Solomon’s bower

The NASB translates Song of Songs 1:16c as “our couch is luxuriant.” that is an unfortunate translation, because the word translated as “luxuriant” is actually “green” ( ra’anan ). The NASB translation suggests plush cushions and linen or silk sheets. The Hebrew indicates a bower. The lovers’ house has cedar beams and cypress rafters because they are outside on a bed of green. 1:16-17 thus seamlessly lead into the bride’s declaration “I am the rose of Sharon.”

But “green” also highlights the liturgical aspects of the passage. The temple was a “forest” or “grove,” an interior space that was conceived as a natural place (cf. Psalm 52:8; 92:14). Though man-made, the temple was a “green world” where (Northrop Frye has taught us) people, especially lovers, can flee to find renewal. Of course, there were alternate “green spaces” in Israel, the idolatrous shrines under ever “green tree” (Deuteronomy 12:2; 1 Kings 14:23; 16:4; 2 Kings 17:10). Israel sought new life by indulging in harlotry in these green places (Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6, 13). All the while, the green space of the temple was there, Yahweh’s own cedar-and-cypress grove where He promised to renew His bride on a green couch.