Kidung Agung 4:11

4:11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride,

honey and milk are under your tongue.

The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

Yesaya 55:1

The Lord Gives an Invitation

55:1 “Hey, ¹  all who are thirsty, come to the water!

You who have no money, come!

Buy and eat!

Come! Buy wine and milk

without money and without cost! ² 

Yoel 3:18

3:18 On that day ³  the mountains will drip with sweet wine, ⁴ 

and the hills will flow with milk. ⁵ 

All the dry stream beds ⁶  of Judah will flow with water.

A spring will flow out from the temple ⁷  of the Lord,

watering the Valley of Acacia Trees. ⁸ 

[55:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments and is often prefixed to judgment oracles for rhetorical effect. But here it appears to be a simple interjection, designed to grab the audience’s attention. Perhaps there is a note of sorrow or pity. See BDB 223 s.v.

[55:1]  ² sn The statement is an oxymoron. Its ironic quality adds to its rhetorical impact. The statement reminds one of the norm (one must normally buy commodities) as it expresses the astounding offer. One might paraphrase the statement: “Come and take freely what you normally have to pay for.”

[3:18]  ³ tn Heb “and it will come about in that day.”

[3:18]  ⁴ tn Many English translations read “new wine” or “sweet wine,” meaning unfermented wine, i.e., grape juice.

[3:18]  ⁵ sn The language used here is a hyperbolic way of describing both a bountiful grape harvest (“the mountains will drip with juice”) and an abundance of cattle (“the hills will flow with milk”). In addition to being hyperbolic, the language is also metonymical (effect for cause).

[3:18]  ⁶ tn Or “seasonal streams.”

[3:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[3:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “valley of Shittim.” The exact location of the Valley of Acacia Trees is uncertain. The Hebrew word שִׁטִּים (shittim) refers to a place where the acacia trees grow, which would be a very arid and dry place. The acacia tree can survive in such locations, whereas most other trees require more advantageous conditions. Joel’s point is that the stream that has been mentioned will proceed to the most dry and barren of locations in the vicinity of Jerusalem.