What Does Song of Solomon 2:12 Mean in the King James?
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
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 Hebrew word translated “singing” also carries a pruning sense, so the arrival of song holds a quiet echo of what is cut back as new growth appears.
THE MEANING
Renewal around you becomes visible in the flowers and audible in birdsong. What has been quiet comes into notice, and the land itself makes the changing season hard to miss.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A barren-looking stretch is not proof that life has vanished; signs of its return can appear in their season.
THE ROOT
זָמִיר
zāmir
GROWS FROM
זמר
To sing or make music; the same Hebrew consonants also carry a sense of trimming or pruning.
“singing” in this verse is zāmir. Here the context favors the birds’ song, while the word retains a pruning sense. That lexical echo lets the scene hold two movements together: what becomes audible and what is trimmed back as new growth appears.
ALSO GROWS
zāmir: Song or singing; also associated with pruning.
זָמִיר
This is the word in the verse: the season arrives as birdsong, with pruning as a second lexical note beside the new blossoms.
mizmor: A musical composition or psalm, formed from the singing sense of זמר (zāmar).
מִזְמוֹר
It shows the root’s musical branch taking shape as a song that can be voiced and shared.
zāmar: To trim or prune; a sense carried by the same Hebrew consonants.
זָמַר
It gives the season’s arrival a quiet echo of cutting back alongside the visible flowering.
THE PATTERN
Creation announces renewal through visible growth and audible song.
By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:THE THREAD
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.The Hebrew word translated “sing praise” comes from the same זמר (z-m-r) root family as the word for singing here. The birds’ seasonal song opens into a wider picture: all the earth voicing its song.
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