a rafter (forming trenches as it were) · noun, common feminine plural construct
house
בָּתֵּ֙ינוּ֙ba.Tei.nu
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
cedar
אֲרָזִ֔ים'a.ra.Zim
H730
a cedar tree (from the tenacity of its roots) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
rafters
רַהִיטֵ֖נוּra.chi.te.nu
H7351
a panel (as resembling a trough) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
fir
בְּרוֹתִֽיםbe.ro.Tim
H1266
the cypress (or some elastic tree) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Psalms 92:12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
1 Kings 6:9 So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
2 Chronicles 2:8-9 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and,…
Song of Solomon 7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
Song of Solomon 8:9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.
Ezekiel 41:16 The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round…
Ezekiel 42:3 Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and over against the pavement which was for the utter court, was gallery agai…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
John Gill on Song of Solomon 1:17
The beams of our house are cedar,.... Or "houses" (k); where their bed was, and where they had fellowship and communion together. By which may be meant particular congregations or churches, in which houses Christ has a property, being of his building and beautifying; where he takes up his rest and residence, and where he feeds and feasts with his people, and to the privileges of which all the saints have a right: and by the "beams" of these houses may be intended the ministers of the word, who are pillars here, as James, John, and Cephas, were; and who are the means of supporting and strengthening such communities, by their excellent doctrines and exemplary lives: or common saints may be mea…
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Song of Solomon 1:16-17
grass is our bed . . . branches are the beams . . . firs are the rafters: The lovers imagine that their luxurious surroundings of grass and overhanging trees are their house. She does not need the royal, palatial surroundings of a king since these God-created natural surroundings are more than enough for her and her true lover. • In a number of the poems the countryside is the place of happy intimacy. The man and the woman make their bed in the great outdoors and enjoy each other’s company.
Rashi on Song of Solomon 1:17
The beams of our houses are cedars. This is in praise of the Tabernacle.66Alternatively, the beams whose function is to support the structure, symbolize the righteous whose concerns and desires are that their actions benefit and protect their entire generation. (Sefer Duda’im)
Our panels. I do not know if this רָהִיטֵנוּ is a term referring to boards or a term referring to bars, but I do know that also in the language of the Mishnah, we learned, “the רָהִיטֵי67The text of the Mishnah referred to by Rashi as we have it does not mention רהיטי at all, rather the text reads, the אבנות [stones] of a person’s house and the קורות [beams] of his home, testify against him.” However, the text that Ra…
The cedar is suitable for hanging roofs, because this type of wood is tall and spacious, but not burdensome to the walls. The cypress is also suitable for ceilings and gables. Hence, the Church says in the Canticles: "The beams of our houses are made of cedar, our ceilings of cypress," explaining that the decorations of its structure are in these, as if the beams sustain the crown of the Church with their own strength and adorn its peak.
Kedar, from the Hebrew, is translated by the Latin word for dark (accordingly, Kedar among the city of the Gentiles at that time seethed with idolatry), for nothing is more forbidding than serving demons. Thus the Lord scolded the people of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah for abandoning the Lord and for worshiping idols made by Gentiles.… And Christ spoke in a prophetic way from the voice of the church that was to be gathered from the Gentiles, saying, "I am dark like the tents of Kedar," that is, like the gathering of Gentiles.
The beams of our houses are cedars. These are the words of the multitude. And they seem to me to be spoken by the men who are with the bridegroom, of whom the discourse spoke above — houses woven with beams of cedar, and roofed with cypresses. For instead of the thorn there shall come up the cypress, and instead of the nettle there shall come up the myrtle. Seeking, then, of what nature these woods are, and finding the cedar to be incorruptible and the cypress of the best fragrance, labor you too so to roof your house, that of you too it may be said: The beams of our houses are cedars, and our rafters cypresses. After these things the bridegroom speaks.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Gallery — (1.) Heb. ‘attik (Ezek. 41:15, 16), a terrace; a projection; ledge. (2.) Heb. rahit (Cant. 1:17), translated “rafters,” marg. “galleries;” probably panel-work or fretted ceiling.
Fir Tree · Wood of, used for building — Wood of, used for building
House · .Wood — .Wood
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
