Original Word: סַהַר
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: cahar
Pronunciation: sah-har'
Phonetic Spelling: (cah'-har)
KJV: round
NASB: round
Word Origin: [from an unused root meaning to be round]

1. roundness

round

From an unused root meaning to be round; roundness -- round.

Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
roundness
NASB Translation
round (1).

סַ֫הַר noun [masculine] roundness; — ׳אַגַּן הַמּ Cant 7:3 a bowl of roundness = a round bowl (in simile).

Etymology and Semantic Range

The noun denotes something perfectly circular—a rim, bowl, or socket—evoking symmetry, fullness, and contained capacity. In Hebrew poetry the term bridges literal anatomy (the navel) with crafted vessels (a circular goblet).

Biblical Occurrence

Songs 7:2 employs the word in the bridal ode: “Your navel is a rounded bowl; it never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies” (Berean Standard Bible). The verse nests the image within a catalogue of praises that move from feet upward, celebrating the bride’s physical beauty while simultaneously portraying covenantal delight.

Symbolic Imagery in the Song of Songs

1. Center of Life. In antiquity the navel, situated at the body’s midpoint and source of prenatal supply, conveyed vitality and generational continuity.
2. Vessel of Joy. Comparing the navel to a wine-filled bowl couples nourishment with festivity, the visceral with celebratory fellowship. Wine in Scripture often signals covenant blessing and messianic abundance (Genesis 49:11; John 2:9).
3. Unbroken Wholeness. The perfect circle reflects completeness and peace—the “shalom” anticipated in covenant marriage and, by extension, in the divine–human union.

Cultural and Historical Background

Ancient Near Eastern love poetry routinely employed sensory metaphors to laud a beloved’s body parts. Bowls and goblets, often carved of alabaster or bronze, were prized tableware at royal banquets. The imagery merges palace luxury with agrarian fertility (“mound of wheat,” “lilies”), situating love amid both refined celebration and earthbound abundance.

Theological Threads

1. Covenant Fidelity. As the Song extols exclusive marital devotion, the circular bowl intimates loyalty without breach—an emblem of Yahweh’s steadfast love toward His people (Isaiah 54:5).
2. Eucharistic Foreshadowing. A vessel brimming with wine subtly gestures toward the cup of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:27–28). The bride’s center becomes a prophetic tableau of redemptive communion.
3. Incarnation and Embodiment. Biblical faith celebrates the goodness of the human body; here the sanctity of marital intimacy anticipates Christ taking flesh (John 1:14), affirming that holiness and physical affection are not adversaries but allies.

Ministry Application

• Marriage Enrichment: The verse encourages spouses to speak life-giving, creative words of affirmation, nurturing intimacy that mirrors divine celebration.
• Discipleship: Believers are invited to view their bodies as vessels of honor, dedicated to the Lord’s service (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).
• Worship: The “never-lacking” wine inspires gratitude for the Spirit’s continuous filling (Ephesians 5:18).

Christ-Centered Typology

The rounded bowl represents the fullness of grace found in Christ (John 1:16). Just as the bride’s navel perpetually “never lacks” wine, the Church continually draws from the inexhaustible riches of her Bridegroom.

Devotional Reflection

Praise that begins with the feet and culminates at the head pauses at the navel, the locus of dependency once hidden in the womb. The believer’s deepest identity is likewise sourced in Another; life flows from intimate attachment to Christ. In Him the circle of redemption is complete, the goblet always full, and the banquet never ends.

הַסַּ֔הַר הסהר has·sa·har hassaharInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts