The Song of Songs 8:5

The Awakening of Love

The Maidens about His Beloved:

8:5 Who is this coming up from the desert,

leaning on her beloved?

The Beloved to Her Lover:

Under the apple tree I aroused you; ¹ 

there your mother conceived you,

there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth. ² 

Deuteronomy 8:2

8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ³  has brought you these forty years through the desert ⁴  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not.

Isaiah 43:19

43:19 “Look, I am about to do something new.

Now it begins to happen! ⁵  Do you not recognize ⁶  it?

Yes, I will make a road in the desert

and paths ⁷  in the wilderness.

Jeremiah 2:2

2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: ⁸  ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, ⁹  how devoted you were to me in your early years. ¹⁰  I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Jeremiah 31:2

Israel Will Be Restored and Join Judah in Worship

31:2 The Lord says,

“The people of Israel who survived

death at the hands of the enemy ¹¹ 

will find favor in the wilderness

as they journey to find rest for themselves.

Revelation 12:6

12:6 and she ¹²  fled into the wilderness ¹³  where a place had been prepared for her ¹⁴  by God, so she could be taken care of ¹⁵  for 1,260 days.

Revelation 12:14

12:14 But ¹⁶  the woman was given the two wings of a giant eagle so that she could fly out into the wilderness, ¹⁷  to the place God ¹⁸  prepared for her, where she is taken care of – away from the presence of the serpent – for a time, times, and half a time. ¹⁹ 

¹ sn The imagery of v. 6 is romantic: (1) His mother originally conceived him with his father under the apple tree, (2) his mother gave birth to him under the apple tree, and (3) the Beloved had now awakened him to love under the same apple tree. The cycle of life and love had come around full circle under the apple tree. While his mother had awakened his eyes to life, the Beloved had awakened him to love. His parents had made love under the apple tree to conceive him in love, and now Solomon and his Beloved were making love under the same apple tree of love.

² tn Or “went into labor.” The verb חָבַל (khaval, “become pregnant”) is repeated in 8:6b and 8:6c, and has a two-fold range of meaning: (1) transitive: “to conceive [a child]” and (2) intransitive: “to be in travail [of childbirth]” (HALOT 286 s.v. IV חבל). In 8:6b it denotes “to conceive,” and in 8:6c it is “to be in travail [of childbirth].”

³ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

⁵ tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”

⁶ tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”

⁷ tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has נתיבות (“paths”).

⁸ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁹ tn Heb “I remember to/for you.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the loyal love of your youth.”

¹¹ tn Heb “who survived the sword.”

¹² tn Grk “and the woman,” which would be somewhat redundant in English.

¹³ tn Or “desert.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “where she has there a place prepared by God.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “so they can take care of her.”

¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present here.

¹⁷ tn Or “desert.”

¹⁸ tn The word “God” is supplied based on the previous statements made concerning “the place prepared for the woman” in 12:6.

¹⁹ tc The reading “and half a time” (καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ, kai {hmisu kairou) is lacking in the important uncial C. Its inclusion, however, is supported by {Ì⁴⁷ א A and the rest of the ms tradition}. There is apparently no reason for the scribe of C to intentionally omit the phrase, and the fact that the word “time” (καιρὸν καὶ καιρούς, kairon kai kairou") appears twice before may indicate a scribal oversight.