Song of Solomonchapter 4
16 verses · Solomon, by tradition · 10th century BC · Wisdom and poetry
Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, and your mouth is lovely. Your brow behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate.
Introduction
Solomon, by tradition, Wisdom and poetry, Song of Solomon Overview.
This chapter is the heart of the wedding song the title gives to Solomon, and the man speaks nearly all of it. Its hearers lived close to their animals and their land, so a comparison to goats on a hillside or a walled garden carried praise they understood at once. The man describes the woman part by part, as poets of the ancient East often did. Listen for the pictures drawn from the whole map of Israel, from Gilead to Lebanon. Then listen for the garden that is locked and then opened. The chapter teaches how the Bible speaks of the joy of marriage with honour.
Context
- Who
- Wedding guests hearing the bridegroom's praise song
- What
- The bridegroom's praise of his bride, first as a description of her beauty and then as a garden he is invited to enter.
- Where
- The hills of Gilead east of the Jordan, the tower of David in Jerusalem and the mountains of Lebanon, Amana, Senir and Hermon in the north.
- When
- The reign of Solomon, about 970 to 930 BC, by the title, on the wedding day the previous chapter began.
- Why
- To celebrate the beauty of the bride and the joy of marriage as a good gift of God, kept for the one it belongs to.
Historical context
This chapter is a wasf, a head-to-foot praise song for the bride, a form well known from Egyptian love poetry and still used in Arabic wedding songs in the region centuries later. The comparisons are not meant to be pictured all at once; each one carries a single quality.
Show the rest of the historical context, 4 more paragraphs
The images come from the countryside. "Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead", black goats moving down a hillside in a long shifting line. "Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing", sheep were washed in a stream before shearing, so a newly shorn, washed flock is uniformly white and even, and "none is barren among them" means none missing, no gaps in the row.
"Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers." Displaying shields on the outside of a tower or wall was an actual practice; Ezekiel describes Tyre's defenders hanging their shields on her walls. The comparison is to a bearing that is upright and adorned, not to a thick neck.
"Come with me from Lebanon… from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards." These are the real peaks of the far north, and both lions and leopards lived in that country in the biblical period.
"A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed." A walled garden with its own water source was the highest luxury in a dry land, private, guarded, watered, and out of the public street. The spice list that follows, spikenard, saffron, calamus, cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, and aloes, is a catalogue of the incense trade, hauled from Arabia, India, and beyond by caravan.
Significance
The first hearers understood the garden language perfectly and would not have blushed at it. The song treats the marriage bed as good, and says so in front of everyone.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
"Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee" is the line the chapter turns on. In a marriage negotiated between families, the song insists on delight, the bridegroom is not acquiring a household asset, he is undone by her.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
This chapter is heard in the synagogue once a year, when the whole Song is read at Passover on the Sabbath that falls in the festival week. The site's festival table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts records the practice and cites Tractate Soferim 14:3 for it. Probed for this lane, the same table printed parashot total 0 and haftarah uses total 0 for the book. No chapter of the Song is a weekly portion, and none is read as a Haftarah.
Two practices are tied to this chapter by its commentary. At the fifteenth verse Rashi reads the garden spring as "the immersions of purification which the daughters of Yisroel immerse themselves" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:15:1). At the sixteenth he reads the north and south winds as the gathering of the exiles, when Israel "will be gathered there for the festivals and for the pilgrimages" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:16:1). At the tenth he quotes a liturgical poet, "the [poet] from Bavel" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:10:1). The poet named Jerusalem as the resting place and every place the Divine Presence met Israel as the other meeting places.
How it is read
Rashi is the one commentator on this chapter whose English the corpus carries, quoted here from The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Each quotation is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern, and the translator's bracketed glosses are kept as the translation prints them.
Rashi reads the long praise of the bride as God appeasing Israel after sin. At the first verse "He praised them and appeased them, and their sacrifices pleased Him" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:1:1). He marks the end of that favour at the days of Hophni and Phinehas (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:1:2). He keeps the plain sense beside each figure. Of the teeth at the second verse he says the praise "too, is expressed in terms of a woman’s beauty" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:2:1). The scarlet thread of the lips at the third verse he reads as lips that keep a promise, as the spies kept theirs to Rahab (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:3:1).
