I wonder how many modern readers of the Bible miss that it is filled with agricultural terms, images of agricultural landscapes and agricultural principles of importance.

We have an example of a romance between a lover and his loved recorded for us in Song of Songs. This book is first and foremost lyrical love poetry. It was written in a cultural environment far removed from our own. After all, what Western woman today would feel complimented if you compared her teeth to a flock of shorn sheep (Song 4:2), her temples to the halves of a pomegranate (Song 4:3) or her hair to a herd of goats (Song 4:1)? In the environment in which Song of Songs is set, these words had positive connotations. They expressed admiration, affection and love.

Song of Songs beckons to return to paradise – from the Greek paradeiso meaning garden – where everything between the lover and loved was perfect. “Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow. Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest...

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