16. Behold, thou art comely. The Shulamite, refusing to receive all the praise, responds: “It is thou who art lovely and attractive;” and referring to their meeting-spot, she adds, “Lovely is our flowery couch; the arches of our bowers are formed of the spreading and interweaving branches of the majestic and odoriferous cedars and cypresses.” ‏נָעִים‎ is to be mentally supplied before ‏עַרְשֵׂנוּ רַעֲנָנָה‎; comp. Prov. iii. 11, i.e. Yea, lovely is our verdant couch. The adj. ‏רַעֲנָנָה‎ is formed from the Pilel of the verb ‏רָעַן‎. This conjugation, which is formed by doubling the third radical (see supra, 5), is used to describe permanent states or conditions, or some striking property; comp. Job xii. 5; Gesen. § 55, 2; Ewald, § 120 a. ‏קוֹרָה‎, beam, roof (Gen. xix. 8), here arch, vault. ‏רָהִיט‎, i.q. ‏רָחִיט‎ in the ‏כְּתִיך‎ (the ‏ה‎ is sometimes pronounced harshly like the ‏ח‎, comp. ‏רָהִיט‎, Exod. ii. 16, where the Samaritan has ‏רָחִיט‎, and Gesen. § 7, 4), is rendered by the Sept., Vulg., Ewald, Gesenius, &c. fretted ceilings; by Kimchi galleries; and the anonymous manuscript explains it bolt, and adds, ‏והנה נקרא רהיט לפי שרץ הנה והנה‎, “it is called bolt because it runs backward and forward.” But this is not in keeping with the structure of the verse. ‏רָהִיטֵנוּ‎ stands evidently in parallelism with ‏בָּתֵּינוּ‎, and accordingly is of a similar import. Rashbam has therefore rightly rendered it ‏אחד מבניני הבית‎, one of the apartments of the house. As however the house here described is a bower, ‏רָהִיט‎ would be an arbour. The etymology of the word is in keeping with this sense. ‏רָהָט‎, i.q. ‏רְהַט‎ = ‏רוּץ‎, to run, to flow, hence ‏רַהַט‎, 1. a gutter, from the water running down, Gen. xxx. 38; 2. a curl, from its flowing down (vide infra, vii. 6), and 3. ‏רָהִיט‎, a place upon which one runs, a charming spot much frequented; just like ‏שׁוּק‎, a place where people run, a street, from ‏שׁוּק‎, to run. It is now pretty generally agreed that ‏בְּרוֹת‎, the Aram. for ‏בְּרוֹשׁ‎, is not the fir, but the cypress. It is quite natural that this lofty tree, which grows to a height of from fifty to sixty feet, of so hard and durable a nature, and so highly esteemed among the ancients, (Virg. Georg. ii. 443,) should be placed together with the majestic cedar. Comp. Sirach, xxiv. 13; Virg. Georg. ii. 44; Winer, Bib. Dict.; Rosenmüller, Bib. Miner. and Bot. p. 260; Kitto, Cyclop. Bib. Lit. s.v.