Amana - perennial. The Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

 margin of 2 Kings 5:12 suggests another reading of Abana, a stream near Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

.

Amana is also the name of a mountain (Song of Solomon

Song of Solomon

The Song of Songs of Solomon, commonly referred to as Song of Songs or Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible—one of the megillot —found in the last section of the Tanakh, known as the Ketuvim...

 4:8), probably Amanus, or the southern summit of Anti-Libanus, at the base of which are the sources of the Abana.

Most English translations of the Song of Solomon, beginning with the King James Version, adhere to the transliteration of Amana in verse 4:8. Solomon

Solomon

Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...

's bride (the Shulamite

Shulamite

A Shulamite is a person from Shulem. It is the ascription given to the female protagonist in the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible.Many scholars connect the term with "Shunamite" and believe the terms are interchangeable. It is a name of a maiden or a title...

) is implored by the Beloved (Solomon) to descend with him from the "peak of Amana", as well as Mount Senir and Hermon. The descent is safely through the dens of lions and the presence of leopards. Strong's Concordance

Strong's Concordance

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, generally known as Strong's Concordance, is a concordance of the King James Bible that was constructed under the direction of Dr. James Strong and first published in 1890. Dr. Strong was Professor of exegetical theology at Drew Theological Seminary at...

 lists Amana as number 0594 in the Hebrew Lexicon, with no other instances of Amana in the Old or New Testament.

The "mountains of Sanir and Amana" are also delineated in Jubilees

Jubilees

The Book of Jubilees , sometimes called Lesser Genesis , is an ancient Jewish religious work, considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches...

 as within the inheritance of Shem

Shem

Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each...

 (8:21), or more specifically, Arpachshad

Arpachshad

Arpachshad or Arphaxad or Arphacsad was one of the five sons of Shem, the son of Noah . His brothers were Elam, Asshur, Lud and Aram; he is an ancestor of Abraham. He is said by Gen...

 (9:4).

Christological interpretations

Christological interpretations of the Song of Solomon are myriad

Myriad

Myriad , "numberlesscountless, infinite", is a classical Greek word for the number 10,000. In modern English, the word refers to an unspecified large quantity.-History and usage:...

 among both Protestant and Catholic theologians with Saint Bernard of Clairveaux interpreting the entire book in these terms. Christological inferences in the context of chapter four of the Song of Solomon suggest a kenotic significance to Amana. The husband (Christ) declares His love for His bride (the Church) throughout chapter four. He (Christ) sees no imperfection in His bride. This is only possible through the descent from heaven through the incarnation and the propitionary death on Calvary, establishing a typology

Typology (theology)

Typology in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments...

 with the Gospels. Amana and the other mountains are allegorical to heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

. The bride's presence at the summit is possible through the acceptance of Christ resulting in as Paul later expressed it in Ephesians 2:6 being simultaneously "seated in the heavenlies" (figuratively) while walking in the world prior to glorification

Glorification

-Catholicism:For the process by which the Roman Catholic Church or Anglican Communion grants official recognition to someone as a saint, see canonization.-Eastern Orthodox Church:...

. The descent from Amana is through the dens of lions which are allegorical to the present dangers of the world and suggesting a typology with Christ’s Passion

Passion (Christianity)

The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...

. The descent from Amana safely through the world (and by implication back to heaven [Amana]) is hand in hand with Christ.

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Spurgeon

Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a large British Particular Baptist preacher who remains highly influential among Christians of different denominations, among whom he is still known as the "Prince of Preachers"...

 refers to Amana in his famous Morning and Evening devotional for September 18: "To the top of Amana, to the dens of lions, or to the hills of leopards, we will follow our Beloved."