Translation
Its posts he made of silver,
Go to footnote numberits base of gold.
Go to footnote numberits seat was upholstered
Go to footnote numberwith purple,
Go to footnote numberits middle
Go to footnote numberwas tessellated as a mosaic
Go to footnote numberwith love from the Daughters of JERUSALEM.
Go to footnote numberParaphrase
Its foundations are most desirable, its foundations are elegant.
It was an expression
of royalty, Its core was carefully
crafted with love from his
own Daughters.
Footnotes
1
Silver meant “strong desire,” or something very desirable.
2: "Gold"
The word used here means “shimmering,” with an emphasis on elegance and great value.
3
Upholstery covers something and thus becomes the visible exterior, giving the desired impression.
4
Purple was well known as the color of royalty.
5: “its middle”
If one is thinking of a carriage or sedan chair the term “middle” is not very clear or helpful. However, symbolism can have mixing of images or other strange things going on that change the mental picture we were expecting. I think the term “middle” was chosen for what it symbolizes, not for how it fits with a carriage. What is the “core” of Solomon’s wealth? I think it would point to the way he was going about gaining wealth. He was not advancing his kingdom or his wealth through warfare, and it would imply that he did not mistreat people. While we do not have very many details, the issue of mistreatment would probably depend on which standard one uses to measure mistreatment. By ancient standards I would guess Solomon to be a kind and just ruler. By modern standards we would probably say there was some mistreatment going on (he did use forced labor, but so did every other king, including David). But this is given from the perspective of the Shulammite whose only points of comparison would have been other rulers of that era. I believe the imagery is communicating that Solomon gained his wealth in just and proper ways.
6: “tessellated as a mosaic”
This phrase is a challenge to translate into English. The verb used here simply means to “fit together,” hence by implication it means “to tessellate,” or possibly “to form a mosaic.” Tessellation is the use of multiple pieces fit together to form a pattern with no gaps and without overlapping.
Things that were tessellated were usually found in temples and kings’ palaces because they required so much careful and skilled craftsmanship.
7
If the carriage represents Solomon’s wealth, and Daughters of Jerusalem represent his own daughters, what is the connection between the two? How did his daughters help build up his wealth? They could have served as a motivation for Solomon to do things well and to the best of his vast abilities.