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Genesis and the Song of Songs
Note the similarities between the imagery in the Genesis account and the Song of Songs: a
garden with a spring, allusions to a fertile place of abundance, and the elements of enclosure and
protection. The sacred text in the Song also describes the life-giving trees, fruits, herbs, and
spices found in the woman’s garden, reminiscent again of the Genesis text where grows “every
tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” 64 Most revealing, however, is the following
line in the Canticle, found in pride of place not only at the exact center of the sacred book, but
also at the virtual heart of the Bible as a whole. The enclosed garden and sealed fountain of the
woman are now “a well of living water and flowing streams from Lebanon…” 65 This fertile
64
65
Gen. 2:9.
Sg 4:15.