Vineyards, fields, and palm trees
Vineyards, fields, and palm trees. The Song of Solomon takes place in a rural setting, and the lovers describe each other using images drawn from this context. The… Read More »Vineyards, fields, and palm trees
Vineyards, fields, and palm trees. The Song of Solomon takes place in a rural setting, and the lovers describe each other using images drawn from this context. The… Read More »Vineyards, fields, and palm trees
The woman addresses the daughters of Jerusalem four times throughout this book, creating a refrain that ties her “songs” together (2:7; 3:5; 5:8; 8:4). She urges them… Read More »Daughters of Jerusalem
Purple cloth was associated with royalty because the purple dye was very difficult to produce in large quantities. Most of the purple dye came from a… Read More »Purple cloth
The man in this love story compared his beloved to a mare among Pharaoh’s chariots (1:9). Only the best and most handsome of mares would have been… Read More »Mare among Pharaoh’s chariots
The peaceful shadows of old age. The righteous will enjoy a long and peaceful old age, like the shadows of evening (8:13). There is no such… Read More »The peaceful shadows of old age
“Eat, drink, and be merry”? Ecclesiastes advises those who serve God to enjoy his gifts of food, drink, comfort, married life, and honest work (9:7–9; compare 2:24–26; 3:13;… Read More »“Eat, drink, and be merry”?
Working too hard? It is equally wrong to be lazy or to be a “workaholic.” People sometimes work too hard because they want all the nice… Read More »Working too hard?
The words vanity, vanities, and vain occur nearly 40 times in Ecclesiastes. Their literal meaning is “vapor” or “breath,” so they are used to describe things that can… Read More »Vanity, vanities, and vain
Ecclesiastes encourages God’s people to trust him in a fallen and often confusing world, in which sin and heartache touch every corner of the globe. We… Read More »Ecclesiastes
Rock badgers are small cliff-dwelling animals closely resembling guinea pigs. They live and forage for food in large groups and are good at hiding. They are… Read More »Rock badgers
Hezekiah’s contribution to Proverbs. Although most of the Proverbs were collected or written by King Solomon, who reigned from 971–931 b.c., the book of Proverbs did not exist in its present form… Read More »Hezekiah’s contribution to Proverbs
Gluttony refers to excessive eating. The Bible condemns gluttony as well as drunkenness. Proverbs teaches that eating and drinking in excess can lead to poverty (23:19–21).