The neck like the tower of David at the fourth verse is the Chamber of Hewn Stone, "which was Yisroel’s strength and fortification" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:4:1). The two breasts of the fifth verse he reads two ways and leaves both standing. They are Moses and Aaron, who nourished Israel and were equal to each other. They are also the two Tablets, five commandments on each, and Rashi pairs the commandments across the stones. The first word of God's self-naming stands against murder, and the other gods against adultery. The false oath stands against stealing, the Sabbath against false witness, and the honour of parents against coveting (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:5:2). He gives a reason for each pair. The murderer "diminishes the image of the Holy One, Blessed Is He" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:5:2).
The eighth verse carries Rashi's teaching on God in exile. Rashi reads Lebanon as the Temple. When Israel is exiled from it, God says: "with Me you will be exiled, for I will go into exile with you" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:8:1). He presses the wording in the next note. The verse says from Lebanon and never to Lebanon. Rashi says this is "to denote that from the time of your departure from here until the time of your return, I am with you" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:8:2). The locked garden of the twelfth verse is the modesty of the daughters of Israel (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:12:1). The arid fields of the thirteenth, which have to be watered by hand, are "the smallest of Yisroel, who are succulent with good deeds like a pomegranate orchard" (Rashi on Song of Songs 4:13:1).
The corpus carries three further notes on this chapter that it marks linked, so they are named here and never quoted or paraphrased. They stand cited and unquoted because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref, at Ibn Ezra on Song of Songs 4:7:1 and 4:14:1 and Metzudat David on Song of Songs 4:7:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty locators on this chapter and the text of none. Each is cited and linked here, and none is quoted. On the first verse it holds Berakhot 24a:17, Ein Yaakov, Berakhot 3:15 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 4:1:1. On the second verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 13:3, Bamidbar Rabbah 22:3 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 4:2:1. On the third verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 80:1, Berakhot 57a:7 and Bereshit Rabbah 32:10. On the fourth verse it holds Berakhot 30a:10, Bereshit Rabbah 39:11 and Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Berakhot 4:9.
On the fifth verse it holds Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Bachodesh 8:22, Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 4:5:1 and Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 4:5:2. On the sixth verse it holds Aggadat Bereshit 19:2, Aggadat Bereshit 36:1 and Bamidbar Rabbah 14:12. On the seventh verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 13:8, Bamidbar Rabbah 2:13 and Bamidbar Rabbah 4:1. On the eighth verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 7:10, Jerusalem Talmud Challah 4:4:7 and Jerusalem Talmud Sheviit 6:1:23.
On the ninth verse it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shabbat 9:12 and Ein Yaakov, Shabbat 9:13. On the tenth verse it holds Devarim Rabbah 2:37 and Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, Tractate Vayehi Beshalach 7:28. On the eleventh verse it holds Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Bereshit 21 and Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayechi 25. On the twelfth verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 20:22 and Bamidbar Rabbah 3:6.
On the thirteenth verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 13:20 and Bava Batra 68a:9. The corpus anchors Bamidbar Rabbah 13:20 at Song of Songs 4:13-14. On the fourteenth verse it holds Midrash Lekach Tov on Song of Songs 4:14:1 and Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4:14:1. On the fifteenth verse it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan 33:2 and Berakhot 56b:13. On the sixteenth verse it holds Bamidbar Rabbah 13:2 and Bereshit Rabbah 22:5.
What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one. The quotations wait on a fetch that carries the text.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Song of Songs 4:1:1 to 4:16:1, The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001, reported CC-BY, 21 notes kept; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Song of Songs 4:7:1 and 4:14:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Song of Songs 4:7:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/song-of-solomon/4.json, the 40 locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, the festival entry for the Song at Passover citing Tractate Soferim 14:3 and Mishnah Yadayim 3:5, probed for this book and printing parashot total 0 and haftarah uses total 0.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Behold, Thou Art Fair: There Is No Spot in Thee
Song of Solomon 4:1-5
The chapter opens the poem's first full song of praise, moving downward from "Your eyes are like doves behind your veil". Its images come from a shepherd's world, goats "streaming down Mount Gilead". The likeness lies in the impression, adorned dignity in a neck like "the tower of David".
