What Does Song of Solomon 2:3 Mean?
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. In his shade I have craved and sat down, and his fruit is sweet to my palate.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.THE KEY
The Hebrew binds desire to dwelling: her delight in the beloved becomes a place to sit and a sweetness to taste.
THE MEANING
The beloved is singular among others, and nearness to him is both shelter and sweetness. Desire settles beneath his shade; what comes from him is tasted as good.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that love must remain distant admiration dissolves here: desire rests in the beloved’s shade and receives sweetness from his fruit.
THE ROOT
חִמַּדְתִּי
ḥimmadtî
GROWS FROM
חמד
ḥāmad
To desire, find desirable, or take pleasure in.
“I have craved” in this verse is ḥimmadtî. The verb behind delight carries the force of desire finding its object precious. The same root describes what is desirable in Eden and calls the beloved altogether lovely in Song 5:16; here desire settles into his shade.
ALSO GROWS
neḥmād: Desirable, pleasant
נֶחְמָד
In Genesis 2:9, this root describes a tree desirable to look at, joining what pleases the eye with what draws desire.
maḥămaddîm: Desirable things, lovely
מַחֲמַדִּים
Song 5:16 uses this root for the beloved as a whole, echoing the delight focused on him here.
מָתוֹק
māṯōq
GROWS FROM
מתק
mātaq
To be sweet or pleasant to the taste.
“sweet” in this verse is māṯōq. Sweetness is known by tasting: the beloved’s fruit is not only seen but received by the mouth. Song 5:16 uses the same root for the sweetness of his mouth, letting fruit and speech share one sensation.
ALSO GROWS
mamtakîm: Sweet things, sweetness
מַמְתַקִּים
In Song 5:16, this form describes the beloved’s mouth as most sweet, carrying the fruit’s taste into his speech.
vayyimtekû: They became sweet
וַיִּמְתְּקוּ
In Exodus 15:25, this root describes waters becoming sweet, naming a change into something the mouth can receive.
דּוֹדִי
dōdî
GROWS FROM
דוד
dōd
Beloved, lover; intimate affection.
This is a word of intimate affection, not a neutral label: the speaker recognizes one particular beloved among the sons. Its related forms can name both the lover and the affection shared between lovers.
ALSO GROWS
dōdîm: Loves, caresses
דּוֹדִים
Song 1:2 uses this form for the lover’s affection, giving the word beloved a relational and touchable range.
dōd: Beloved, lover
דּוֹד
Song 5:16 calls him beloved with this same word, affirming the relationship named here.
THE PATTERN
Nearness to the beloved is known through shelter, abiding, and the fruit it gives.
How weighty is your faithful love, O God! And the children of humankind take shelter in the shadow of your wings. They are drenched with the fatness of your house; and you make them drink from the stream of your delights.He who settles in the hiding place of the Most High lodges in the shadow of the Almighty.Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it stays in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, and you are the branches. The one who remains in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.THE THREAD
His palate is sweetness; all of him is desirable. This is my beloved, and this is my companion, O daughters of Jerusalem.The same root חמד (ḥāmad, to desire or find desirable) that colors her delight here appears in the phrase altogether lovely, while מתק (mātaq, to be sweet) describes his mouth as most sweet. The taste of his fruit carries into his speech and the whole beloved, joining desire, sweetness, and belovedness in one sensory portrait.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us