Old to New

Song of Songs 7:11-12 contains a neat little allegory of redemptive history.  It begins with an invitation from the bride to the lover to “lodge the night” in the field.  The NASB’s “in the villages” in 7:11 might be translated “in the coverings,” since the Hebrew uses a form of the word kaphar .  To spend the night under coverings is to live through the Old Covenant.

But the morning invitation of verse 12 is an invitation to go out into the sunlight, into spring, out from under the covers, to see the vines budding and blossoms opening, and to give and to receive love.  Morning brings a return to the garden, where Mary speaks with the risen Gardener.