translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: SNG

label: NET study note

text: Sharon is a low coastal plain stretching south from Mount Carmel. It is well watered due to the Kurkar ridges running parallel to the shore which trapped the water run-off from the Samaritan hills. The combination of low sandy hills and swampy lowlands produced heavy vegetation and an abundance of wild flowers in the area (M. H. Pope, Song of Songs [AB], 367).


text: This is an example of emblematic parallelism. An illustrative simile appears in the A-line and the subject of the comparison is in the B-line. The particles כֵּן … כְּ ( cÿ … ken , “like…so”) form an emphatic comparative construction (e.g., Ps 123:2 ), see IBHS 641-42 §38.5a.


text: Apple trees were not native to Palestine and had to be imported and cultivated. To find a cultivated apple tree growing in the forest among other wild trees would be quite unusual; the apple tree would stand out and be a delightful surprise. Like a cultivated apple tree, the Lover was unique and stood out among all other men. In ancient Near Eastern love literature, the apple tree was a common symbol for romantic love and sexual fertility (S. N. Kramer, The Sacred Marriage Rite , 100-101). The “apple tree” motif is used in the Song in a similar manner (e.g., Song 2:3; 8:5 ). Likewise, the motif of “apples” is used as a symbol of fertility ( Joel 1:12 ) and sexual desire ( Song 2:5, 7, 9 ).


text: The term צֵל ( tsel , “shade”) is used figuratively to depict protection and relief. This term is used in OT literally (physical shade from the sun) and figuratively (protection from something) ( HALOT 1024-25 s.v. צֵל ): (1) Literal: The physical shade of a tree offers protection from the heat of the midday sun ( Judg 9:15 ; Ezek 17:23; 31:6, 12, 17 ; Hos 4:13 ; Jonah 4:6 ; Job 7:22; 40:22). Similar protection from the sun is offered by the shade of a vine ( Ps 80:11 ), root ( Gen 19:8 ), mountain ( Judg 9:36 ), rock ( Isa 32:2 ), cloud ( Isa 25:5 ), and hut ( Jonah 4:5 ). (2) Figurative (hypocatastasis): Just as physical shade offers protection from the sun, the Israelite could find “shade” (protection) from God or the king (e.g., Num 14:9 ; Isa 30:2; 49:2; 51:16 ; Hos 14:8 ; Pss 17:8; 36:8; 57:2; 63:8; 91:1; 121:5 ; Lam 4:20 ; Eccl 7:12 ). The association between “shade” and “protection” is seen in the related Akkadian sillu “shade, covering, protection” ( AHw 3:1101; CAD S:189). The epithets of several Akkadian deities are sillu and sululu (“Shade, Protector”). The motif of protection, rest, and relief from the sun seems to be implied by the expression וְיָשַׁבְתִּי ( vÿyashavti , “I sat down”) in 2:3 b. During the summer months, the temperature often reaches 110-130ºF in the Negev. Those who have never personally experienced the heat of the summer sun in the Negev as they performed strenuous physical labor cannot fully appreciate the relief offered by any kind of shade! Previously, the young woman had complained that she had been burned by the sun because she had been forced to labor in the vineyards with no shade to protect her ( Song 1:5-6 ). She had urged him to tell her where she could find relief from the sun during the hot midday hours ( Song 1:7 ). Now she exults that she finally had found relief from the scorching sun under the “shade” which he offered to her ( Song 2:3 ). S. C. Glickman writes: “Whereas before she came to him she worked long hours on the sun ( 1:6 ), now she rests under the protective shade he brings. And although formerly she was so exhausted by her work she could not properly care for herself, now she finds time for refreshment with him” ( A Song for Lovers , 40).


text: The term פִּרְיוֹ ( piryo , “his fruit”) is a figure for the young man himself or perhaps his kisses which the young woman delights to “taste” (e.g., Song 4:11; 5:13 ). It is possible to take the imagery of the young woman tasting his “fruit” as kissing. Likewise, the imagery of the gazelles grazing among the lilies is probably a picture of the young man caressing and kissing his beloved ( Song 2:16; 6:3 ).


