The Hebrew word for leaf is ‘aleh , which uses the same consonants as the verb ‘alah , “to go up, to ascend,” and ‘olah , “ascension offering.” Surly Hebrew children didn’t say, “Make like a tree and leave” but “Make like a tree and ascend” – Make like an ‘aleh and ‘alah . A leaf is what “ascends” or “springs up” from a tree. As a tree grows to maturity, it gains an increasingly rich crown of leaves. We... Read more
Maximus the Confessor ( Ambiguum 7) understands very clearly that the difference between Greek (or Origenist) and Christian thought is the difference between beginnings and ends, between a protologically-weighted ontology and an eschatologically-weighted one. He defends a “participation in a goodness that is yet to come” and refutes “one that existed once and was corrupted.” He doesn’t think an original “henad” is possible or rational. If beings originally were at rest in God, or in Being, they have nothing to... Read more
Isaiah 35 is divided into six sections, which form a rough chiasm: A. The desert blooms and rejoices, vv 1-2 B. Encourage the faint, vv 3-4 C. Bodies restored, vv 5-6a C’. Water in the desert, vv 6b-7 B’. A highway of return, vv 8-9 A’. Joy of the returned exiles, v 10 This structure highlights a point that is evident on a surface reading of the text: The connection of healing with the gift of water in the desert.... Read more
Isaiah 34 describes an international liturgical event. The nations are called to gather, but the nations are themselves the sacrificial victims. The sacrifice includes the slaughter of “the host of heaven,” which are cast out to “rot” (v. 4). This is Israel, the heavenly people, and the Lord’s sword is sated with their blood and fat (v. 5) before descending to the representative people of earth, Edom. Edom’s slaughter is more explicitly a sacrifice. Yahweh’s sword is a sacrificial sword... Read more
“Precious” ( meged ) is used in only two books of the Old Testament. in Deuteronomy 33, it is used five times in Moses’ blessing on Joseph. It is used three times in the Song (4:13, 16; 7:13). In Deuteronomy 33, the adjective is used as a noun four time (“precious things,” vv. 13, 14, 15, 16) and once modifying “fruits” (v. 14), as in Song of Songs 4:13. The precious things promised to Joseph descend from the sky down... Read more
“Awake, O north! Come, O south! Breathe my garden, let my spices flow.” “Flow” ( nazal ) is what fluids do, water especially. It takes a massive blast from God’s nostrils to make the “flow” stand upright (Exodus 15:8). Ice melts and begins to flow (Judges 5:5), and clouds flow down with rain (Job 36:28). A flow of water came from the rock (Psalm 78:16) after Yahweh turned the flow of Egypt to blood (Psalm 78:44). In the Song of... Read more
“Awake, O north! Come, O south! Breathe my garden!” The Bride needs to awaken the wind, which appears to be sleeping, not getting to the job of wafting out fragrance. What happens when the Wind gets going? Israel is carried on eagle’s wings from Egypt (Deuteronomy 32:11). Deborah composes songs (Judges 5:12; cf. Psalm 57:8; 108:2). Warriors fight (2 Samuel 23:18; 1 Chronicles 11:11, 20). Emperors proclaim liberty to captives (Ezra 1:1). Love comes into the garden (Song of Songs... Read more
The letter to the Laodiceans clearly ends with an allusion to teh Song of Songs. Jesus knocks and seeks entry to the Bridal chamber of the church, where he will sup with His Bride, sup on His Bride (Revelation 3:20). As almost everyone notices, that reaches back to Song of Songs 5:1, the Bridegroom’s entry into the chamber, the mutual feast, and the knocking that immediately follows. But the Song is already in view earlier in the message to Laodicea.... Read more
The sequence of Song of Songs 4:16 is significant. The verse begins with an invocation to the winds. The Bride awakens the north wind and invites the south wind, and these winds breathe out ( haphiychiy , from puach , which rhymes with ruach ) the fragrances of the garden. Wind blows from the north and carries the aromas south, while the south wind picks up the fragrances and bears them north. puach is typically associated with the breath of... Read more
Matthew is famously organized by five large blocks of teaching (chs. 5-7, 10, 13, 18, 23-25). At least numerically, if not otherwise, it hints that Jesus is the new Moses, bringing five new “books” from the mountaintop and then sending His disciples out into the world to read out those books to the Gentiles. But the Psalms too are organized into five books, mimicking the five books of the Pentateuch (Pss. 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150). The Psalms are a... Read more
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