Charles Ellicott Commentary Song Of Solomon 3:6

"Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant?" — Song Of Solomon 3:6 (ASV)

Who is this that cometh. —The dramatic feeling is decidedly shown in the passage introduced by this verse. However, we still regard it as a scene passing only in the theater of the imagination. It was introduced by the poet in his Epithalamium, partly from his sympathy with all newly-wedded people and partly (as in Song of Solomon 8:11) to contrast the simplicity of his own wedding, where all the joy centered in true love, with the pomp and magnificence of a royal marriage, which was a State ceremony.

Wilderness. —Hebrew, midbar. The idea is that of a wide open space, with or without pasture: the country of nomads, as distinguished from that of a settled population. When used with the article (as it is here), it generally refers to the desert of Arabia, but also to the tracts of land on the frontiers of Palestine (Joshua 8:16; Judges 1:16; compare Matthew 3:1 and following). Here it means the country.

Like pillars of smoke. —The custom of heading a procession with incense is both very ancient and very general in the East; it is probably a relic of religious ceremonies where gods were carried in processions. For Frankincense, see Exodus 30:34.