13 Heb “like a little.” The term כִּמְעַט (kim’at), which is composed of the comparative preposition ךְּ (ké, “like”) prefixed to the noun מְעַט (mé’at, “the small, the little, the few”), is an idiom that means “within a little” or “scarcely” ( 590 מְעַט b.2.a).
14 Heb “I held him” (אֲחַזְתִּיו, ’akhaztiv). The term אָחַז (’akhaz, “grasp”) denotes to forcefully seize someone to avoid losing hold of him ( 28 אָחַז b).
15 The verb רָפָה (rafah, “to let go”) means to relax one’s grip on an object or a person ( רפה; 952 רָפָה 2). The Hiphil stem means “to let loose” (Job 7:19; 27:6; Song 3:4; Sir 6:27) or “to release from one’s hands” (Deut 9:14; Josh 10:6; Ps 37:8). The negative expression לֹא רָפָה (lo’ rafah, “to not let [someone or something] go”) denotes an intense desire or effort to not lose possession of someone or something (Job 27:6; Prov 4:13). Here the expression וְלֹא אַרְפֶּנּוּ (vélo’ ’arpennu, “I would not let him go”) pictures her determination to hold on to him so she would not lose him again. The shift from a suffix-conjugation (perfect) אֲחַזְתִּיו (’akhaztiv, “I grasped him”) to a prefix-conjugation (imperfect) אַרְפֶּנּוּ (’arpennu, “I would [not] let him go”) depicts a shift from a completed/consummative action (perfect: she took hold of his hand) to an ongoing/progressive action (imperfect: she would not let go of it). A basic distinction between the perfect and imperfect tenses is that of consummative versus progressive action. The literary/syntactical structure of אֲחַזְתִּיו וְלֹא אַרְפֶּנּוּ (“I grasped him and I would not let him go”) in 3:4 mirrors that of בִּקַּשְׁתִּיו וְלֹא מְצָאתִיו (biqqashtiv vélo’ métsa’tiv, “I searched for him but I could not find him”) in 3:1–2. This parallelism in the literary and syntactical structure emphasizes the fortunate reversal of situation.
16 There is debate about the reason why the woman brought her beloved to her mother’s house. Campbell notes that the mother’s house is sometimes referred to as the place where marital plans were made (Gen 24:28; Ruth 1:8). Some suggest, then, that the woman here was unusually bold and took the lead in proposing marriage plans with her beloved. This approach emphasizes that the marriage plans in 3:4 are followed by the royal wedding procession (3:6–11) and the wedding night (4:1–5:1). On the other hand, others suggest that the parallelism of “house of my mother” and “chamber of she who conceived me” focuses on the bedroom of her mother’s house. Fields suggests that her desire was to make love to her beloved in the very bedroom chambers where she herself was conceived, to complete the cycle of life/love. If this is the idea, it would provide a striking parallel to a similar picture in 8:5 in which the woman exults that they had made love in the very location where her beloved had been conceived: “Under the apple tree I aroused you; it was there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you conceived you.”
17 The term חֶדֶר (kheder, “chamber”) literally means “dark room” ( חֶדֶר ) and often refers to a bedroom (Gen 43:30; Exod 7:28; Judg 3:24; 15:1; 16:9, 12; 2 Sam 4:7; 13:10; 1 Kgs 1:15; 2 Kgs 6:12; 9:2; Eccl 10:20; Isa 26:20; Joel 2:16; Prov 24:4; Song 1:4; 3:4).

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Scarcely had I passed them

when I found him whom my soul loves.

I held him, and would not let him go

until I had brought him into my mother’s house,

and into the chamber of her who conceived me.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Scarcely had I passed them

when I found the one my heart loves.

I held him and would not let him go

till I had brought him to my mother’s house,

to the room of the one who conceived me.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

I had just passed them

when I found the one I love.

I held on to him and would not let him go

until I brought him to my mother’s house—

to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

NLTNew Living Translation

Then scarcely had I left them

when I found my love!

I caught and held him tightly,

then I brought him to my mother’s house,

into my mother’s bed, where I had been conceived.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Scarcely had I passed by them

when I found him whom my heart loves.

I held him and I would not let him go

until I brought him to the house of my mother,

into the bedroom chamber of she who conceived me.

KJV 1900King James Version

It was but a little that I passed from them,

But I found him whom my soul loveth:

I held him, and would not let him go,

Until I had brought him into my mother’s house,

And into the chamber of her that conceived me.

Public Domain