Ecclesiastes 2:5

Hebrew Bible

3 I thought deeply about the effects of indulging myself with wine(all the while my mind was guiding me with wisdom) and the effects of behaving foolishly, so that I might discover what is profitable for people to do on earth during the few days of their lives. 4 I increased my possessions: I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself. 5 I designed royal gardens and parks for myself, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I constructed pools of water for myself, to irrigate my grove of flourishing trees. 7 I purchased male and female slaves, and I owned slaves who were born in my house; I also possessed more livestock—both herds and flocks—than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem.

Song of Solomon 4:13

Song of Songs
Hebrew Bible

11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. 12 The Lover to His Beloved: You are a locked garden, my sister, my bride; you are an enclosed spring, a sealed-up fountain. 13 Your shoots are a royal garden full of pomegranates with choice fruits: henna with nard, 14 nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice, myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices. 15 You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.

 Notes and References

"... Nehemiah’s second request is for supplies of timber for the work to be undertaken. This again required an authorizing letter to the responsible official (compare Ezra 7:21–24; 8:36), whom Nehemiah already knew by name: “Asaph, the keeper of the king’s park.” This latter word, , is a Persian loan-word, occurring otherwise only at Song of Solomon 4:13, where trees are also mentioned in the context, and Ecclesiastes 2:5. The context clearly indicates that it here refers to the royal domain or estates. The location of the king’s park is disputed. Some immediately think of Lebanon, since supplies of timber for the first and second temples had come from there. However, Asaph’s (Jewish) name is suggestive of a setting more local to Judah. Thus the coastal plain referred to as having timber in 1 Chronicles 27:28 is suggested, or alternatively some unknown site nearer Jerusalem (compare Haggai 1:8 and Josephus, Antiquities 8:186) ..."

Williamson, H. G. M. Word Biblical Commentary: Ezra-Nehemiah (p. 384) Zondervan, 2018

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