▼sn Three first person common singular cohortatives appear in verse 2: אָקוּמָה (ʾaqumah, “I will arise”), אֲסוֹבְבָה (ʾasovevah, “I will go about”), and אֲבַקְשָׁה (ʾavaqeshah, “I will seek”). These cohortatives have been taken in two basic senses: (1) resolve: “I will arise…I will go about…I will seek” (KJV, NIV) or (2) necessity: “I must arise…I must go about…I must seek” (NASB, NJPS). There is no ethical or moral obligation/necessity, but the context emphasizes her intense determination (e.g., 3:4b). Therefore, they should be classified as cohortatives of resolve, expressing the speaker’s determination to pursue a course of action. The three-fold repetition of the cohortative form emphasizes the intensity of her determination.

▼tn The emphatic particle of exhortation נא appears in the expression אָקוּמָה נָּא (ʾaqumah nah, “I will arise…”). This particle is used with first person common singular cohortatives to emphasize self-deliberation and a determined resolve to act (BDB 609 s.v. נָא b.3.a) (e.g., Gen 18:21; Exod 3:3; 2 Sam 14:15; Isa 5:1; Job 32:21).

▼tn The root סָבַב (savav) in the Qal stem means “to go around, to do a circuit” (1 Sam 7:16; 2 Chr 17:9; 23:2; Eccl 12:5; Song 3:3; Isa 23:16; Hab 2:16), while the Polel stem means “to prowl around” (Ps 59:7, 15; Song 3:2) (HALOT 739-740 s.v. סבב). The idea here is that the Beloved is determined to “look all around” until she finds her beloved.

▼sn There is a consonantal wordplay in 3:2 between the roots בקשׁ and בשׁק, that is, between אֲבַקְשָׁה (ʾavaqeshah, “I will seek [him]”) and בַּשְּׁוָקִים (bashevaqim, “streets”). The wordplay emphasizes that she searched in every nook and cranny.

▼sn The statement בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו (biqqashtiv veloʾ metsaʾtiv, “I sought him but I did not find him”) appears twice in 3:1-2. In both cases it concludes a set of cola. The repetition depicts her mounting disappointment in her failure to locate her beloved. It stands in strong contrast with 3:4.