haue put off my coate, howe shall I put it on? I haue washed my feete, howe shall I defile them?
Legacy Standard Bible
I have taken off my long‑sleeved garment,How can I put it on again?I have washed my feet,How can I dirty them again?
Berean Standard Bible
I have taken off my robe-must I put it back on? I have washed my feet-must I soil them again?
Contemporary English Version
But I had already undressed and bathed my feet. Should I dress again and get my feet dirty?
Complete Jewish Bible

[She]

I've removed my coat; must I put it back on? I've washed my feet; must I dirty them again?
Darby Translation
—I have put off my tunic, how should I put it on? I have washed my feet, how should I pollute them?—
Easy-to-Read Version
"I have taken off my robe. I don't want to put it on again. I have washed my feet. I don't want to get them dirty again."
George Lamsa Translation
I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
Good News Translation

The Woman

I have already undressed; why should I get dressed again? I have washed my feet; why should I get them dirty again?
Lexham English Bible
I have taken off my tunic, must I put it on? I have bathed my feet, must I soil them?
Literal Translation
I have stripped off My coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed My feet; how shall I soil them?
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
I haue put off my cote, how ca I do it on agayne? I haue washed my fete, how shal I fyle them agayne?
American Standard Version
I have put off my garment; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
Bible in Basic English
I have put off my coat; how may I put it on? My feet are washed; how may I make them unclean?
JPS Old Testament (1917)
I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
King James Version (1611)
I haue put off my coate, how shall I put it on? I haue washed my feete, how shall I defile them?
Bishop's Bible (1568)
I haue put of my coate, howe can I do it on agayne? I haue washed my feete, howe shall I fyle them agayne?
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?
English Revised Version
I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
I have vnclothid me of my coote; hou schal Y be clothid ther ynne? I haue waische my feet; hou schal Y defoule tho?
Update Bible Version
I have put off my garment; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
Webster's Bible Translation
I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
New English Translation

The Beloved to Her Lover:

"I have already taken off my robe—must I put it on again? I have already washed my feet—must I soil them again?"
New King James Version
I have taken off my robe; How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; How can I defile them?
New Living Translation
But I responded, "I have taken off my robe. Should I get dressed again? I have washed my feet. Should I get them soiled?"
New Life Bible
I have taken off my dress. How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet. Should I get them dirty again?
New Revised Standard
I had put off my garment; how could I put it on again? I had bathed my feet; how could I soil them?
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I have put off my tunic, oh how shall I put it on? I have bathed my feet, oh how shall I soil them?
Douay-Rheims Bible
I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?
Revised Standard Version
I had put off my garment, how could I put it on? I had bathed my feet, how could I soil them?
Young's Literal Translation
I have put off my coat, how do I put it on? I have washed my feet, how do I defile them?
THE MESSAGE

The Woman

"But I'm in my nightgown—do you expect me to get dressed? I'm bathed and in bed—do you want me to get dirty?"
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"I have taken off my dress, How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet, How can I dirty them again?

Contextual Overview

2"I was asleep, but my heart was awake. A voice [in my dream]! My beloved was knocking: 'Open to me, my sister, my darling, My dove, my perfect one! For my head is drenched with the [heavy night] dew; My hair [is covered] with the dampness of the night.' 3"I had taken off my dress, How can I put it on again? I had washed my feet, How could I get them dirty again? 4"My beloved extended his hand through the opening [of the door], And my feelings were aroused for him. 5"I arose to open for my beloved; And my hands dripped with myrrh, And my fingers with liquid [sweet-scented] myrrh, On the handles of the bolt. 6"I opened for my beloved, But my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart went out to him when he spoke. I searched for him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he did not answer me. 7"The watchmen who make the rounds in the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; The guardsmen of the walls took my shawl from me. 8"I command that you take an oath, O daughters of Jerusalem, If you find my beloved, As to what you tell him— [Say that] I am sick from love [sick from being without him]."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

have put: Proverbs 3:28, Proverbs 13:4, Proverbs 22:13, Matthew 25:5, Matthew 26:38-43, Luke 11:7, Romans 7:22, Romans 7:23

I have washed: As the Orientals only wear sandals, they are obliged to wash their feet previously to their lying down. Hence a Hindoo, if called from his bed, often makes his excuse that he shall daub his feet.

Reciprocal: Haggai 1:2 - This

Cross-References

Genesis 4:25
Adam knew [Eve as] his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for [she said], "God has granted another child for me in place of Abel, because Cain killed him."
Genesis 5:2
He created them male and female, and blessed them and named them Mankind at the time they were created.
Genesis 5:3
When Adam had lived a hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.
Genesis 5:14
So Kenan lived nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
Genesis 5:16
Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years after the birth of Jared and had other sons and daughters.
Job 14:4
"Who can make a clean thing out of the unclean? No one!
Job 25:4
"How then can man be justified and righteous with God? Or how can he who is born of a woman be pure and clean?
Psalms 51:5
I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness; In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
Luke 1:35
Then the angel replied to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a cloud]; for that reason the holy (pure, sinless) Child shall be called the Son of God.
John 3:6
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh [the physical is merely physical], and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I have put off my coat,.... In order to lie down on her bed at night, and take her ease; meaning her conversation garments, which she had not been careful of to keep, but had betook herself to carnal ease and rest, and was off her watch and guard, Nehemiah 4:23; and being at ease, and free from trouble, affliction, and persecution, was unwilling to arise and go with her beloved, lest she should meet with the same trials and sufferings as before, for the sake of him and his Gospel; which may be greatly the sense of her next words;

how shall I put it on? which suggests an apprehension of difficulty in doing it, it being easier to drop the performance of duty than to take it up again; and shows slothfulness and sluggishness, being loath and not knowing how to bring herself to it; and an aversion of the carnal and fleshly part unto it; yea, as if she thought it was unreasonable in Christ to desire it of her, when it was but her reasonable service; or as if she imagined it was dangerous, and would be detrimental to her rest, and prejudicial to her health;

I have washed my feet; as persons used to do when come off of a journey, and about to go to bed e, being weary; as she was of spiritual exercises, and of the observance of ordinances and duties, and so betook herself to carnal ease, and from which being called argues,

how shall I defile them? by rising out of bed, and treading on the floor, and going to the door to let her beloved in; as if hearkening to the voice of Christ, obeying his commands, and taking every proper step to enjoy communion with him, would be a defiling her; whereas it was the reverse of these that did it: from the whole it appears, that not only these excuses were idle and frivolous, but sinful; she slighted the means Christ made use of to awaken her, by calling and knocking; she sinned against light and knowledge, sleeping on, when she knew it was the voice of her beloved; she acted a disingenuous part in inviting Christ into his garden, and then presently fell asleep; and then endeavoured to shift the blame from herself, as if she was no ways culpable, but what was desired was either difficult, or unreasonable, or unlawful; she appears guilty of great ingratitude, and discovers the height of folly in preferring her present ease to the company of Christ.

e Homer. Odyss. 19. v. 317.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

She makes trivial excuses, as one in a dream.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Song of Solomon 5:3. I have put off my coat — The bride must have been in a dream or in much disorder of mind to have made the frivolous excuses here mentioned. The words relate to the case of a person who had gone to take rest on his bed. As they wore nothing but sandals, they were obliged to wash their feet previously to their lying down. I have washed my feet, taken off my clothes, and am gone to bed: I cannot therefore be disturbed. A Hindoo always washes his feet before he goes to bed. If called from his bed, he often makes this excuse, I shall daub my feet; and the excuse is reasonable, as the floors are of earth; and they do not wear shoes in the house. - WARD.


 
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