Sapientiæ 6:11

Nova Vulgata

Descendi in hortum nucum, ut viderem poma convallium et inspicerem, si floruisset vinea, et germinassent mala punica.

Parallel Translations

Clementine Latin Vulgate (1592)
Verba sunt plurima, multamque in disputando habentia vanitatem.

Jerome's Latin Vulgate (405)
Nescivi: anima mea conturbavit me,
propter quadrigas Aminadab.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the garden: Song of Solomon 6:2, Song of Solomon 4:12-15, Song of Solomon 5:1, Genesis 2:9, Psalms 92:12-15, John 15:16

to see the: Song of Solomon 7:12, Isaiah 5:2-4, Mark 11:13, Luke 13:7, Acts 15:36

Reciprocal: Exodus 28:34 - General Numbers 24:6 - as gardens Song of Solomon 2:12 - flowers Song of Solomon 2:13 - fig tree Song of Solomon 4:13 - are Song of Solomon 8:13 - dwellest Ezekiel 15:2 - What Hosea 14:7 - grow

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 Song of Solomon 6:2. Of the garden, as it intends the church, Song of Solomon 6:2- :; into which he was invited to come, and did, as here; see Song of Solomon 4:16; here it is called a "garden of nuts", which may design a spot in it destined for this fruit; by which some understand "nutmegs", which is not very likely, since such grew not in those parts: rather "walnuts", which the Arabs call "gauz" or "geuz", which is the same word that is here used; Pistacia nuts were well known in Syria w, which joined to Judea. And by "nuts", which grew in the garden, the church, true believers, may be designed; who, like them, have a mean outward appearance, but are valuable within, having the true grace of God in them; and because of their divers coverings, their outward conversation garments, the robe of Christ's righteousness, and the internal sanctification of the Spirit, which answer to the husk and shell, and the thin inward skin over the nut; and because of their hardiness in enduring afflictions and troubles, the shell may represent; and because of their best and most excellent parts being hidden, even grace, the hidden man of the heart, signified by the kernel, and which will not fully appear until the shell or tabernacle of the body is broken down; and because of their safety from harm and pollution, amidst the storms of afflictions, persecutions, and temptations, and pollutions of the world, the principle of grace, like the kernel, remains unhurt and undefiled; and because of the multitude of believers, united and cleaving together, which is delightful to behold, like clusters of nuts in a nut garden. Some render it, "the pruned garden", or "garden of pruning" x; whose plants, trees, and vines, are pruned and kept in good order, by Christ's father, the husbandman and vinedresser; see Song of Solomon 2:12. The ends of Christ in going into it were,

to see the fruits of the valley; to observe the graces of his Spirit; the actings, exercise, and growth of them in humble souls, among whom he delights to be, Isaiah 57:15; the Septuagint version is, "the shoots of the brook" or "river": and may denote the fertile soil in which believers are planted, even by the river of divine love; with which being watered, they flourish, Psalms 1:3;

[and] to see whether the vine flourished; particular churches, or believers, compared to vines; who may be said to flourish, when they increase in numbers, and are fruitful in grace and good works; see Song of Solomon 2:13;

[and] the pomegranates budded; of which, see Song of Solomon 4:13; the budding, of them may design the beginnings, or first putting, forth, of grace in the saints; which Christ takes much notice of, and is highly pleased with.

u Vid. Chartarium de Imag. Deorum, p. 89. Kipping. Antiqu. Rom. l. 4. c. 2. p. 697. "Sparge marite nuces", c. Virgil. Bucolic. Eclog. 8. v. 30. "Da nuces pueris", Catuili Juliae Epithal. Ep. 59, v. 131. w Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 13. c. 5. Athenaei Deipnosophist. l. 14. c. 17. p. 649. x גנת אגוז "hortos putatos", Junius & Tremellius Heb. "tonsionis", Piscator "hortum putationis", Marckius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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. I went down one day into the walnut-garden” (the walnut abounded on the shores of Lake Gennesaret, and is still common in Northern Palestine) “to inspect the young plants of the vale” (i. e., the wady, or watercourse, with now verdant banks in the early spring after the rainy season), “and to watch the budding and blossoming of vine and pomegranate.” Compare Song of Solomon 2:11-13 notes. “Then, suddenly, ere I was myself aware, my soul” (the love-bound heart) “had made me the chariot of a lordly people” (i. e., an exalted personage, one who resides on the high places of the earth; compare 2Ki 2:12; 2 Kings 13:14, where Elijah and Elisha, as the spiritual leaders of the nation, are “the chariot and horsemen of Israel,” compare also Isaiah 22:18). This last clause is another instance of the love for military similitudes in the writer of the Song.

Ammi-nadib - literally, my people a noble one. The reference is either to Israel at large as a wealthy and dominant nation, under Solomon, or to the bride’s people (the Shulamites) in particular, to the chief place among whom, by her union with the king, she is now exalted.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 11. 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.