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Texts -- The Song of Songs 7:1-13 (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 . 7:12 Let us rise early to go to the vineyards , to see if the vines have budded , to see if their blossoms have opened , if the pomegranates are in bloom – there I will give you my love . 7:13 The mandrakes send out their fragrance ; over our door is every delicacy , both new and old , which I have stored up for you, my lover .

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

  • Personification

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

  • 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:...

  • 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...

  • Lovers

    [nave] LOVERS. Instances of Isaac for Rebekah, Gen. 24:67. Jacob for Rachel, Gen. 29:20, 30. Shechem for Dinah, Gen. 34:3, 12. Boaz for Ruth, Ruth 2-4. of romance, mistresses, paramours Song 1:13, 14, 16; 2:3, 8, 9, 10, 16, 1...

  • Heshbon

    [isbe] HESHBON - hesh'-bon (cheshbon; Hesebon): The royal city of Sihon king of the Amorites, taken and occupied by the Israelites under Moses (Nu 21:25 f, etc.). It lay on the southern border of Gad (Josh 13:26), and was one of th...
    [smith] (stronghold), the capital city of Sihon king of the Amorites. (Numbers 21:26) It stood on the western border of the high plain --Mishor, (Joshua 13:17) --and on the boundary line between the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The ruin...
    [nave] HESHBON A city of the Amorites, Num. 21:25-35; Deut. 1:4. Built by Reuben, Num. 32:37. Allotted to Gad, Josh. 21:38, 39. Fish-pools at, Song 7:4. Prophecy concerning, Isa. 16:8; Jer. 48:2, 34, 35; 49:1-3.

  • Breast

    [nave] BREAST parts of a sacrifice: Ex. 29:26, 27; Lev. 7:30, 30, 31, 34; 8:29; 9:20, 21; 10:14, 15; Num. 6:20; 18:18 area of the lap, chest: Jer. 31:19; Ezek. 21:12; Luke 18:13; 23:48; John 13:25; 21:20; Rev. 1:13; 15:6 of women: ...

  • Carmel

    [isbe] CARMEL - kar'-mel (karmel, or, with article, ha-karmel, "fruit garden"; Josephus, ho Karmelos, Karmelion oros): (1) A beautifully wooded mountain range running for about 13 miles in a south-easterly direction from the promon...
    [nave] CARMEL 1. A fertile and picturesque mountain in Palestine, Song 7:5; Isa. 33:9; 35:2; Jer. 46:18; 50:19; Amos 1:2. Forests of, 2 Kin. 19:23. Caves of, Amos 9:3; Mic. 7:14. An idolatrous high place upon; Elijah builds an a...

  • Ivory

    [isbe] IVORY - i'-vo-ri ((1) shen, "tooth" (translated "ivory," 1 Ki 10:18; 22:39; 2 Ch 9:17; Ps 45:8; Song 5:14; 7:4; Ezek 27:6,15; Am 3:15; 6:4); (2) shenhabbim; Septuagint odontes elephdntinoi, "elephants' teeth" (1 Ki 10:22; 2 ...
    [nave] IVORY. Song 5:14; 7:4; Ezek. 27:15. Exported from Tarshish, 1 Kin. 10:22; 2 Chr. 9:21; Chittim, Ezek. 27:6. Ahab's palace made of, 1 Kin. 22:39. Other houses made of, Psa. 45:8; Amos 3:15. Other articles made of: String...

  • Lebanon

    [isbe] LEBANON - leb'-a-non (lebanon; Septuagint Libanos; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) Libanus): 1. Name: Derived from the root labhen, "to be white," probably from the snow which covers its summits the greater part...
    [nave] LEBANON A mountain range. Northern boundary of the land of Canaan, Deut. 1:7; 3:25; 11:24; Josh. 1:4; 9:1. Early inhabitants of, Judg. 3:3. Snow of, Jer. 18:14. Streams of, Song 4:15. Cedars of, Judg. 9:15; 2 Kin. 19:23;...

  • VINE

    [isbe] VINE - vin: 1. Hebrew Words: (1) gephen, usually the cultivated grape vine. In Nu 6:4; Jdg 13:14 we have gephen ha-yayin, literally, "vine of wine," translated "grape vine" (Numbers) and "vine," margin "grape vine" (Jgs); 2 ...

  • BATHRABBIM

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

  • 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 ...

  • 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...

  • 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 ...

  • TENDER

    [isbe] TENDER - ten'-der: The usua1 (11 out of 16 times) translation of rakh, "soft," "delicate," with the noun rokh, in Dt 28:56 and the verb rakhakh, in 2 Ki 22:19 parallel 2 Ch 34:27. Attention need be called only to the followi...

  • 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...

  • VILLAGE

    [isbe] VILLAGE - vil'-aj (qaphar, chawwoth, qatserim, banoth, perazoth; kome): (1) The general term for a village, in common with Aramaic and Arabic is qaphar (Song 7:11; 1 Ch 27:25; kopher; 1 Sam 6:18; kephir, Neh 6:2). This desig...

  • THRUM

    [isbe] THRUM - thrum: In Isa 38:12 the Revised Version (British and American) reads "He will cut me off from the loom," margin "thrum." "Thrum" is a technical term of weavers, denoting the threads of the warp hanging down in a loom...

  • TOWER OF LEBANON

    [isbe] TOWER OF LEBANON - (mighdal ha-lebhanon): (Song 7:4)): The designation "which looketh toward Damascus" compels us to identify it with some portion of, or something in, the eastern range of "Lebanon, toward the sun-rising" (J...

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

  • God formed Jacob's family, the ancestors of the tribes of Israel, as He had promised Jacob at Bethel. Unfortunately Jacob and his wives lived in envy and friction over how God chose to bless them."Jacob had planned to take Ra...
  • 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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