text: The term מָתוֹק ( matoq , “sweet”) is used literally and figuratively. When used literally, it describes pleasant tasting foods, such as honey ( Judg 14:14, 18 ; Prov 24:13 ; Ps 19:11 ) or sweet water ( Num 33:28 ; Prov 9:17 ). Used figuratively, it describes what is pleasant to experience: friendship ( Job 20:12 ; Ps 55:15 ; Prov 27:9 ), life ( Eccl 11:7 ; Sir 40:18), sleep for the weary ( Eccl 5:11 ), eloquence in speech ( Prov 16:21, 24 ), and scripture ( Ps 19:11 ). Those who adopt the “hyper-erotic” approach opt for the literal meaning: his “fruit” tastes sweet to her palate. The nonerotic approach takes the term in its figurative sense: The experience of his love was pleasant.


text: 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.


text: Frequently, when oaths were taken in the ancient world, witnesses were invoked in order to solemnize the vow and to act as jurists should the oath someday be broken. Cosmic forces such as the “heavens and earth” were often personified to act as witnesses to an oath (e.g., Deut 32:1 ; Isa 1:2 ; Mic 1:2; 6:1-2 ; Ps 50:2 ). In this case, the “witnesses” are the “gazelles and stags of the field” ( 2:7; 3:5 ). These animals were frequently used as symbols of romantic love in the OT ( Prov 5:19 ). And in Egyptian and Mesopotamian love literature and Ugaritic poetry the gazelle was often associated with sexual fertility. For instance, in the following excerpt from a Mesopotamian incantation text the stag is referred to in the context of sexual potency in which a woman urges an ailing male: “With the love-[making of the mountain goat] six times, with the lovemaking of a stag seven times, with the lovemaking of a partridge twelve times, make love to me! Make love to me because I am young! And the lovemaking of a stag…Make love to me!” (R. D. Biggs, Ancient Mesopotamian Potency Incantations [TCS], 26, lines 4-8).


text: What does the expression to “arouse or awaken love” mean? There are three major views: (1) to force a love relationship to develop prematurely rather than to allow it to develop naturally; (2) to interfere with the experience of passionate love; or (3) to stir up sexual passion, that is, to become sexually active. As noted above, אַהֲבָה (’ ahavah , “love”) probably denotes “sexual passion” ( DCH 1:141 s.v. I אַהֲבָה ; HALOT 18 s.v. I אַהֲבָה ) and עוּר (’ ur , “awaken…arouse”) probably denotes “to stir up, excite” ( HALOT 802-803 s.v. II עוּר ). Likewise, the verb עוּר (“awake”) is used in Song 4:16 and Hosea 7:4 in reference to stirring up sexual passion to excitement. tn Alternately, “arouse…awaken….” The root עוּר (’ ur ) is repeated twice in 2:7 for rhetorical emphasis. The first is the Hiphil imperative (“do not awake/excite…”) and the second is the Polel imperative (“do not awake/start to move…”). The Hiphil depicts a causative action (causing love to initially awaken) and the Polel depicts an intensive action (repeated efforts to awaken love or to set love into motion). On the other hand, G. L. Carr ( Song of Solomon [TOTC], 94) writes: “The meaning is not stir up , i.e., a repetition of the same act, but is rather first the act of awakening or summoning something, and then doing what is necessary to sustain the activity already begun, i.e., being so fully awakened that sleep becomes impossible (e.g., 5:2 ).” The terms ָתּעִירוּ ( ta ’ iru , “arouse”; Hiphil imperative from עוּר ) and תְּעוֹרְרוּ ( tÿ ’ orÿru , “awaken”; Polel imperative from עוּר ) are probably figurative expressions (hypocatastasis) rather than literal, because the object does not refer to a person (her lover) but to an emotional state (“love”). The Hebrew root עוּר has two basic meanings: (1) to wake up and (2) to excite ( HALOT 802 s.v. II עוּר ). These two nuances are paralleled in the related Semitic roots: Ugaritic `r and `rr “to be excited” ( UT 19.1849; 19.1926; WUS 2092) and Akkadian eru “to awake” ( AHw 1:247) ( HALOT 802 s.v. II). The Hiphil stem has a four-fold range of meanings: (1) to wake up someone/something, (2) to excite, put into motion, start to work, (3) to summons, (4) to disturb ( HALOT 802-803 s.v. II). When used literally, the Hiphil describes waking up a sleeper ( Zech 4:1 ) or stirring up a fire ( Hos 7:4 ). When used figuratively, it describes stirring up ( Isa 50:4 ; Pss 57:9; 108:3 ) strength ( Dan 11:25 ), anger/wrath ( Ps 78:38 ), jealous/zeal ( Isa 42:13 ), and love/sexual passion ( Song 2:7; 3:5; 8:4 ). The Polel stem has a three-fold range of meanings: (1) to awake, start to move, (2) to agitate, disturb, (3) to set in motion ( HALOT 802-803 s.v. II). The expression “arouse or awaken love” is figurative (hypocatastasis). It draws an implied comparison between the literal action of arousing a person from sleep and stirring him/her up to excited action, with the figurative picture of a lover sexually stirring up, arousing and exciting the sexual passions of his beloved.


