The

In Paleo Hebrew The was drawn as a Wheel. The Wheel concept shows up throughout the books of (9) Second Samuel, (31) Song of Songs and (53) Romans. By studying Wheel in these books all of The's meanings can be learned.

In Second Samuel The is _____

Momentum

At the highest level the book of Second Samuel reveals the idea of momentum. In roughly the first half of the book there's momentum in David's favor, but after David sleeps with Bathsheba and kills her husband Uriah momentum works against David.

David's house grows stronger, Saul's house grows weaker (9 Second Samuel 3:1)

At the beginning of Second Samuel momentum is on the side of Saul's house even though Saul himself died. David is made king over the tribe of Judah, but Ish-Bosheth, the son of Saul, has Abner and the army. David of course had previously been anointed as king by Samuel and would eventually reign unopposed, but the process of getting to that place is one of turning the momentum from Saul's house to David's. This idea of momentum is sometimes expressed with words like "strength."

Joab kills Abner(9 Second Samuel 3:27)

Abner broke away from Ish-Boshether and supporting Saul's house and met with David and laid plans to bring all of Israel to David's side. But Joab killed Abner and greatly slowed the process for David becoming king over all of Israel. The wheel concept here is momentum once again.

David is weak, sons of Zeruiah strong (9 Second Samuel 3:39)

David was frustrated at Joab's decision to kill Abner, but since Joab and his brother led the army and had enough standing David felt powerless to deal with them in any other way than letting them slide. The idea here again is momentum. The sons of Zeruiah were too closely bound to David's own momentum. If he had dealt with them he would have comprimised his own momentum in ways that would have been detrimental even though Joab's decision to kill Abner was a real blow to David's momentum.

David builds palace and becomes more powerful (9 Second Samuel 5:9-10)

David and his men took Jerusalem from the Jebusites and afterwards David built up the "City of David." The story says David became "more and more powerful." The sentiment behind the words is not power in an absolute sense, but that David was gaining more and more momentum. I suppose momentum is a temporary or passing form of power.

Circle around behind them (9 Second Samuel 5:22-23)

In a battle with the Philistines David asks God for the strategy and the answer is to "circle around behind them" before attacking. The idea of encircling or walking out a circle is another example of wheel. In general, anything round or circular is related to wheel.

Yahvah's promise of an everlasting covenant (9 Second Samuel 7:12-13)

Yahvah promised David that he would never cease to have an heir ruling over some portion of Israel. There are two aspects of wheel in the promise: 1) Each heir of David is one revolution of the wheel, 2) The "forever" nature of the promise means the covenant never ends, it goes on and on like a circle.

David's expanding territory (9 Second Samuel 8:14)

A good portion of Second Samuel talks about how David was able to enlarge Israel's territory. This plays to another aspect of wheel. Wheels allow us to go further, expand our territory, increase our area of activity.

Absalom's conspiracy gains strength (9 Second Samuel 15:12)

Absalom conspired to overthrow David and reign in his place, but he worked for a long time trying to gain momentum to have a fighting chance. He won the hearts of the men of Israel a person at a time, he brought important people to his side and he prepared for the momentus event. The story says the conspiracy "gained strength" and "kept on increasing." Absalom was trying to gain enough momentum to succeeed at overthrowing David.

Hushai counsels Absalom to wait (9 Second Samuel 17:1-13)

After David fleed Jerusalem to escape Absalom, Absalom was counseled to send his army and kill David while David was weary from travel. Hushai, an ally of David's, counseled Absalom to wait. Why. Because Hushai knew momentum was on Absalom's side and he wanted to give David a chance. Absalom followed Hushai's advice and David had time to organize his army which then marched out and defeated Absalom's army.

David becomes exhausted (9 Second Samuel 21:15)

In a battle with a Philistine David became exhausted. He survived only because some of his men came to his rescue. The point is momentum went to the Philistine when David became too tired to fight well. This is the momentum aspect of wheel again, but suggests being "tired" or having "energy" may be synonyms to momentum.

The plague is stopped (9 Second Samuel 24:25)

After three days of plague killed some 70,000 Israelites, David offers a sacrifice according to the Word of Yahvah, and the plague is stopped. The idea of stopping and starting are related to momentum and may be another aspect of wheel.

In Song of Solomon The is _____

Cycle

The dominant aspect of wheel seen in Song of Solomon is that of cycle. The structure of the book plays to a cycle as the beloved and lover speak in turn. Many smaller examples abound throughout the book, such as night and day, the seasons of the year, life and death, together and apart.

Solomon's song of songs (31 Song of Solomon 1:1)

It appears each generation is like another revolution of the wheel, another cycle. Second Samuel is David's story and Song of Solomon is a page from the life of David's son Solomon. In coming to this book after Second Samuel we've cycled the wheel. Romans will begin with reference to how Jesus is the descendant of David, another cycle of the family wheel, albeit many generations later.

Strengthen me for I am faint (31 Song of Solomon 2:5)

A good example of the simple kind of two part cycles seen in Song of Solomon is this verse where the beloved asks her lover to strengthen her with raisins and apples because she is faint. The cycle of being faint and strengthened and faint and strengthened and so on is an example of the wheel going around and around.

His left arm is under my head, and his right arm embraces me (31 Song of Solomon 2:6) (31 Song of Solomon 8:3)

There are a few phrases in Song of Solomon that repeat. This is one of them. The way the book comes back to a few key ideas multiple times plays to the cycle of the wheel. This particular phrase also plays to the shape of a wheel or cicle because it describes how his arms are around her.

Don't awaken love until it so desires (31 Song of Solomon 2:7) (31 Song of Solomon 3:5) (31 Song of Solomon 8:4)

Like a wheel, the book comes back to this exact phrase a number of times. The issue with "awaking" love too early is the problem of arousal. Once aroused it's hard to stop, too much momentum.

Winter is past (31 Song of Solomon 2:11-13)

This stanza speaks about how winter is past and flowers and fig trees and vines begin to appear, blossom and produce fruit. The seasonal cycle has moved from winter to spring. The time of plants being dormant has ended and they begin producing again. An annual cycle is being described here.

The rounds of the watchmen (31 Song of Solomon 3:3) (31 Song of Solomon 5:7)

The watchmen made their rounds through the city at night. These "rounds" play to wheel at two levels, 1) because they made a circuit or circle through the city and 2) because they repeated the process again and again. So a circular shape is a wheel and repetition is a wheel.

Place of conception (31 Song of Solomon 3:4)

The beloved takes her lover to the place where her mother had conceived her. Whatever else may be happening here it's clear that she is cycling back to an earlier time when her mother embraced her father and she was conceived. It's also the case leading up this verse that the beloved was looking for her lover. There's a cycle there of being apart and together.

Experienced soldiers (31 Song of Solomon 3:7-8)

This stanza mentions experienced soldiers. Experience is gained by doing many things or doing something many times. The idea of repetition is part of the wheel concept and may be intended in this description of warriors.

Solomon's crown (31 Song of Solomon 3:11)

It's worth mentioning that crown shows up several times in these books dealing with tet. Second Samuel begins with David being given Saul's crown and then later David takes the crown of an enemy. Here in the short book of Song of Solomon we see Solomon's crown referenced. I'm not positive this has any bearing on this study of wheel, but crowns are round and perhaps resemble a wheel when viewed from above. The crown may represent the extent or diameter of a king's reign or kingdom.

Until the day breaks (31 Song of Solomon 4:6)

The lover speaks of the day breaking and shadows fleeing. He's describing a daily cycle of night and day.

Asleep and awake (31 Song of Solomon 5:2)

The beloved says she slept, but her heart was awake. Asleep and awake are part of the daily cycle, closely related to night and day.

Undressed and bathed (31 Song of Solomon 5:3)

The beloved says she has taken off her robe and gone to bed, does she have to get out of bed and put it on again. She's describing daily cycle of going to bed. She also says she's bathed her feet, must she get up and walk around and soil them.

Lover present then gone (31 Song of Solomon 5:6)

Another cycle. Lover is present then gone.

