This is the beginning of yet another section of the book of Song of Solomon. The start of it ties in with what the woman had been dreaming. In this part it is no longer about a dream. Her beloved is with her again. We read that he has gone to his garden (see Song of Solomon 6:2). Later on he says that he has gone to his nut orchard (Song of Solomon 6:11). We get the impression that, for a while, this man has gone to a garden quite some distance from home. His working conditions imply that he cannot be with his wife for some time.
It is then when the wife tells the girls, the young women with whom she is talking, that when they meet her husband, they should tell him that she is longing for him. Her desire is so great that she is actually not quite herself anymore. She cannot do well without him. In fact, it is so bad that she cannot do the ordinary things anymore. The time of being alone has become too long for her. You should not understand the word find
in this verse to mean that these girls are now going to look for this man. It is not as if a search is being organized. The point is that if one of these young girls meets him, because they happen to be near the place where he works, they should then take this message to him.
8 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am sick with love.