Strong's Greek: 3206 -- (Not Used)zzz

Lexical Summary

(Not Used): (Not Used)

(Not Used)
Part of Speech:
Transliteration: (Not Used)
(Not Used)

Topical Lexicon

Overview and Semantic Range

Strong’s Greek 3206 designates a common Greek noun that refers to a pleasant, cultivated tree-fruit. In Classical Greek writings it can denote either the fruit itself or, by metonymy, the tree that bears it. Because the term never appears in the extant manuscripts of the Greek New Testament, our understanding of its biblical importance is drawn chiefly from the Septuagint and from later Christian reflection on Old Testament passages where the same fruit imagery is prominent.

Occurrences in the Septuagint

1. Song of Songs 2:3, 2:5, 7:8, 8:5 – The bride likens her beloved to the tree and the fruit to the sweetness of their covenant love.
2. Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”
3. Joel 1:12 – The failure of the crop is a sign of divine judgment.
4. Additional occurrences (for example, in Zechariah or Lamentations) follow the same agricultural or metaphorical pattern.

These uses give the vocabulary a dual sense: literal sweetness and symbolic delight or loss, depending on context.

Symbolic and Theological Themes

Sweetness and Delight – The fruit often represents the intimate joy that flows from covenant relationship (Song of Songs 2:3 – “His fruit is sweet to my taste”).

Timely Speech – Proverbs 25:11 employs the fruit to illustrate the beauty of words spoken in the right season.

Judgment and Desolation – When the crop withers (Joel 1:12), the vanished sweetness highlights the bitterness of sin’s consequences.

Orchard Imagery and Fertility – Gardens laden with the fruit become pictures of Paradise regained (Song of Songs 6:11; 8:5).

Christological Foreshadowing

Early Christian teachers discerned in the beloved of Song of Songs a portrait of Christ. As the “apple tree among the trees of the forest,” He alone provides shelter and nourishment in a barren world (Song of Songs 2:3). The contrast between cultivated sweetness and wild barrenness anticipates the difference between life in Christ and life without Him (John 15:1-5).

Intertextual Connections

Deuteronomy 32:10 and Zechariah 2:8 speak of God’s people as “the apple of His eye,” underscoring cherished protection. Although the Hebrew phrase refers to the pupil rather than the fruit, the English overlap invites devotional linkage: the same Lord who guards His people as His eye also places them in a garden where sweetness abounds (Genesis 2:8-9; Revelation 22:2).

Historical Reception

Patristic writers such as Gregory of Nyssa and Bernard of Clairvaux treated Song of Songs allegorically, identifying the fruit with spiritual consolations granted by the Bridegroom. Medieval commentators applied Proverbs 25:11 to homiletics, urging preachers to season their words for maximum edification.

Practical Ministry Applications

Teaching – Proverbs 25:11 encourages pastors and teachers to match truth to occasion, letting speech be as refreshing as ripe fruit in harvest time.

Spiritual Formation – The orchard scenes of Song of Songs invite believers to cultivate private communion with Christ, finding in Him continual sweetness even when circumstances wither (cf. Joel 1:12).

Counseling and Care – The contrast between fruitful and withered trees offers a gentle diagnostic tool: is the soul feeding on Christ or languishing under drought?

Mission and Worship

Public reading of Proverbs 25:11 or Song of Songs 2:3-5 in worship can frame liturgies that celebrate the goodness of God’s Word and the intimacy of Christ’s love. In missions contexts, the picture of desirable fruit remains cross-culturally intelligible, highlighting the attractiveness of the gospel.

Summary

Although Strong’s Greek 3206 never surfaces in the New Testament text, its Septuagint background enriches biblical theology. The fruit’s sweetness points to the savor of righteous words, the joy of covenant intimacy, and—by contrast— the bitterness of sin’s barrenness. These themes culminate in Jesus Christ, the true Beloved and the tree of eternal life whose fruit never fails (Revelation 22:2).

Links

Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts