Imprisoned lover

The Hebrew words for “navel” ( shorer ) and round ( sahar ) are each used only in Song of Songs 7:2a.  That is no doubt partly for poetic reasons, since the word faintly alliterate, and both alliterate with the verb “lack” ( chasar ) in 7:2b.

Possibly there is another dimension to this.  The closest equivalent to sahar (round) is sohar (a prison, a roundhouse, used only in Genesis 39-40).  The round “navel” of the beloved imprisons the lover, but it is a delightful imprisonment in which he lacks nothing.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

The Possibility of Possibility

Midge Goldberg

"Might could” is a Southern expression meaning “maybe I could” or “I might be able to,” conveying…

The False Promise of No Contact

Noelle Mering

Around the time nineteen-year-old Alice began cutting ties with her family, she announced on social media that…

Moral Certitude and the Iran War

Steven A. Long

The current military engagement with Iran calls renewed attention to just war theory in the Catholic tradition.…