Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BOSOM

The word “bosom” is used in reference to both God and humankind, male and female. The bosom in its metaphorical and literal usages is the location of both intimacy and vulnerability.

In the OT and NT the bosom is foremost an intimate place. It is a source of nurture for a suckling child (Ruth 4:16), of comfort (Luke 16:22, Abraham’s bosom), protection (Isa. 40:11, the bosom of God like that of a shepherd, carrying the lambs of Zion), honor (49:22), and physical warmth (1 Kgs. 1:2, Abishag in the bosom of David). It is where the grieving widow of Zarephath holds her dead son (1 Kgs. 17:19) as God holds a living One: Jesus in the bosom of God the Father (John 1:18).

The bosom is also a sign of intimate relationship. Thus “the wife of your bosom” or “the husband of your bosom” (Deut. 28:54, 56) or a ewe lamb in the poor man’s bosom (2 Sam. 12:3) or a bosom friend (Ps. 41:9[MT 10]) implies the most intense connections and communion.

The bosom is a repository of emotions: grief (Ps. 35:13), taunts (79:12), insults (89:50[51]), passion (Prov. 6:27), bribery (21:14), anger (Eccl. 7:9), hidden iniquity (Job 31:33), and retaliation (Ps. 74:11). It is also a treasury of wisdom (Job 23:12). Finally, the bosom is a locus of sexual arousal and passion (Ezek. 23:3, 8, 21).

Jeanne Stevenson-Moessner

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BOSOM

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)