seal over your heart . . . on your arm: In ancient Israel a seal was used for identification or to show ownership by pressing the face of a ring into soft wax. The husband wants his wife to mark him with her identity, privately upon his heart, and publicly upon his arm as well. • love is as strong as death: Though death is inevitable, the bond of love is resolute, unshakable, and broken only in death. • The energy of jealousy moves to protect an exclusive relationship such as that of husband and wife or between God and his people (Nah 1:2; Zech 1:14–17). • as the grave: Hebrew as Sheol. In the Old Testament, Sheol is the abode of the dead. It is not necessarily associated with punishment.