The Bride of the Song declares that she is a “lily” (shushan), and her lover agrees (Song of Songs 2:1-2). The word is used eight times in the Song (2:1, 2, 16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2, 3; 7:2), sometimes for the Bride, sometimes for her lips, sometimes for her breasts. Not surprisingly, gathering from the garden is linked to gathering lilies: The Bride is the pick of the garden. A form of the same word is used in the titles to... Read more
I have commented before on the aural parallel between “fragrance” and “spirit” in Hebrew ( reach , ruach ). The theological import of that parallel is enhanced by the Song’s use of reach as the object of the verb “give” (Song of Songs 1:12; 2:13; 7:13). Perfumes, flowers, mandrakes “give” their aroma that is received by the breath/ ruach of the recipient. Fragrance, like spirit, is given . And fragrance gives spirit. The fragrance of burnt offerings calmed the Lord’s... Read more
The NASB translates Song of Songs 1:16c as “our couch is luxuriant.” that is an unfortunate translation, because the word translated as “luxuriant” is actually “green” ( ra’anan ). The NASB translation suggests plush cushions and linen or silk sheets. The Hebrew indicates a bower. The lovers’ house has cedar beams and cypress rafters because they are outside on a bed of green. 1:16-17 thus seamlessly lead into the bride’s declaration “I am the rose of Sharon.” But “green” also... Read more
There are few agreements among scholars about the structure of the Song of Songs, but many commentators recognize that the opening section is 1:2-2:7, a series of seven alternating speeches between teh beloved and the lover. Seven! That makes one curious if there is a more-than-numerological parallel with Genesis 1. As usual, some of the parallels are stronger than others. A. 1:2-7: The bride longs for a kiss, describes herself as black from the sun (v. 6). The reference to... Read more
INTRODUCTION Throughout the series of six woes (Isaiah 28-33), Isaiah’s attention has been on the doom that is coming to Judah and Israel – the drunkards of Egypt, Ariel, the rebellious sons who seek help from Egypt. The last woe is is against the “destroyer” and “treacherous” (Isaiah 33:1), that is, the Assyrians who will be punished for their pride and cruelty (Isaiah 10:15-27). THE TEXT “Woe to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered; and you who... Read more
Edwin Friedman ( A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix ) notes that the intensity of an adulterous relationship arises from the way it creates an emotional triangle. The attraction is not the sex so much as the secrecy, which “creates an intense emotional bond by triangulating out the other partner.” The sense of aliveness that adulterers claim to experience in their adultery is a result of this secretive intensity. He notes that “the way... Read more
Most English translations inform us that there is a book “in the hand of” the One Enthroned in Revelation 5. That is more than the Greek says. In the Greek, the word “hand” does not appear, and the preposition ( epi ) doesn’t mean “in” but rather “on” or “upon.” When John sees the Angel come with a book “in” his hand in chapter 10, he uses the preposition en . Commentators handle the odd preposition by suggesting that the... Read more
John uses the verb eido (see, know) seventy times in the Apocalypse. The word is translated in various ways (behold, saw, look), which obscures the Greek pattern. Seventy is the number of the nations, the seventy uses perhaps reinforce the fact that Revelation describes the bringing of the nations into the city of God. The distribution is also interesting. Seven times in his messages to the churches Jesus says “I saw/know your works” ( oida ta erga ; 2:2, 9,... Read more
Toward the end of a polemic against Judah’s idolatry, which occupies every hill and mountain and leafy tree, Jeremiah makes this comment: “the shameful thing has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters” (Jeremiah 3:24). “Shameful thing” is bosheth , which could mean, abstractly, “shame.” Jeremiah follows with an exhortation to “lie down in our shame, and let our humiliation cover us” (v. 25). Shame is clearly an... Read more
An excerpt from my forthcoming book on empires is posted at http://www.firstthings.com/ today. Read more
Leithart
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