The Song of Songs 2:5

2:5 Sustain ¹  me with raisin cakes, ² 

refresh me with apples, ³ 

for I am faint with love. ⁴ 

The Double Refrain: Embracing and Adjuration

Genesis 3:22-24

3:22 And the Lord God said, “Now ⁵  that the man has become like one of us, ⁶  knowing ⁷  good and evil, he must not be allowed ⁸  to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 3:23 So the Lord God expelled him ⁹  from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 3:24 When he drove ¹⁰  the man out, he placed on the eastern side ¹¹  of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries ¹²  who used the flame of a whirling sword ¹³  to guard the way to the tree of life.

Ezekiel 47:12

47:12 On both sides of the river’s banks, every kind of tree will grow for food. Their leaves will not wither nor will their fruit fail, but they will bear fruit every month, because their water source flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.” ¹⁴ 

Revelation 22:1-2

22:1 Then ¹⁵  the angel ¹⁶  showed me the river of the water of life – water as clear as crystal – pouring out ¹⁷  from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 22:2 flowing down the middle of the city’s ¹⁸  main street. ¹⁹  On each side ²⁰  of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds ²¹  of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. ²²  Its leaves are for the healing of the nations.

[2:5]  ¹ tn The imperatives סַמְּכוּנִי (sammÿkhuni, “sustain me”) and רַפְּדוּנִי (rappÿduni, “revive me”) are both plural in address (Piel 2nd person masculine plural imperatives with 1st person common singular suffixes). Thus, some commentators suggest that the woman is speaking to a large audience, perhaps the banquet guests implied in 2:4 or the maidens mentioned in 2:7 (R. Gordis, Song of Songs and Lamentations, 82). However, the Hebrew plural can be used in reference to a single individual when functioning in an intensive sense (IBHS 122 §7.4.3a). Thus, the woman may be speaking to her beloved, as in the rest of 2:3-6, but with intense passion. Similarly, in Sumerian love literature the bride sometimes uses plural verbs in reference to herself or her bridegroom (S. N. Kramer, The Sacred Marriage Rite, 92, 99).

[2:5]  ² sn The term אֲשִׁישׁוֹת (’ashishot, “raisin cakes,” from אֲשִׁישָׁה, ’ashishah) refers to an expensive delicacy made of dried compressed grapes (HALOT 95 s.v. אֲשִׁישָׁה; BDB 84 s.v. אֲשִׁישָׁה; Jastrow 128 s.v. אֲשִׁישָׁה). Raisin cakes were used as cultic offerings by many ancient Near Easterners, and were especially prominent in ancient Near Eastern fertility rites (e.g., Isa 16:7; Hos 3:1). In ancient Israel they were eaten during festive celebrations, being viewed as enhancing sexual fertility (2 Sam 6:19; 1 Chr 16:3). Scholars regard the “raisin cakes” as (1) literal food viewed as an aphrodisiac to “cure” her love-sickness; (2) a figurative expression (hypocatastasis) for sexual passion or lovemaking; or (3) double entendre referring to the literal food as an aphrodisiac and her desire for lovemaking.

[2:5]  ³ tn Or “apricots.” The term תַּפּוּחִים (tappukhim, “apples,” from תַּפּוּחַ, tappukha) occurs four times in the book (Song 2:3, 5; 7:9; 8:5) and twice outside (Prov 25:4; Joel 1:12). It is usually defined as “apples” (BDB 656 s.v. תַּפּוּחַ); however, some argue for “apricots” (FFB 92-93). The Hebrew noun תַּפּוּחַ (“apple”) is derived from the Hebrew root נָפַח (nafakh, “scent, breath”) which is related to the Arabic root nafahu “fragrant scent” (HALOT 708 s.v. נפח). Hence, the term refers to a fruit with a fragrant scent. This may explain why the mere scent of this fruit was thought to have medicinal powers in the ancient Near East (G. E. Post, Flora of Syria, Palestine and Sinai, 128). This imagery draws upon two motifs associated with apples. First, apples were viewed as medicinal in ancient Syro-Palestinian customs; the sick were given apples to eat or smell in order to revive them. Similarly, the Mishnah and Talmud refer to apples as a medication like wine and grapes. Second, apples were considered an aphrodisiac in the ancient Near East. Both motifs are combined here because the Beloved is “love-sick” and only the embrace of her beloved can cure her, as 2:6 indicates (T. H. Ratzaby, “A Motif in Hebrew Love Poetry: In Praise of the Apple,” Ariel 40 [1976]: 14).

[2:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “sick of love.” The expression חוֹלַת אַהֲבָה (kholat ’ahavah, “sick of love”) is an example of the causative use of the genitive construct: “I am sick because of love,” that is, “I am love-sick.” The expression חוֹלַת אַהֲבָה (kholat ’ahavah, “faint with love”) is a figure which compares physical or medical illness caused by a physically draining disease to sexual desire which is so intense that a person is so physically drained that they feel as if they could faint. The term חוֹל (khol, “sick”) refers to the physical weakness which consumes a person who is suffering from a medical illness (Gen 48:1; 1 Sam 19:14). It is used figuratively as a hyperbolic hypocatastasis for being so consumed with sexual desire that it saps one of his/her physical and emotional strength (BDB 317 s.v. 2). This is commonly referred to as “love-sickness.” It was associated with such deep longing for physical and sexual fulfillment that it weighed so heavily upon a person that he/she was physically and emotionally drained (2 Sam 13:2).

[3:22]  ⁵ tn The particle הֵן (hen) introduces a foundational clause, usually beginning with “since, because, now.”

[3:22]  ⁶ sn The man has become like one of us. See the notes on Gen 1:26 and 3:5.

[3:22]  ⁷ tn The infinitive explains in what way the man had become like God: “knowing good and evil.”

[3:22]  ⁸ tn Heb “and now, lest he stretch forth.” Following the foundational clause, this clause forms the main point. It is introduced with the particle פֶּן (pen) which normally introduces a negative purpose, “lest….” The construction is elliptical; something must be done lest the man stretch forth his hand. The translation interprets the point intended.

[3:23]  ⁹ tn The verb is the Piel preterite of שָׁלַח (shalakh), forming a wordplay with the use of the same verb (in the Qal stem) in v. 22: To prevent the man’s “sending out” his hand, the Lord “sends him out.”

[3:24]  ¹⁰ tn The verb with the vav (ו) consecutive is made subordinate to the next verb forming a temporal clause. This avoids any tautology with the previous verse that already stated that the Lord expelled the man.

[3:24]  ¹¹ tn Or “placed in front.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

[3:24]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word is traditionally transliterated “the cherubim.”

[3:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “the flame of the sword that turns round and round.” The noun “flame” is qualified by the genitive of specification, “the sword,” which in turn is modified by the attributive participle “whirling.” The Hitpael of the verb “turn” has an iterative function here, indicating repeated action. The form is used in Job 37:12 of swirling clouds and in Judg 7:13 of a tumbling roll of bread. Verse 24 depicts the sword as moving from side to side to prevent anyone from passing or as whirling around, ready to cut to shreds anyone who tries to pass.

[47:12]  ¹⁴ sn See Rev 22:1-2.

[22:1]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[22:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel mentioned in 21:9, 15) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “proceeding.” Water is more naturally thought to pour out or flow out in English idiom.

[22:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “its”; the referent (the city, the new Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:2]  ¹⁹ tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

[22:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “From here and from there.”

[22:2]  ²¹ tn Or “twelve crops” (one for each month of the year).

[22:2]  ²² tn The words “of the year” are implied.