“The beams of our house are cedars, Our rafters, junipers.
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.
- 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.
- 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 the city which has the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
- Ps 92:12The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- 2 Chr 2:8–9“Send me also cedar trees, cypress trees, and algum trees out of Lebanon; for I know that your servants know how to cut timber in Lebanon. Behold, my servants will be with your servants,
- Ezek 41:16the thresholds, and the closed windows, and the galleries around on their three stories, over against the threshold, with wood ceilings all around, and from the ground up to the windows, (now the windows were covered),
- Song 8:9If she is a wall, we will build on her a turret of silver. if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
- 1 Pet 2:4–5coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.
- Song 7:5Your head on you is like Carmel. The hair of your head like purple. The king is held captive in its tresses.
- Ezek 42:3Over against the twenty cubits which belonged to the inner court, and over against the pavement which belonged to the outer court, was gallery against gallery in the third floor.
- 1 Kgs 6:9So he built the house, and finished it; and he covered the house with beams and planks of cedar.
- 1 Tim 3:15–16but if I wait long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in God’s house, which is the assembly 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.