the Week of Proper 6 / Ordinary 11
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THE MESSAGE
Song of Solomon 2:2
The Man
A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds— that's my dear friend among the girls in the village.Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
Like a lily among thorns,so is my darling among the young women.
As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters. Beloved
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
He
As a lily among brambles, so is my love among the young women."Like a lily among the thorns, So is my darling among the young women."
Among the young women, my darling is like a lily among thorns!
"Like the lily among the thorns, So are you, my darling, among the maidens."
As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters. Beloved
Like a lilie amog the thornes, so is my loue among the daughters.
"Like a lily among the thorns,So is my darling among the daughters."
Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the maidens.
He Speaks: My darling, when compared with other young women, you are a lily among thorns.
[He]
Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the other women.As the lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
My darling, among other women, you are like a lily among thorns!
Like the lilies among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters.
The Man
Like a lily among thorns is my darling among women.Like a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the maidens.
As a lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters.
as the rose amonge the thornes, so is my loue amonge the daughters.
As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
As the lily-flower among the thorns of the waste, so is my love among the daughters.
As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
As the lillie among thornes, so is my loue among the daughters.
As the lillie among the thornes: so is my loue among the daughters.
As a lily among thorns, so is my companion among the daughters.
As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
As a lilie among thornes, so is my frendesse among douytris.
As a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
As the lily among thorns, so [is] my love among the daughters.
The Lover to His Beloved:
Like a lily among the thorns, so is my darling among the maidens.Like a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.
Young Man
Like a lily among thistles is my darling among young women."Like a lily among the thorns, so is my loved one among the young women."
As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens.
HEAs a lily among thorns, So, is my fair one, among the daughters!
As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
As a lily among brambles, so is my love among maidens.
So [is] my friend among the daughters!
"Like a lily among the thorns, So is my darling among the maidens."
Contextual Overview
The Man
A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds— that's my dear friend among the girls in the village.Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Isaiah 55:13, Matthew 6:28, Matthew 6:29, Matthew 10:16, Philippians 2:15, Philippians 2:16, 1 Peter 2:12
Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 23:6 - thorns 2 Kings 14:9 - The thistle Psalms 45:11 - So shall Song of Solomon 1:9 - O my Song of Solomon 6:1 - O thou Song of Solomon 6:2 - and to Hosea 14:5 - he shall
Cross-References
God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good! It was evening, it was morning— Day Six.
Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
"Work for six days and rest the seventh so your ox and donkey may rest and your servant and migrant workers may have time to get their needed rest.
"If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don't use my holy day for personal advantage, If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, God 's holy day as a celebration, If you honor it by refusing ‘business as usual,' making money, running here and there— Then you'll be free to enjoy God ! Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all. I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob." Yes! God says so!
But Jesus defended himself. "My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I."
When the Promises Are Mixed with Faith For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting. But not if we don't have faith. Remember that God said, Exasperated, I vowed, "They'll never get where they're going, never be able to sit down and rest." God made that vow, even though he'd finished his part before the foundation of the world. Somewhere it's written, "God rested the seventh day, having completed his work," but in this other text he says, "They'll never be able to sit down and rest." So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient. God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David's psalm, centuries later than the original invitation: Today, please listen, don't turn a deaf ear... And so this is still a live promise. It wasn't canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn't keep renewing the appointment for "today." The promise of "arrival" and "rest" is still there for God's people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we'll surely rest with God. So let's keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience. God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it—no matter what. Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
As the lily among thorns, so [is] my love among the daughters. These are manifestly the words of Christ concerning his church, whom he calls "my love", :-; and was his love still, though in such company, and in such an uncomfortable condition. In what sense she is comparable to a lily has been shown in Song of Solomon 2:1; but here she is compared to one among "thorns": by which may be meant wicked men, comparable to thorns for their unfruitfulness and unprofitableness; for their being hurtful and pernicious to good men; and for their end, which is to be burned; especially persecutors of religion, who are very distressing to the saints who dwell among them; see 2 Samuel 23:6; and her being among such serves for a foil, to set off her excellency the more: and the simile is designed, not so much to observe that Christ's lily grows among thorns, as to show that the church is as preferable to such persons as a lily is to thorns; which is justly remarked by Carolus Maria de Veil; and which sense the comparison requires, as appears by the reddition, so is "my love among the daughters": the nations and men of the world, and even carnal professors, members of the visible church, whom she as much exceeds in beauty, grace, and fruitfulness, as the lily exceeds thorns. Ainsworth thinks the "woodbind" or "honeysuckle" is meant, which grows in thorn hedges, and is sometimes called "lilium inter spinas", as Mercer observes; this is indeed of a sweet smell, yet very weak, and cannot support itself; and therefore twists and wraps itself about other trees, their twigs and branches, "convolvens se adminiculis quibuscunque", as Pliny h says; hence we call it "woodbind", and for the same reason its name in Greek is "periclymenon"; so saints are of a sweet fragrance to Christ, and, weak in themselves, cannot support themselves; yet they twine about Christ, lean on him, and are upheld by him, and depend on him for all good things. But it is the same word as in Song of Solomon 2:1, and may be rendered "lily" here as there; and not a "rose", as it is in the Targum, from which it is there distinguished. The lily is often mentioned in this love song; it is said to be the delight of Verus i. Some call it "ambrosia".
h Nat. Hist. l. 27. c. 12. i Nicander apud Athenaeum, l. 15. c. 8. p. 683.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The king resumes, taking up the bride’s comparison: “As the lily excels in beauty the thorny shrubs among which it grows, so my friend excels her companions.”