HEBREW WORD STUDY – WINTER HAS PAST – הסתיו עבר  HASATHIN ‘AVAD  

Song of Solomon 2:11 “For behold the winter has passed, the rain has passed, it goes to itself.” 

I drove past a stretch limousine parked outside a house this evening as I was returning my disability bus.  I wondered, a graduation, a prom?  Maybe a wedding. To me, it said one thing, spring. Winter has passed.  No more slip and sliding on ice, helping LOL’s (little old ladies) over snow banks, dogging kamikaze mommies dropping their little scholars off to school in their oversized SUVs. 

Such is the picture being painted in Song of Solomon 2:11 a simple one. The long hard winter has passed, rains have come and now it is the carefree time of spring, a time to renew and refresh. A time for young lovers to once again focus on romance. For me, it illustrates my relationship with Jesus as I pass through a difficult wintry period in my life.  

The first thing we need to see is that this is a picture of renewal not of a beginning. Apparently these two lovers being pictured in the Song of Solomon have shared some intimate times together and then certain hardships came along (winter) that caused them to put their romance on hold.  The next season arises and it is once again a time when they can concentration on their relationship. The indication is that the departure from their romance was not due to any problem in their relationship, it was just circumstances that kept them apart.  There are times we go through such situations that it is very difficult to have those tender moments with God, this verse is telling us that this is normal, it can’t always be spring in relationships even with God.  He understands and He too looks forward to spring.

The word for winter is hasthin which finds its root in the word hasa which means to cover or conceal, to keep a secret. It is also a play on the word hasatan, I’ll let you figure that one out. During those winters in your life much of God’s love is concealed, many things He wishes to tell you cannot be heard because of the wintry circumstances. But then this passes, the word for pass is ‘avar which means to pass through, having endured and stayed the course.  The romance passed through whatever was testing it and now the rains come. In the ancient culture, the rain was something positive.  It was symbolic of healing, of bringing forth life, a time of cleansing.  

But the writer says that even the rains have passed. The word used for pass here is different, it is not ‘avar but is halaph. This is a passing that brings about a renewal, cleansing or polishing up.  It is sort of like getting rid of the dust and cobwebs and restoring something to a new condition.  

The word it goes is halak which is a playoff the previous word halaph (to pass). Halak is used to express the idea of endurance.  Hence what is renewed will stay renewed. Sort of like getting your car washed and then never having to wash it again as it will stay forever clean.  

In this case, the two lovers have gone through their winter in their romance and now that it is restored, they will live happily ever after.  Except this is no fairy tale, this is, after all the Bible, the Word of God.  

Are you going through a winter season in your life or in your Christian walk?  There is an old Jewish saying: “This too will pass.”  Soon the healing rains of God will come and as you enter into the spring season you will find that your relationship with God is deeper and stronger for having passed through and endured that winter season. You only have to endure for a season and if you can overcome that harsh winter you will enter a new season where your love relationship with God will bloom and blossom as never before.