20150618 Thursday, June 18 2015
Song Of Solomon 08: Solomon's Apple Tree

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Keep My Commandments, and live; and my Law as the apple of thine eye"

The "apple of the eye" is an Old English term that originated from a more-ancient Anglo-Saxon expression that referred to the pupil of the eye - the clear center part where light, and therefore sight, enters. It generally meant how something or someone was viewed as precious.

In the Holy Bible, "apple of the eye" is used by the King James Version for two different Hebrew words; one meant a reflection, while the other meant a daughter.

The Hebrew word pronounced ee-shone, means little man of the eye, referring specifically to the reflection of someone seen in a pupil. The word is used twice, once for The Lord's watchful observance of His people (see The LORD God Our Saviour), and the other for what makes His people, His people - that they keep obedience to Him as the apple of their eye (see The Christian Ten Commandments and When Did The Ten Commandments Begin?):

"32:9 For the LORD'S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 32:10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye." (Deuteronomy 32:9-10 KJV)

"7:1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee. 7:2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. 7:3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart." (Proverbs 7:1-3 KJV)

The Hebrew word (pronounced) bawth, meaning a daughter (e.g. the mother of King Solomon was named Bathsheba, which means daughter of Sheba; see David And Bathsheba and What Prophecy Did King Lemuel's Mother Teach Him?) is translated as "apple of the eye." It also was a conditional term, as contrasted in the example below from Psalms, and then from Lamentations:

"17:5 Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. 17:6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. 17:7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. 17:8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings" (Psalm 17:5-8 KJV)

"2:18 Their heart cried unto the Lord, O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease." (Lamentations 2:18 KJV)

The "apple" in "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee" (verse 5 below) is the Hebrew word, pronounced tap-poo-awkh, that does mean an actual apple. The context of the usage however is nevertheless that of an "apple of the eye" view.

"8:1 O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised. 8:2 I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother's house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate. 8:3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me. 8:4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.

8:5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?

I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee. 8:6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. 8:7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.

8:8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? 8:9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.

8:10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour. 8:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver. 8:12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.

8:13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.

8:14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices." (Song of Solomon 8:1-14 KJV)

Fact Finder: While a man-made tradition identifies apples as the "forbidden fruit" in the Garden of Eden, apples are not stated by the Holy Scriptures in the Garden of Eden. Only one kind of tree in the Garden is identified. What is it?
See The Forbidden Fruit and Who Invented Camouflage?