Song of Solomon 6:11
in Song of Solomon 6I went down to the walnut grove to see the blossoms of the valley, to see if the vines were budding or the pomegranates were in bloom.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I went down into the garden of nuts, To see the green plants of the valley, To see whether the vine budded, And the pomegranates were in flower.
KJV
I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 6
Commentary
14 notes on this verseYou wish to know the place? He says in the Canticles, "I came down to the nut garden"; for it was a garden where he was crucified.
This site's exposition
I went down to the walnut grove
on Song of Solomon 6:11-12
The voice is hers again, on an errand "to see if the vines were budding or the pomegranates were in bloom." In verse 12, the Hebrew ammi nadib is read as a proper name, Amminadib, or as my noble people. The Berean renders it "royal chariots of my people."
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
By "nut plantation" they refer to the present life, which is harsh, troublesome and laborious but contains hidden in itself the fruit of virtue. The fruit of the nut has a bitter skin on the outside, the second one is tough and resistant, and the …
The Medieval Church4 voices
Solomon bears witness that a nut is customarily employed as a figure of the present church when in the Song of Songs he speaks in the character of the faithful teachers.… For just as a nut has sweet fruit on the inside but does not …
I descended into the garden of nuts, etc. For the garden of nuts is the present Church, where we are scarcely able to perceive each other's consciences. Indeed, nuts are all fruits which are covered with a harder shell; conversely, all soft things are generally …
To see if the vine has blossomed, etc. He looks to see if the vine has flowered, when he carefully examines whether the hearts of those he instructs propose new endeavors of virtues to be undertaken spiritually, according to the saying of the Psalmist, "They …
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 6 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
What do we understand by nuts, if not all the perfect, who while they retain divine wisdom within their bodies, carry as it were a kernel in a fragile shell? For there are very many in the Church who attend constantly to divine Scripture, and …
7 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
I went down into the garden of nuts,.... This is very properly taken notice of in this song of love; it being usual for newly married persons to get nuts, and throw them among children, to make pastime; to signify, among other things, that they now renounced childish things (u). These are the words of Christ, declaring to the church where he went, and what he employed himself about, when he departed from her; see Son 6:
2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. 3 I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies. The enquiry which the daughters of Jerusalem made concerning Christ,
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:81%@v2-4
I went - When I went away from thee these are the words of the bridegroom. Valley - Which being low, and well watered is very fruitful. To see - What beginnings or appearances there were of good fruits or works among believers.
He went to see whether the pomegranates budded. Christ observes the first beginnings of the good work of grace in the soul and the early buddings of devout affections and inclinations there, and is well pleased with them, as we are with the blossoms of the spring.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The bride's words; for she everywhere is the narrator, and often soliloquizes, which He never does. The first garden (So 2:11-13) was that of spring, full of flowers and grapes not yet ripe; the second, autumn, with spices (which are always connected with the person of Jesus Christ), and nothing unripe (So 4:13, &c.).
I went down into the garden of nuts - I believe this and the following verse refer at least to the preparations for a farther consummation of the marriage, or examination of the advancement of the bride’s pregnancy. But many circumstances of this kind are so interwoven, and often anticipated and also postponed, that it is exceedingly difficult to arrange the whole so as to ascertain the several parts, and who are the actors and speakers. But other writers find no difficulty here, because they have their system; and that explains all things. It is probably not the hazel but the almond nut, that is referred to here.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The bride’s words may be paraphrased: “You speak of me as a glorious beauty; I was lately but a simple maiden engaged in rustic toils.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
I went down to the garden of nuts. This too is the words of the Divine Presence, “Behold, I have come to this second Beis Hamikdosh, to you.”
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The nations said, “The deeds of this people are like daybreak.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| גִּנַּ֤ת | ginat | a garden of | H1594 → | |
| אֱגוֹז֙ | ʾegoyz | nut[s] | H93 → | |
| יָרַ֔דְתִּי | yaradti | I went down | H3381 → | |
| לִרְא֖וֹת | lirot | to look | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| בְּאִבֵּ֣י | beibei | on [the] green shoots of | H3 → | |
| הַנָּ֑חַל | hanachal | the wadi | H5158 → | |
| לִרְאוֹת֙ | lirot | to see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| הֲפָֽרְחָ֣ה | hafarechah | ¿ had it budded | H6524 → | |
| הַגֶּ֔פֶן | hagefen | the vine | H1612 → | 55 times |
| הֵנֵ֖צוּ | henetzu | had they bloomed? | H5132 → | |
| הָרִמֹּנִֽים׃ | harimonim | the pomegranates | H7416 → | 32 times |
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
גִּנַּ֤תa garden of
ginatH1594 →
אֱגוֹז֙nut[s]
ʾegoyzH93 →
יָרַ֔דְתִּיI went down
yaradtiH3381 →
לִרְא֖וֹתto look
lirotH7200 →1300 times
בְּאִבֵּ֣יon [the] green shoots of
beibeiH3 →
הַנָּ֑חַלthe wadi
hanachalH5158 →
לִרְאוֹת֙to see
lirotH7200 →1300 times
הֲפָֽרְחָ֣ה¿ had it budded
hafarechahH6524 →
הַגֶּ֔פֶןthe vine
hagefenH1612 →55 times
הֵנֵ֖צוּhad they bloomed?
henetzuH5132 →
הָרִמֹּנִֽים׃the pomegranates
harimonimH7416 →32 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 2:9Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life…
it leads to
- Genesis 3:22
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life,…
- Revelation 2:7
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the…
- Revelation 22:14
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
- Revelation 22:2
down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month.…
- Proverbs 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
- Genesis 3:22
Through
Song of Solomon 6:2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 5:13
His cheeks are like beds of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are like lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.
- Song of Solomon 5:13
Through
Acts 15:36Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.”
it leads to
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Song of Solomon
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, On the Tabernacle 1:8; Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 14:5; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 6 and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 6.