Big Time Wedding

THE WEDDING PROCESSION

Chapter 3

verses 6-11

Who this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant?  Look!  It is Solomon’s carriage, escorted by sixty warriors, the noblest of Israel, all of them waring the sward, all experienced in battle, each with his sword at is side, prepared for the terrors of the night.  King Solomon made for himself the carriage:  he made it of wood from Lebanon.  Its posts he made of solver, its base of gold.  Its seat was upholstered with purple, its inter ion lovingly inlaid by he daughter of Jerusalem.  Come out, you daughter of Zion, and look at King  Solomon waring the crown, the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his wedding, the day his hear rejoiced.

These verses contain a description of things – a striking shift in the tenor of the work. Secondly, there is a pronounced royal coloring to the passage.  Thirdly, a boasting and hyperbolic tone is evident (Gerleman, 135).  This is the only place with a clear reference to a marriage setting.  (25) page 151

like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and incense made from all the spices of the merchant?

“Never again did spices come in such quantity as that which the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon” (1 Kgs 10:10). (29) page 126

When you watch one of the bride shows, compare that wedding to this one.  Do they arrive at the wedding being carried in a carriage, with 60 guards to protect them?  Does their bed have a base of gold and posts of silver?   This was one expensive wedding.  Solomon was one extremely wealthy guy, the king of a very powerful nation and he had a wedding that was fitting for him.

They waited and now the day has come.  The brief description give us an idea about how elaborate and special the day was for them.

Please don’t use this as an excuse to spend extravagantly on a wedding and reception.  If you read about Solomon, you will see that the cost for this was small compared to his wealth.  At one point he was bringing in 600 tons of gold a year, and he didn’t even bother to weigh all the silver that he had.