Concise Bible Dictionary:
A woman about to be married, or newly married, used symbolically for those who are closely associated with Jehovah or the Lord Jesus. Though the word does not occur in the Canticles, nearly the whole of that book is composed of discourses between a bridegroom and a bride-doubtless referring to Jehovah and the Jewish remnant (compare Hos. 2:19-20). As a bride adorns herself with jewels (Isa. 61:10), so would Jerusalem be adorned with Jehovah’s righteousness and salvation. When John is called to behold the bride, the Lamb’s wife, he sees a beautiful city, the holy Jerusalem, having the glory of God (Rev. 21:2, 9-10). The church is the bride of the Lamb (compare 2 Cor. 11:2).
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