text: Gazelles are often associated with sensuality and masculine virility in ancient Near Eastern love literature. Gazelles were often figures in Hebrew, Akkadian, and Ugaritic literature for mighty warriors or virile young men (e.g., 2 Sam 1:19; 2:18 ; Isa 14:9 ; Zech 10:3 ). In ancient Near Eastern love literature gazelles often symbolize the excitement and swiftness of the lover coming to see his beloved, as in an ancient Egyptian love song: “O that you came to your sister swiftly like a bounding gazelle! Its feet reel, its limbs are weary, terror has entered its body. A hunter pursues it with his hounds, they do not see it in its dust; It sees a resting place as a trap, it takes the river as its road. May you find her hiding-place before your hand is kissed four times. Pursue your sister’s love, the Golden gives her to you, my friend!” (“Three Poems” in the Papyrus Chester Beatty 1 collection).


text: The dove was a common figure for romantic love in ancient Near Eastern love literature. This emphasis seems to be suggested by his use of the term “my dove.” Just as the young man heard the voice of the turtledove in 2:12 , so now he wants to hear her voice. Doves were often associated with timidity in the ancient world. Being virtually defenseless, they would often take refuge in crevices and cliffs for safety ( Jer 48:28 ). The emphasis on timidity and the need for security is undoubtedly the emphasis here because of the explicit description of this “dove” hiding in the “clefts of the rock” and in “the hiding places of the mountain crevice.” Fortresses were sometimes built in the clefts of the rocks on mountainsides because they were inaccessible and therefore, in a secure place of safety ( Jer 49:16 ; Obad 3 ). Perhaps he realized it might be intimidating for her to join him and communicate with him freely. She would need to feel secure in his love to do this. It would be easy for her to hide from such emotionally exposing experiences.


text: The term “foxes” is used metaphorically. Foxes are always spoken of in a negative light in the OT and in the ancient world were particularly associated with their destructive tendencies with regard to vineyards ( Judg 15:4 ; Neh 4:3 ; Ps 63:10 ; Lam 5:18 ; Ezek 13:4 ). The description of these foxes as being destructive here seems to confirm that this is the point of comparison in mind.


text: In ancient Near Eastern love literature it was common to use wild animals to symbolize potential problems which could separate lovers and destroy their love. For instance, in Egyptian love songs it is the crocodile, rather than the foxes, which were used as figures for obstacles which might threaten a couple’s love. Here the “foxes” are probably used figuratively to represent potentially destructive problems which could destroy their romantic relationship and which could hinder it from ripening into marriage.


text: The term “vineyard” is also a figure. In 1:6 she used the vineyard motif as a metaphor for her physical appearance, but here it is “our vineyards” which is probably a figure for their romantic relationship. The phrase “in bloom” makes the metaphor more specific, so that the phrase “our vineyards are in bloom” means that their romantic love relationship was in its initial stages, that is, before it had ripened into marriage.


text: This line may be translated either as “the one who grazes among the lilies” or as “the one who feeds [his flock] among the lilies.” The latter would picture him as a shepherd pasturing his flock among a bed of flowers which they were eating, while the former would be picturing him as a gazelle feeding among a bed of flowers. Because of the occurrence of the gazelle motif in the following verse, it is most likely that this motif is present in this verse as well. Although it seems likely that he is therefore being pictured as a gazelle eating these flowers, it is far from clear as to what this figurative picture denotes. It is possible that it conveys the peaceful nature of his relationship with her because she was earlier portrayed as a lily (e.g., 2:1 ).


text: Heb “until the day breathes,” which is figurative (personification) for the morning, that is, the time when the day begin its “life” (e.g., Song 4:6 ). Likewise, “the shadows flee” is figurative (personification) for the dawn, i.e., the time when the dark shadows of the night disappear, or the shadows of the evening which lengthen and are just as fleeting.


