The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.
Parallel translations
- WEB The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs.
- BSB The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are fragrant firs.
- 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 looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
- Ps 92:12The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- 2 Chr 2:8–9Send 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, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
- Ezek 41:16The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were covered;
- Song 8:9If 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.
- 1 Pet 2:4–5To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
- Song 7:5Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
- Ezek 42:3Over against the twenty cubits which were for the inner court, and over against the pavement which was for the utter court, was gallery against gallery in three stories.
- 1 Kgs 6:9So he built the house, and finished it; and covered the house with beams and boards of cedar.
- 1 Tim 3:15–16But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
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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.