Song of Solomon 4:1
“Thou hast doves’ eyes ... - Thine eyes are doves behind thy veil. So also in Son 4:3; Son 6:7; Isa 47:2, “veil” is better than “locks.” That appear from ... - Or, “that couch upon Mount Gilead.” The point of comparison seems to be the multitudinousness of the flocks seen browsing on the verdant slopes of the rich pasture-lands Num 32:1; Mic 7:14.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Song of Solomon 4:1
“But Christ, beholding his church, for whom he himself, as you find in the book of the prophet Zechariah, had put on filthy garments, now clothed in white raiment, seeing, that is, a soul pure and washed in the laver of regeneration, says, "Behold, you are fair, my love, behold you are fair, your eyes are like a dove's," in the likeness of which the Holy Spirit descended from heaven. The eyes are beautiful like those of a dove, because in the likeness of a dove the Holy Spirit descended from heaven.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On the Mysteries 7:37patristic
coming up from the washing: The older readers took the image in several directions. The Chaldee paraphrase, Matthew Henry reported, applied the teeth to the priests and Levites who ate the sacrifices. Ambrose saw the shorn and washed flock as souls that lay aside their sins in the washing of baptism.
Song of Solomon 4:2
“The Chaldee paraphrase applies it to the priests and Levites, who fed upon the sacrifices as the representatives of the people. Faith, by which we feed upon Christ, meditation, by which we ruminate on the word and chew the cud upon what we have heard, in order to the digesting of it, are the teeth of the new man. These are here compared to a flock of sheep.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
like a slice of pomegranate: John Gill read the ribbon for thinness and the scarlet for colour, since thin red lips were counted beautiful. Adam Clarke pictured a pomegranate cut open, its inside streaked with red and white. Colour carries both images.
Song of Solomon 4:3
“Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet - Both lips and cheeks were ruddy; sicut fragmen mali punici - Vulgate. Like the section of a pomegranate, that side cut off on which is the finest blush. This is a good and apt metaphor. But the inside may be referred to, as it is finely streaked with red and white melting into each other. She had beautiful hair, beautiful eyes, beautiful cheeks and lips, and a most pleasing and dulcet voice. Within thy locks - See on Son 4:1 (note), and Son 4:7 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:3
“All our good works and good words must be washed in the blood of Christ, dyed like the scarlet thread, and then, and not till then, they are acceptable to God. The Chaldee applies it to the chief priest, and his prayers for Israel on the day of atonement.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
on it hang a thousand shields: Adam Clarke noted that shields were hung on towers both as ornament and to keep them ready for use, as Ezekiel 27:10 describes. The tower bears David's name. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown recalled that David was a man of war whose battles prepared for Solomon's reign of peace.
Song of Solomon 4:4
“Thy neck is like the tower of David - It is certain that bucklers were frequently hung about towers, both for their ornaments, and to have them at hand when their use was required; see Eze 27:10. But the allusion here may be to those pillars which are often seen in armouries on which weapons of various kinds are hung, formed into a great variety of shapes and very splendid. Whoever has seen the armoury in the tower of London, or such like places, has most probably seen something very similar to that of which the poet speaks.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:4
“He was a man of war, preparatory to the reign of Solomon, the king of peace. So warfare in the case of Jesus Christ and His saints precedes the coming rest. Each soul won from Satan by Him is a trophy gracing the bride (Lu 11:22); (each hangs on Him, Isa 22:23, 24); also each victory of her faith.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
twins of a gazelle: In 2:9 she compared him to a gazelle, and here he returns the image to her. Adam Clarke warned against pressing the likeness closely. A lover, he wrote, speaks the language of nature, and his comparisons are often loose.
Song of Solomon 4:5
“Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins,.... Or, "two fawns, the twins of a doe": Providence, as Plutarch observes (p), has given to women two breasts, that, should they have twins, both might have a fountain of nourishment; and are fitly compared to twins of the doe.”
3 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:5
“Thy two breasts are like two young roes - I have met with many attempts to support this similitude, or rather to show that there is a similitude; but I judge them unworthy of citation. The poet speaks the language of nature; and in a case of this kind, where the impassioned lover attempts to describe the different perfections of his bride, language often fails him, and his comparisons and similitudes are often without strict correctness. In love songs we have heard ladies’ necks compared to that of the swan, not only for its whiteness, but also for its length!”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 4:5
“And in the song of the bride, hair, teeth, lips, cheeks, the neck, and breasts, are praised by the bridegroom. The bride is either the soul of man, which enters into marriage with Christ, or the church. The parts of the body are interpreted figuratively: if they are said of the soul, then they apply to its powers.”