text: Scholars offer three interpretations of her figurative request: (1) The Beloved desires her Lover to embrace her breasts, like a gazelle romping over mountains (mountains are figurative); (2) The Beloved entreats her Lover to leave and go back over the hills from whence he had journeyed (mountains are literal); and (3) As her Lover prepares to leave her country village, the Beloved asks him to return to her again in the same way he arrived, like a gazelle bounding over the mountains in 2:8-10 (mountains are literal). tn The expression הָרֵי בָתֶר ( hare bater , “mountains of Bethar”) is difficult because there is no known mountain-range which was ever called by this name. The meaning of the noun בֶּתֶר ( beter ) is uncertain. DCH distinguishes between three homonymic nouns: (1) בֶּתֶר I noun “part, piece” ( Gen 15:10 ; Jer 34:19 ) related to the verb בֶּתֶר “to cut in two” ( Gen 15:10 ); (2) בֶּתֶר II noun “gorge” ( Song 2:17 ); and (3) בֶּתֶר III place name “Bether” in Judah and 6.5 miles (11 km) SW of Jerusalem ( Josh 15:59 ; 1 Chr 6:44 ; perhaps Song 2:17 ) ( DCH 2:291 s.v. בֶּתֶר ). Thus, הָרֵי בָתֶר might mean “mountains of gorge[s]” or “mountains of Bether” ( DCH 2:291 s.v. III). The Hebrew root בָּתַר ( batar , “cut in pieces, cut in half”) is related to Arabic batara “to cut off” ( HALOT 167 s.v. בתר ; BDB 144 בָּתַר ). The word does not appear in Ugaritic, Akkadian, or Syriac. Aramaic בָּאתַר ( ba ’ tar , “after, behind”) was used frequently in Northwest Semitic ( DISO 45-46) and Late Hebrew (Jastrow 201 s.v. בָּאתַר ); however, it offers little to this problem. Many scholars take בֶּתֶר as a genitive of description functioning as an attributive adjective. For example, BDB suggests that בֶּתֶר means “mountains of cutting,” that is, “cleft mountains” (BDB 144 s.v. בֶּתֶר ), while Koehler posits “ravine,” that is, mountains with a ravine ( HALOT 167 s.v. II בֶּתֶר ). This is reflected in the LXX’s κοιλωμάτων ( koilwmatwn, “hollow places, basin, cavity”): ὄρη κοιλωμάτων ( orh koilwmatwn ) “mountains with many ravines.” This approach is adopted by several translations, e.g., “rugged mountains” (NLT). On the other hand, Vulgate, Aquila, and Symmachus took it as a place name referring to the town of Bether (LXX Βαιθηρ = Mishnaic Hebrew בִּיתֵּר ) located 6.5 miles (11 km) southwest of Jerusalem ( Josh 15:59 ; 1 Chr 6:44 ). This approach is adopted by several translations: “mountains of Bether” (KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB, NIV margin, TEV). Theodotion takes it as a figurative expression, reading θυμιαματων ( qumiamatwn, “incense”) which reflects a variant Hebrew reading of בְּשָמִים ( bÿshamim , “balsam, perfume”) which also appears in Song 8:14 . This approach is taken in a Jewish-English translation: “hills of spice” (NJPS). The botanist Löw connects Hebrew בֶּתֶר to Greek μαλαβάθρον ( malabaqron ) which was an Indian spice plant imported to Judah. See I. Low, Die Flora der Juden , 2:117-118. The expression “cleft mountains” ( הָרֵי בָתֶר ) might refer simply to a rugged and jagged mountain-range (NLT “rugged mountains”; NIV “rugged hills”). However, this may be a figurative description of the woman’s cleavage because similar imagery is used in Song 4:6 to describe her breasts. The name “Tihamah” (literally “the Great Deep”) was applied to the low-lying coastland between the mountains of Yemen and the Red Sea as well as to the depression of Djauf (Dumah) because of fresh-water springs which oozed up from below (Hebrew “Tehom” and “Tehomot,” Ugaritic “Tihamaten” or “Tahamatum,” Akkadian “Tiamat”). And it appears that in an Ammonite inscription that an area near the mountainous region of Rabbath-Amman is referred to by the name “Tymtn” (literally “The Two Depressions”), rather than by its real name (W. F. Albright, “Some Comments on the Amman Citadel Inscription,” BASOR 198 [April 1978]: 38-39).