Hosea 14:5

14:5 I will be like the dew to Israel;

he will blossom like a lily,

he will send down his roots like a cedar of ¹  Lebanon.

The Song of Songs 6:11

The Return to the Vineyards

The Lover to His Beloved: ² 

6:11 I went down to the orchard of walnut trees, ³ 

to look for the blossoms of the valley, ⁴ 

to see if the vines had budded

or if the pomegranates were in bloom.

Zechariah 8:12

8:12 ‘for there will be a peaceful time of sowing, the vine will produce its fruit and the ground its yield, and the skies ⁵  will rain down dew. Then I will allow the remnant of my people to possess all these things.

¹ tn Heb “like Lebanon” (so KJV; also in the following verse). The phrase “a cedar of” does not appear in the Hebrew text; it is supplied in translation for clarity. Cf. TEV “the trees of Lebanon”; NRSV “the forests of Lebanon.”

² sn It is difficult to determine whether the speaker in 6:11-12 is Solomon or the Beloved.

³ tn The term אֱגוֹז (’egoz, “nut”) probably refers to the “walnut” or “walnut tree” (juglans regia) (DCH 1:116 s.v. אֱגוֹז). The singular form is used collectively here to refer to a grove of walnut trees.

⁴ sn It is not clear whether the “valley” in 6:12 is a physical valley (Jezreel Valley?), a figurative description of their love relationship, or a double entendre.

⁵ tn Or “the heavens” (so KJV, NAB, NIV). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “skies” depending on the context.