What Does Song of Solomon 2:1 Mean in the King James?
I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The lily is not above the valleys: the verse locates beauty inside the depths.
THE MEANING
You are named as both a flower of Sharon and a lily of the valleys. The image holds open ground and depth together, placing your beauty in more than one kind of terrain.
THE ROOT
הָעֲמָקִים
ha-ʿamaqim
GROWS FROM
עמק
To be deep; depth.
The Hebrew word for “valleys” comes from a root meaning depth. The verse places the lily within that depth, joining beauty with the low places rather than setting them apart.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēmeq: Valley; depth.
עֵמֶק
This is the singular form behind “valleys,” making the landscape itself part of the verse’s image of depth.
ʿāmōq: Deep.
עָמֹק
This related form makes visible the depth carried inside the word translated “valleys.”
heʿĕmîq: To deepen; make deep.
הֶעֱמִיק
This verb shares the same root, linking the valley’s depth with the action of deepening.
THE PATTERN
Flourishing appears within its terrain, including wilderness and valleys of sorrow.
The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.THE THREAD
Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.Both verses use עֵמֶק (ʿēmeq), “valley,” from the root עמק (ʿ-m-q), “to be deep.” Song’s lily belongs within that depth; Psalm’s valley of Baca becomes a well, linking the deep place with life arising there.
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