60 queens and 80 concubines (31 Song of Solomon 6:8-9)

The lover, Solomon, says he has 60 queens and 80 concubines, but his "dove" or beloved is unique. This is such a strange situation, but let me try to unpack this. First, if his dove was special, she's an antithesis or opposite of wheel, she's unrepeatable. There's no other time around like her. However, what I think is really happening is Solomon is recycling the line with different women. Afterall, if his "dove" really was special and unrepeatable he would not have 140 others around nor would he grow the set to 1000 women (10 First Kings 11:3). Either way we're dealing with a wheel concept in this passage.

Lover like sun, moon and stars (31 Song of Solomon 6:10)

The friends ask who this is that appears from time to time like the sun, moon and stars. They are playing to the cycle of the lover being home and gone. They use the imagery of the sun, moon and stars, with their cycles in the sky.

Produce stored up (31 Song of Solomon 7:13)

The beloved says she has stored up delicacies old and new. I believe she is referring to produce or fruit of various kinds given the context. There seem to be two expression of wheel here. First, the accumulation of something (in this case produce) seems to be part of the concept of wheel. It's close to the idea of momentum. Second, the produce would have had growing and harvesting cycles like any kind of grown food. She accumulated old and new, so she had left overs or momentum from one harvest cycle to the next.

I aroused you where you were conceived (31 Song of Solomon 8:5)

The beloved says she aroused her lover under the apple tree and adds that this is the same place he was conceived.

Solomon let's out his vineyard (31 Song of Solomon 8:11)

The leasing of a vineyard for a period of time is describing a business or contract cycle. Each time the vineyard is leased it's another revolution of the wheel.

In Romans The is _____

Jesus descended from David (53 Romans 1:1-3)

Second Samuel dealt with David and the everlasting covenant that said he would always have an heir on the throne. Solomon was the next heir and we dealt with him in Song of Solomon. Now we arrive at the book of Romans and Paul begins with the observation that Jesus is a descendant of David. Ultimately Jesus will fulfill the promise to David when he sits on David's throne, but between David and Jesus' coronation each generation on the throne is another revolution of the wheel. This is true in any family, not just royalty.

All over the world (53 Romans 1:8)

The faith of the romans was being reported all over the world. Their reputation was gaining momenutum, or expanding their circle of influence.

Storing up wrath (53 Romans 2:5)

Paul says some are storing up wrath by unrepentance and stubbornness. They are accumulating wrath little by little. Accumulation is closely related to momentum.

Suffering produces perseverance (53 Romans 5:3-4)

Suffering produces perseverance which in turn produces character and character hope. The cycles or steps of going from suffering all the way to hope are like revolutions of the wheel. There's also a sense of momentum in the system. Working through your call to suffer and you'll be prepared for peseverance and the following stages.

Righteousness leads to holiness and holiness to eternal life (53 Romans 6:19)

This verse states that where we used to be slaves to ever increasing wickedness (think momentum) we should rather become slaves to righteousness which leads to holiness. Paul is describing the process of stopping momentum in the wrong direction and beginning momentum with righteousness (which is doing whatever Jesus tells you) and this process of obedience brings us to holiness. A few verses later, holiness leads to eternal life (so much momentum it never ends).

God's gifts and call are irrevocable (53 Romans 11:28-29)

As seen in Yahvah's promise to David in Second Samuel, God's gifts and call are irrevocable. They remain forever. The nature of a wheel or circle is that it has no end.

Paul lays plans to expand into Spain (53 Romans 15:23-24)

Like David extending Israel's territory, Paul makes plans to extend his ministry into Spain. He wants to grow his circle, make his wheel larger, go further.

Watch out for obstacles (53 Romans 16:17)

Paul warns the Romans to watch out for people who cause divisions and put obstacles in the way. Obstacles, or stumbling blocks, break momentum.

Summary

The is:

• momentum
• accumulation
• expansion
• forever
• cycle
• repetition
• circle
• go around
• reciprocity (?)

Jesus

Jesus is the Everlasting Father.

One of Jesus' names mentioned in this passage is Everlasting Father. Jesus' reign on David's throne will continue forever and not end or lose momentum as it did with David in Second Samuel. To say Jesus is everlasting and his kingdom will not end, or lose momentum, is to say Jesus is a Wheel.

By Ryan Eaton
Posted Monday, Dan 30, 13000