Ecclesiastes 2:5

orchards. Hebrew. pardesim = paradises, parks, or pleasure grounds. Different from "gardens", which were cultivated (Deuteronomy 11:10 . 1 Kings 21:2 ). Paradises were formed by eastern monarchs. In the British Museum may be seen the inscriptions of Gudea, the greatest of the Sumerian rulers of Chaldea (2500 B.C.), and Tiglath-pileser I, king of Assyria (1120 B. C), describing what could be only a botanical and zoological park. Assur-nazir-pal, king of Assyria (885 B. C), founded such a public paradise, and describes how he stocked it; what he brought, and whence he brought the natural history collection. The British Museum contains a portion of a similar catalogue of Sennacherib. The Paradise in Revelation 2:7 ; Revelation 22:1 , Revelation 22:2 , refers to the future paradise, which will be as literal and real, not figurative.