The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.
Parallel translations
- WEB The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs.
- KJV The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.
- NKJV The beams of our houses are cedar, And our rafters of fir.
- NASB “The beams of our house are cedars, Our rafters, junipers.
- NLT fragrant cedar branches are the beams of our house, and pleasant smelling firs are the rafters.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
She describes their dwelling framed by cedars and firs. It pictures a secure, lovely home set in nature.
Overview
The cedar beams and fir rafters depict a beautiful, sheltering bower amid the trees, perhaps a leafy retreat. The setting frames their love with stability and beauty. The imagery of a secure dwelling resonates with the believer's rest in fellowship with the Lord, who is our refuge and home (Ps. 90:1).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Heb 11:10For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
- Ps 92:12The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- 2 Chr 2:8–9Send me also cedar, cypress, and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your servants have skill to cut timber there. And indeed, my servants will work with yours
- Ezek 41:16as well as the thresholds and the beveled windows and the galleries all around with their three levels opposite the threshold, were overlaid with wood on all sides. They were paneled from the ground to the windows, and the windows were covered.
- Song 8:9If she is a wall, we will build a tower of silver upon her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
- 1 Pet 2:4–5As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,
- Song 7:5Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel, the hair of your head like purple threads; the king is captured in your tresses.
- Ezek 42:3Gallery faced gallery in three levels opposite the twenty cubits that belonged to the inner court and opposite the pavement that belonged to the outer court.
- 1 Kgs 6:9So Solomon built the temple and finished it, roofing it with beams and planks of cedar.
- 1 Tim 3:15–16in case I am delayed, so that you will know how each one must conduct himself in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Resources, by level
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The poetry of covenant love between bride and bridegroom pictures, at its highest, the love of Christ for his church — the Bridegroom who gave himself for his bride.
How Song of Songs 1:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.