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Fragments on Luke 186patristic
Song of Solomon 4:5
“The breastplate of the high priest was made of "two" pieces, folded one on the other, in which were the Urim and Thummim (lights and perfection). "Faith and love" are the double breastplate (1Th 5:8), answering to "hearing the word" and "keeping it," in a similar connection with breasts (Lu 12:27, 28). roes--He reciprocates her praise (So 2:9).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Song of Solomon 4:6-8
the mountain of myrrh: "Before the day breaks and the shadows flee" repeats 2:17, now in his mouth. "You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw" sums up the song. The call from Lebanon, "from the summits of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions," draws her down.
Song of Solomon 4:6
“Until the day break - Until the morning breeze. See Son 2:17. The shadows flee away - Till the sun sets. Mountain of myrrh - Probably the same as the mountains of Bether, Son 2:17. Mountains where the trees grew from which myrrh and incense were extracted.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:6
“The holy hill (as some observe) is here called both a mountain of myrrh, which is bitter, and a hill of frankincense, which is sweet, for there we have occasion both to mourn and rejoice; repentance is a bitter sweet. But in heaven it will be all frankincense, and no myrrh. Prayer is compared to incense, and Christ will meet his praying people and will bless them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
in you there is no flaw: Albert Barnes began a new section here, running to 5:1. He read it as the king meeting the bride that same evening and praising her in his tenderest terms. Matthew Henry allowed that God's children have spots, though none of the leopard's spots.
Song of Solomon 4:7
“There is no spot but such as is often the spot of God's children, none of the leopard's spots. The church, when Christ shall present it to himself a glorious church, will be altogether without spot or wrinkle, Eph. v. 27 . The Love of Christ to the Church.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:7
“Section 4:7–5:1: The king meeting the bride in the evening of the same day, expresses once more his love and admiration in the sweetest and tenderest terms and figures. He calls her now “bride” (spouse, Son 4:8) for the first time, to mark it as the hour of their espousals, and “sister-bride” (spouse, Son 4:9-10, Son 4:12; Son 5:1), to express the likeness of thought and disposition which henceforth unites them. At the same time he invites her to leave for his sake her birthplace and its mountain neighborhood, and live henceforth for him alone.”
A Garden Shut Up, a Spring Sealed: Awake, O North Wind
Come with me from Lebanon, my bride: Here the poem first uses the word bride. John Gill tied the new title to the wedding day just described in 3:11. Jerome took Lebanon to mean whiteness, and he heard the call as the bride coming up clothed in white.
Song of Solomon 4:8
"Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, with me from Lebanon. You shall come and pass on from the beginning of faith, from the top of Senir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards." Lebanon is, being interpreted, "whiteness." Come then, fairest bride, concerning whom it is elsewhere said, "Who is she that comes up, all in white?"
Jerome · written before 420 · Against Jovinianus 1.30patristic
3 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:8
“Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon,.... This is a new title given the church, my "spouse"; here first mentioned, because the day of espousals was over, Son 3:11; and having on the wedding garment, in which she was so fair and spotless, as before described, she looked somewhat like a bride, and the spouse of Christ; and is chiefly used by Christ, to prevail upon her to go with him, which relation, duty, and affection, obliged her to do.”
Song of Solomon 4:8
“My spouse - The כלה callah which we translate spouse, seems to have a peculiar meaning. Mr. Harmer thinks the Jewish princess is intended by it; and this seems to receive confirmation from the bridegroom calling her sister, Son 4:9, that is, one of the same stock and country; and thus different from the Egyptian bride. Mr. Harmer’s opinion is very probable, that Two Queens are mentioned in this song: one Pharaoh’s daughter, the other a Jewess. See his outlines. But I contend for no system relative to this song.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Song of Solomon 4:8
“This teaches us the bride's place of origin, that she comes from the worship of idols. For Mount Lebanon is full of idols, whence you come, it says, hastening past through the law. Without knowing the law, you were taught the mystery of Christ.”
