Tree house
The Bride moves from speaking of Dodi as an “apple tree” with delightful fruit and shade to entering Dodi’s “house of wine.” The “house of wine” is a variation of the image of the tree.
The apple tree is a place of fruit and shade, a house of fruit. The house of wine is a glorified tree: A tree is transformed into a house, and the fruit of a plant is transformed into wine.
The house of wine is a house where Dodi offers love that is better than wine (1:2). It is a house of love. But the house of wine is also, typologically, a reference to the temple, Yahweh’s house where He drinks wine along with His Bride.
Yahweh meets with Israel His bride in His tree house, His cedar-lined temple. There Yahweh and His Bride enjoy the wine of mutual love.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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