The chorus of young women now ask their second question of the young women, Where has your beloved gone?
The question expresses admiration for the woman. They refer to her as the most beautiful of women.
The implication is that his love for her has elevated her in the eyes of the Jerusalem girls.1
The purpose of the question is to clarify the woman’s thinking. This question opens the way for what the woman says next in Song of Solomon 6:2–3 as she finds fresh assurance of the unbreakable reality of their relationship. The more the woman describes her beloved (Song of Solomon 5:10–16) in response to their first question in Song of Solomon 5:9, the more she finds herself using the same language of him that he used of her, underscoring their deep unbreakable unity. Their separation is only temporary.2
1 Où est allé ton bien-aimé, O la plus belle des femmes? De quel côté ton bien-aimé s'est-il dirigé? Nous le chercherons avec toi.