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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comKeil and Delitzsch Commentary - Song of Solomon 2:2 - 2:2
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2 As a lily among thorns,
So is my love among the daughters.
By ×”Ö·×—×•Ö¹×—Ö´×™× are not meant the thorns of the plant itself, for the lily has no thorns, and the thorns of the rose are, moreover, called kotsim, and not hhohhim;
(Note: An Aramaic proverb: “from thorns sprouts the rose†(i.e., bad fathers have often pious children), in Heb. is קוץ ×ž×•×¦×™× ×©×וש×ן; vid., Jalkut Samuel, §134.)
besides, ben (among) contradicts that idea, since the thorns are on the plant itself, and it is not among them - thus the hhohhim are not the thorns of the flower-stem, but the thorn-plants that are around. חוֹחַ designates the thorn-bush, e.g., in the allegorical answer of King Josiah to Amaziah, 2Ki 14:9. Simplicity, innocence, gentleness, are the characteristics in which Shulamith surpasses all ×‘Ö¸Ö¼× ×•Ö¹×ª, i.e., all women (vid., Son 6:9), as the lily of the valley surpasses the thorn-bushes around it. “Although thorns surround her, yet can he see her; he sees her quiet life, he finds her beautiful.†But continuing this reciprocal rivalry in the praise of mutual love, she says: