Advanced Commentary
Texts -- The Song of Songs 7:1-4 (NET)

Pericope

NET
- Sos 6:13--7:6 -- The Love Song and Dance
Bible Dictionary

-
TOWER OF IVORY
[isbe] TOWER OF IVORY - (mighdal hashen): Occurs only in Song 7:4. Cheyne would, not unreasonably, emend the text and read the "tower of Shenir" as a parallel to the "tower of Lebanon" in the same verse. If the reading "tower of iv...
-
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...
-
SKILL; SKILFUL
[isbe] SKILL; SKILFUL - skil, skil'-fool (forms of yadha` (2 Ch 2:14, etc.), bin (1 Ch 15:22), sakhal (Dan 1:4, etc.), lamadh (1 Ch 5:18), chakham (1 Ch 28:21), charash (Ezek 21:31), yaTabh (Ps 33:3); in Apocrypha empeiria (The Wis...
-
SHOE; SHOE-LATCHET
[isbe] SHOE; SHOE-LATCHET - shoo, shoo'-lach-et (na`al, literally, "that which is fastened," with denominative verb na`al, "to provide with shoes" (2 Ch 28:15; Ezek 16:10); hupodema (Sirach 46:19; Mt 3:11, etc.), from the verb hupo...
-
ROE; ROEBUCK
[isbe] ROE; ROEBUCK - ro, ro'-buk: the King James Version has "roe" and "roebuck" for tsehi, tsebhiyah. the Revised Version (British and American) usually substitutes "gazelle" in the text (Dt 12:15, etc.) or margin (Prov 6:5, etc....
-
Personification
[nave] PERSONIFICATION Of wisdom, Prov. 1; 2:1-9; 8; 9. possibly of the Church or Israel, Song 1-8.
-
PRINCE
[isbe] PRINCE - prins: This word occurs quite frequently in our English Bible, mostly in the Old Testament. While it is never used to denote royal parentage (compare 1 Ch 29:24), it often indicates actual royal or ruling power, tog...
-
POOL; POND; RESERVOIR
[isbe] POOL; POND; RESERVOIR - pool, pond, rez'-er-vwar, rez'-er-vwar ((1) berekhah, "pool"; compare Arabic birkat, "pool"; compare berakhah, "blessing," and Arabic barakat, "blessing"; (2) agham, "pool," "marsh," "reeds"; compare ...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
Arts

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)
-
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...
-
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...