What Does Song of Solomon 2:13 Mean in the King James?
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
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 behind “come away” says “go, for yourself,” so love’s invitation becomes a personal movement amid ripening life.
THE MEANING
The scene speaks to you when growth is not merely possible but visible: green figs are forming, and the vines are giving their scent. Amid these signs, the beloved hears a paired call to rise and go, as if the turn toward love arrives in a world already opening.
THE ROOT
לְכִי־לָךְ
lekhi lakh
GROWS FROM
הלך
halakh
to go, walk, or proceed
The phrase uses lekhi lakh, “go, for yourself” or “go, to you”, from halakh, “to go.” The KJV’s “come away” carries the motion, while the Hebrew lets you hear the beloved directly as the one who goes.
ALSO GROWS
mahalakh: course, progress, movement
מַהֲלָךְ
This branch names movement as an unfolding course, echoing the invitation to go.
halikhah: walking, going
הֲלִיכָה
The same root keeps the invitation directional: the beloved is called into motion.
קוּמִי
qumi
GROWS FROM
קום
qum
to rise, stand, or be established
“arise” in this verse is qumi. The feminine imperative says “rise” or “stand,” then the next imperative says “go”: the call has two motions, becoming upright and setting out. This root also gives words for establishing and for a place, so rising carries an echo of taking one’s stand.
ALSO GROWS
heqim: to raise, set up, establish
הֵקִים
This causative form shows the root’s range from rising to being raised or established.
maqom: place, site
מָקוֹם
This noun is formed from the same root, linking standing with the place where one stands.
THE PATTERN
Creation makes a season of change visible through growth before that season is named.
While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:THE THREAD
Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:The Hebrew call here, lekhi lakh, shares the “go for yourself” construction with lekh lekha in this verse. English renders them “come away” and “Get thee out,” while the shared root הלך (halakh), “go,” reveals the same direct call to movement.
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