Song of Solomon 7:8 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Song of Solomon 7:8
I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
up
אֶעֱלֶ֣ה'e.'e.Leh
H5927
to ascend · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
tree
בְתָמָ֔רve.ta.Mar
H8558
a palm tree · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
hold
אֹֽחֲזָ֖ה'o.cha.Zah
H270
to seize (often with the accessory idea of holding in p… · verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
boughs
בְּסַנְסִנָּ֑יוbe.san.si.Nav
H5577
a twig (as tapering) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
breasts
שָׁדַ֙יִךְ֙sha.Da.yikh
H7699
the breast of a woman or animal (as bulging) · noun, common masculine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
clusters
כְּאֶשְׁכְּל֣וֹתke.'esh.ke.Lot
H811
a bunch of grapes or other fruit · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
vine
הַגֶּ֔פֶןha.Ge.fen
H1612
a vine (as twining) · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
smell
וְרֵ֥יחַve.Rei.ach
H7381
odor (as if blown) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular construct
nose
אַפֵּ֖ךְ'a.Pekh
H639
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person feminine singular
apples
כַּתַּפּוּחִֽיםka.ta.pu.Chim
H8598
an apple (from its fragrance) · preposition with the article + 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
John 14:21-23 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love…
2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
Song of Solomon 1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
Song of Solomon 2:3 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 frui…
Song of Solomon 2:5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
Song of Solomon 4:16-5:1 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, a…
Jeremiah 32:41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
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 7:8
I said, I will go up to the palm tree,.... Which is easy of ascent; having, in the bark of the trunk or body of the tree, rings like steps, whereby the eastern people climb it with incredible swiftness, as Pliny (n) relates: these steps are made by the lower boughs being lopped off, whose knots, or "pollices", as Dr. Shaw (o) calls them, being gradually left upon the trunk of the tree, serve, like so many rungs of a ladder, to climb up the tree; either to fecundate it, or to lop it, or to gather the fruit; and Lucian says (p),
"those that have seen how men get up into palm trees, in Arabia, Egypt, and other places, must needs understand what he says about climbing the Phalli, in the temple…
The husband describes their lovemaking. He ascends her body and caresses her breasts.
Rashi on Song of Solomon 7:8
Such is your stature, likened to a [stately] palm tree. We saw the beauty of your stature in the days of Nevuchadnetzar, when all the nations were kneeling and falling before the image,28See the last note in 1:17 above. but you stood as upright as this palm tree.
And your breasts are like clusters. Daniyeil, Chananyah, Mishaeil, and Azaryah, who were for you like breasts to suck from. They were likened to clusters, which provide drink, so did they provide lavishly and teach everyone that there is no God like your God. Until this point, the nations praised him [i.e., Yisroel]. From here on, are the words of the Divine Presence addressing Yisroel’s exiles, who were among the nations.
The laurel and the palm are the symbols of victory. The heads of the victors are crowned with laurel, and the hand of the conqueror is adorned with a palm. Hence the Church says: "I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of its branches." Seeing the excellence of the Word and hoping that she can ascend to His height and the summit of knowledge, she says: "I will go up to the palm tree," so that she may leave behind all lower things and strive for higher things, for the reward of Christ, so that she may enjoy and taste the sweet fruits of His love. For the fruit of virtue is sweet.
And thy breasts, etc. For truly, the first teachers of the Church, that is, the apostles, having completed His passion and resurrection, received a much greater knowledge of salvific doctrine than they had previously had, when appearing after the resurrection He opened their minds so that they might understand the Scriptures; when, having sent the Spirit from above, He granted them the knowledge of all languages; when it was falsely said by those mocking them that 'these men are full of new wine' (Acts 2). But they truly were like clusters of grapes because they were refreshed by the grace of spiritual gifts, the prophecy being verily fulfilled which said that new wine must be put into new bottles, and both are preserved (Matthew 9). And what follows aptly fits both senses:
And the smell of your breath is like apples, etc. Indeed, in the smell of the mouth is the fame of good speech, and in the throat, however, is the very duty of voice dedicated to God. Both are worthy of praise in the Catholic Church, and both in every elected soul, because the voice itself, which teaches those present, and the fame of speech, which reaches the absent, whether through letters or through those who have heard, is proven to be full of virtue and grace. But because he compares the smell of the bride's mouth and throat to apples and the best wine, it can be distinguished that apples retain all their strength in freshness itself, but wine achieves its value from age. Therefore, it is rightly compared to both these types—the voice of the Church speaking and its fame, whose beginning and perfection are known to be wonderful. Moreover, because the strength and fragrance of the best wine are greater than that of apples, it is rightly said: And the smell of your breath is like apples. Your throat is like the best wine, it surpasses the grace of apples. So much does the present speech of the holy Church of God excel the fame that the words of those who hear can spread about it. However, thus far the bride has been praised, and when it came to saying that her throat is like the best wine, she seized the word from the bridegroom's mouth, and she, led by great love, strives to complete it rather. For she understood that by the term "best wine" the word of the Gospel was designated, in which alone is eternal salvation for believers, and she said:
Dictionary and topics
Apple Tree, Apple — (Heb. tappuach). Mention of the apple tree occurs in the Authorized Version in (Song of Solomon 2:3; 8:5) and Joel 1:12 The fruit of this tree is alluded to in (Proverbs 25:11) and Song 2:5; 7:8 It…
Apple · A fruit — A fruit
Palm Tree, The · Illustrative of: The church — Illustrative of: The church
Vine, The · Illustrative: (Its rich clusters,) of the graces of the church — Illustrative: (Its rich clusters,) of the graces of the church
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).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).