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Texts -- The Song of Songs 7:1-11 (NET)

Context
7:1 The Lover to His Beloved: How beautiful are your sandaled feet , O nobleman’s daughter ! The curves of your thighs are like jewels , the work of the hands of a master craftsman . 7:2 Your navel is a round mixing bowl – may it never lack mixed wine ! Your belly is a mound of wheat , encircled by lilies . 7:3 Your two breasts are like two fawns , twins of a gazelle . 7:4 Your neck is like a tower made of ivory . Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-Rabbim . Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon overlooking Damascus . 7:5 Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel . The locks of your hair are like royal tapestries – the king is held captive in its tresses ! 7:6 How beautiful you are! How lovely , O love , with your delights !
The Palm Tree and the Palm Tree Climber
7:7 The Lover to His Beloved: Your stature is like a palm tree, and your breasts are like clusters of grapes . 7:8 I want to climb the palm tree , and take hold of its fruit stalks . May your breasts be like the clusters of grapes , and may the fragrance of your breath be like apricots ! 7:9 May your mouth be like the best wine , flowing smoothly for my beloved , gliding gently over our lips as we sleep together.
Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession
7:10 The Beloved about Her Lover : I am my beloved’s, and he desires me!
The Journey to the Countryside
7:11 The Beloved to Her Lover: Come , my beloved , let us go to the countryside ; let us spend the night in the villages .

Pericope

NET
  • Sos 7:7-9 -- The Palm Tree and the Palm Tree Climber
  • Sos 7:10 -- Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession
  • Sos 7:11-13 -- The Journey to the Countryside

Bible Dictionary

  • Song

    [nave] SONG Sung at the passover, Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26. Didactic, Deut. 32. See: Psalms, Didactic. Impersonation of the church, Song 1-8. Of Moses and the Lamb, Rev. 15:3, 4. New, Psa. 33:3; 40:3. Prophetic, See: Psalms, P...

  • Personification

    [nave] PERSONIFICATION Of wisdom, Prov. 1; 2:1-9; 8; 9. possibly of the Church or Israel, Song 1-8.

  • PALESTINE, 3

    [isbe] PALESTINE, 3 - IV. Palestine in the Poetic Books of the Old Testament. 1. Book of Job: In Job the scene is distinctively Edomite. Uz (Job 1:1; compare Gen 22:21 the English Revised Version; Jer 25:20; Lam 4:21) and Buz (Job ...

  • NECK

    [isbe] NECK - nek (tsawwar, tsawwa'r, tsawwaron, tsawwa'rah, Aramaic tsawwar (Dan 5:7,16,29), `oreph, miphreqeth (1 Sam 4:18); nostos, "back" (Baruch 2:33); occasionally the words garon (Isa 3:16; Ezek 16:11), and gargeroth, plural...

  • NAVEL

    [isbe] NAVEL - na'-v'l (shor. The Septuagint in Prov 3:8 suggests a different reading, namely, instead of shorrekha, sherekha = she'erkha, "thy flesh")): The King James Version translates the Hebrew sharir in the description of Beh...

  • LILY

    [isbe] LILY - lil'-i (shushan (1 Ki 7:19), shoshannah (2 Ch 4:5; Song 2:1 f; Hos 14:5); plural (Song 2:16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2 f; 7:2; Ecclesiasticus 39:14; 50:8); krinon (Mt 6:28; Lk 12:27)): The Hebrew is probably a loan word from the...

  • JEWEL

    [isbe] JEWEL - ju'-el, joo'-el: An ornament of gold, silver or of precious stones in the form of armlet, bracelet, anklet, nose-ring, etc. Oriental dress yields itself freely to such adornment, to which there are many allusions in ...

  • IVORY, TOWER OF

    [isbe] IVORY, TOWER OF - (mighdal hashen): In Song 7:4 the neck of the Shulammite is compared in whiteness and stateliness to a (or the) tower of ivory. The definite article may suggest that the comparison is with some actual tower...

  • HAIR

    [isbe] HAIR - har (se`ar, sa`ar, Aramaic se`ar, and their derivatives; thrix, gen. case trichos, kome): 1. Hair Fashions: Hair was worn in different fashions by the Orientals of Biblical times, and not always in the same way among ...
    [smith] The Hebrews were fully alive to the importance of the hair as an element of personal beauty. Long hair was admired in the case of young men. (2 Samuel 14:26) In times of affliction the hair was altogether cut off. (Isaiah ...

  • GOBLET

    [isbe] GOBLET - gob'-let ('aggan): A bowl or basin (Song 7:2), the only place where the word is used. `Aggan is used in the plural in Ex 24:6 and Isa 22:24, and is translated "basins" and "cups." These "basins" were used to hold th...