Cyril of Alexandria · written before 444 · Fragments in the Commentary on the Song of Songs 4:8patristic
Song of Solomon 4:9-11
You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride: The double name "my sister, my bride" joins the lasting bond of kin to the chosen bond of marriage. One glance and one ornament are enough: "you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck". He returns her praise of 1:2.
Song of Solomon 4:9
“Flee, he says, from the lions' dens, flee from the pride of devils, that when you have been consecrated to me, I may be able to say unto you, "You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride, you have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck." What he says is something like this—I do not reject marriage: you have a second eye, the left, which I have given to you on account of the weakness of those who cannot see the right.”
Jerome · written before 420 · Against Jovinianus 1.30patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:9
“The similes employed refer to the graces of adornment, speech, and gesture, as expressions of inward character and sentiment. Son 4:9 With one of thine eyes - Rather, with one look of thine. Son 4:11 Honeycomb - literally, Thy lips distill a dropping (of pure honey). Compare the marginal references.”
How delightful is your love: In 1:3 she praised the fragrance of his perfume, and now he praises hers above all spices. Adam Clarke noted that the Septuagint, the Vulgate and every ancient version except the Chaldee read the word for love as breasts. The two praises answer each other.
Song of Solomon 4:10
“How much better is thy love - דדיך dodayich; Hebrew. mastoi sou; Septuagint. Ubera tua; Vulgate. “Thy breasts.” And so all the versions, except the Chaldee. Smell of thine ointments - Perfumes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
honey and milk are under your tongue: Adam Clarke read the honey as her speech, since the ancients compared persuasive words to honey and milk. Homer described Nestor's words the same way. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown noted that garments were often perfumed in the East, as Psalm 45:8 shows.
Song of Solomon 4:11
“Thy lips - drop as the honey-comb - Thy words are as delicious to my heart as the first droppings of the honey-comb are to the palate. Honey and milk are under thy tongue - Eloquence and persuasive speech were compared among the ancients to honey and milk. Thus Homer, Iliad, lib. i., ver. 247: - Τοισι δε Νεστωρ Ηδυεπης ανορουσε, λιγυς Πυλιων αγορητης. Του και απο γλωσσης μελιτος γλυκιων ῥεεν αυδη. Experienced Nestor, in persuasion skill’d, Words sweet as honey from his lips distill’d. But the figure is common to all writers and languages.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:11
“Contrast Mt 27:44 with Lu 23:39, &c. It was literally with "one" eye, a sidelong glance of love "better than wine," that he refreshed Jesus Christ (So 4:9, 10). "To-day shalt thou be with Me (compare So 4:8) in Paradise" (So 4:12), is the only joyous sentence of His seven utterances on the cross. smell of . . . garments--which are often perfumed in the East (Ps 45:8).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Song of Solomon 4:12-15
My sister, my bride, you are a garden locked up: She is "a garden locked up, a spring enclosed, a fountain sealed," kept for one alone. The garden is planted with the spice trade, nard, saffron, calamus, cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh and aloes. At verse 15 the sealed spring is also "a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon."
Song of Solomon 4:12
“A garden enclosed - a spring shut up, a fountain sealed - Different expressions to point out the fidelity of the bride, or of the Jewish queen. See the outlines. She is unsullied, a chaste, pure virgin. None has ever entered into this garden; none has yet tasted of this spring; the seal of this fountain has never been broken. Among the Athenians, the interior part of the house, called the women’s apartment, was not only locked but sealed; so Aristophan., Thesmoph. ver. 422: - Ειτα δια τουτον ταις γυναικωνιτισιν Σφραγιδας εμβαλλουσιν ηδη και μοχλους.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:12
“The Old-Testament church was a garden enclosed by the partition wall of the ceremonial law. The Bible was then a spring shut up and a fountain sealed; it was confined to one nation; but now the wall of separation is removed, the gospel preached to every nation, and in Jesus Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Song of Solomon 4:12
“Therefore, beware that the strength of your mind is not weakened by a certain union of bodily pleasure, and that everything dissolves into its embrace, and it opens the fountain, which ought to be closed and sealed by the study of intention and the consideration of reason. For a garden is closed, a fountain is sealed. For when the strength of the mind is dissolved, the senses pour forth a bodily pleasure excessively pernicious, and rush into a desire full of serious danger; which, if it had remained under the vigilant custody of a vivid mind, it would have restrained.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On Isaac and the Soul 1.2patristic
Song of Solomon 4:12
“Spiritually the garden is the gospel kingdom of heaven. Here all is ripe; previously (So 2:13) it was "the tender grape." The garden is His, though He calls the plants hers (So 4:13) by His gift (Isa 61:3, end). spring . . . fountain--Jesus Christ (Joh 4:10) sealed, while He was in the sealed tomb: it poured forth its full tide on Pentecost (Joh 7:37-39).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Song of Solomon 4:12
“A garden - For order and beauty, for pleasant walks, and flowers, and fruits. Inclosed - Defended by the care of my providence: and reserved for my proper use. Shut up - To preserve it from all pollution, and to reserve it for the use of its owner, for which reason, springs were shut up in those countries where water was scarce and precious.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
an orchard of pomegranates: Adam Clarke noted that the Hebrew word for orchard, pardes, gave us the word paradise. Gregory of Nyssa observed that the pomegranate is hard for a thief to take, with its thorny branches and bitter rind. The fruit suits a garden that is locked.
