The Song of Songs 2:13

2:13 The fig tree has budded,

the vines have blossomed and give off their fragrance.

Arise, come away my darling;

my beautiful one, come away with me!”

The Song of Songs 7:11

The Journey to the Countryside

The Beloved to Her Lover:

7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside;

let us spend the night in the villages.

Psalms 45:10

45:10 Listen, O princess! ¹ 

Observe and pay attention! ² 

Forget your homeland ³  and your family! ⁴ 

Proverbs 9:6

9:6 Abandon your foolish ways ⁵  so that you may live, ⁶ 

and proceed ⁷  in the way of understanding.”

John 12:26

12:26 If anyone wants to serve me, he must follow ⁸  me, and where I am, my servant will be too. ⁹  If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Colossians 3:1-2

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

[45:10]  ¹ tn Heb “daughter.” The Hebrew noun בת (“daughter”) can sometimes refer to a young woman in a general sense (see H. Haag, TDOT 2:334).

[45:10]  ² tn Heb “see and turn your ear.” The verb רָאָה (ra’ah, “see”) is used here of mental observation.

[45:10]  ³ tn Heb “your people.” This reference to the “people” of the princess suggests she was a foreigner. Perhaps the marriage was arranged as part of a political alliance between Israel (or Judah) and a neighboring state. The translation “your homeland” reflects such a situation.

[45:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the house of your father.”

[9:6]  ⁵ tn There are two ways to take this word: either as “fools” or as “foolish ways.” The spelling for “foolishness” in v. 13 differs from this spelling, and so some have taken that as an indicator that this should be “fools.” But this could still be an abstract plural here as in 1:22. Either the message is to forsake fools (i.e., bad company; cf. KJV, TEV) or forsake foolishness (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NRSV, NLT).

[9:6]  ⁶ tn The two imperatives are joined with vav; this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is expressed.

[9:6]  ⁷ tn The verb means “go straight, go on, advance” or “go straight on in the way of understanding” (BDB 80 s.v. אָשַׁר).

[12:26]  ⁸ tn As a third person imperative in Greek, ἀκολουθείτω (akolouqeitw) is usually translated “let him follow me.” This could be understood by the modern English reader as merely permissive, however (“he may follow me if he wishes”). In this context there is no permissive sense, but rather a command, so the translation “he must follow me” is preferred.

[12:26]  ⁹ tn Grk “where I am, there my servant will be too.”