  • GAZELLE

    [isbe] GAZELLE - ga-zel' (tsebhi, and feminine tsebhiyah; compare Tabeitha (Acts 9:36), and Arabic zabi; also Arabic ghazal; Dorkas (Acts 9:36); modern Greek zarkadi): The word "gazelle" does not occur in the King James Version, wh...

  • GALLERY

    [isbe] GALLERY - gal'-er-i: (1) ('attuq, Kethibh; 'attik, used only in Ezek 41:16; 42:3,1; etymology and meaning uncertain; among the more probable suggestions are "pillar," "column," "walk with pillars," "colonnades," "passageway,...

  • Fellowship

    [nave] FELLOWSHIP. Eccl. 4:9-12; Amos 3:3 See: Fraternity; Fellowship. With God Gen. 5:22, 24; Gen. 6:9; Ex. 29:45; Ex. 33:14-17; Lev. 26:12; Isa. 57:15; Zech. 2:10; Mark 9:37; John 14:23; John 17:21, 23; 2 Cor. 6:16; 2 Cor. 13:...

  • FISHPOOLS

    [isbe] FISHPOOLS - fish'-pools: This is a mistranslation. The Hebrew berekhoth (Song 7:4) simply means "pools" (Revised Version); "fish" is quite unwarrantably introduced in the King James Version. In Isa 19:10, again, instead of "...

  • CUNNING

    [isbe] CUNNING - kun'-ing (chakham, chashabh): In Bible-English "cunning" means always "wise" or "skilful"; the word does not occur in the bad sense, and it is found in the Old Testament only. The chief Hebrew words are chakham, "w...

  • COLOR; COLORS

    [isbe] COLOR; COLORS - kul'-er, kul'-erz: The word translated "color" in the King James Version is `ayin, which literally means "eye" or "appearance," and has been so translated in the Revised Version (British and American). In the...

  • CLUSTER

    [isbe] CLUSTER - klus'-ter: (1) 'eshkol; compare proper name VALE OF ESHCOL. (which see), from root meaning "to bind together." A cluster or bunch of grapes (Gen 40:10; Nu 13:23; Isa 65:8; Song 7:8; Mic 7:1, etc.); a cluster of hen...

  • BATHRABBIM

    [smith] (daughter of many), The gate of, One of the gates of the ancient city of heshbon. (Solomon 7:4,5)

  • BATH-RABBIM, THE GATE OF

    [isbe] BATH-RABBIM, THE GATE OF - bath-rab'-im, (sha`ar bath-rabbim; Septuagint en pulais thugatros pollon, literally "in the gates of the daughter of the many." The gate of Heshbon near which were the pools compared to the Shulamm...

  • APPLE; APPLE-TREE

    [isbe] APPLE; APPLE-TREE - ap'-l ap'-l tre, (tappuach): A fruit tree and fruit mentioned chiefly in Cant, concerning the true nature of which there has been much dispute. Song 2:3 says: "As the apple-tree among the trees of the woo...

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • Maacah bore Absalom while David was reigning in Hebron (3:3). He was David's third-born. Amnon, his first-born, was also born in Hebron but by Ahinoam (3:2). Both sons may have been in their late teens or early twenties at th...
  • Many references to Solomon throughout the book confirm the claim of 1:1 that Solomon wrote this book (cf. 1:4-5, 12; 3:7, 9, 11; 6:12; 7:5; 8:11-12; 1 Kings 4:33). He reigned between 971 and 931 B.C.How could Solomon, who had...
  • I. The superscription 1:1II. The courtship 1:2-3:5A. The beginning of love 1:2-111. Longing for the boyfriend 1:2-42. The girl's insecurity 1:5-83. Solomon's praise 1:9-11B. The growth of love 1:12-3:51. Mutual admiration 1:1...
  • Perhaps the outstanding characteristic of this first major section of the book is the sexual restraint that is evident during the courtship. This restraint contrasts with the sexual intimacy that characterizes the lovers afte...
  • 7:1-2 These verses contain both physical and metaphorical compliments. Verse 1 seems to refer to the Shulammite's body, but verse 2 goes beyond that. It seems to convey the idea that she was Solomon's drink and food, "that he...
  • Even today we speak of "graceful palm trees."Verse 9b voices the wife's eager response. All these verses reflect the increased freedom in sexual matters that is a normal part of the maturation of marital love. A husband has t...
  • The Shulammite's desire for her husband's love continued to increase throughout their marriage (vv. 1-3).8:1 Ancient Near Easterners frowned on public displays of intimate affection unless closest blood relatives exchanged th...
  • The primary purpose of the book seems to be to present an example of the proper pre-marital, marital, and post-marital relationship of a man and a woman. This example includes illustrations of the solutions to common problems...
  • The amount of detail devoted to the descriptions of the gate complexes, both outer and inner, emphasizes that access into the temple will be strictly controlled.40:6 Ezekiel's guide next measured the gate of the city that fac...
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