Song of Solomon 4:13
“In order that we may know the plants that the Word cultivates in believers, the Song calls the trees he planted "pomegranates." These issue from the bride's mouth. The pomegranate is difficult for a thief to grasp because of its thorny branches, and its fruit is surrounded and protected by a rind bitter and harsh to the taste.”
Gregory of Nyssa · written before 395 · Homilies on the Song of Songs 9patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:13
“Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates - This seems to refer to the fecundity of the bride or Jewish queen; to the former it would be a prediction; to the latter, a statement of what had already taken place. The word פרדס pardes, which we translate an orchard, is the same which has given birth to our paradise, a garden of pleasure. The other expressions, in this and the following verse, seem to refer wholly to matters of a connubial nature.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
with myrrh and aloes: Cyril of Jerusalem linked this line to the burial of Jesus, which took place in a garden. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to the tomb. Matthew Henry set the whole garden against the neglected vineyard of Proverbs 24:30, grown over with thorns and nettles.
Song of Solomon 4:14
The place of his burial was a garden.… What is he going to say who was buried in the garden? "I gather my myrrh, and my spices"; and again, "Myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices." These were the tokens of his burial, and in the Gospels it is said, "The women came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared," and "there also came Nicodemus, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes."
Cyril of Jerusalem · written before 386 · Catechetical Lecture 14:11patristic
a well of fresh water: The water flows down from Lebanon, the same northern range named in verses 8 and 11. Ambrose drew a distinction between the two images. The well stood for wisdom hidden in the depths, and the fountain for the overflowing abundance of love.
Song of Solomon 4:15
“And about mystical wells it remains for us, which we also find in the Song of Songs, as Scripture says: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and flowing down from Lebanon. For if you pursue the depth of mysteries, the well appears to you as if the mystical wisdom is located in the profound: but if you desire to draw from the abundance of charity, which is greater and richer than faith and hope, then the fountain is for you.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On Isaac and the Soul 4.26patristic
1 more voice on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:15
“Living water - Though my spouse be in some sort a fountain shut up, yet that is not so to be understood as if she kept her waters to herself, for she is like a fountain of living or running water, which flows into gardens, and makes its flowers and plants to flourish. The church conveys those waters of life which she receives from Christ to particular believers.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Awake, O north wind: She answers his praise with one verse that changes the garden's owner. "Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices" is followed by "Let my beloved come into his garden."
Song of Solomon 4:16
“Recognize also the voice of the church inviting us when it says, "Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden and let my ointments flow forth. Let my brother come down into his garden and eat the fruit of his apple trees." For knowing even then, O holy church, that from these also you would have fruitful works, you promised to your anointed one the fruit from such as these. It was you who first said that you were brought into the king's chamber, loving [Christ's] breasts above wine.”
Ambrose of Milan · written before 397 · On the Death of Satyrus 2.118patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Song of Solomon 4:16
“These, therefore, are not wanted; but first the north wind clearing the air (Job 37:22; Pr 25:23), and then the warm south wind (Job 37:17); so the Holy Ghost first clearing away mists of gloom, error, unbelief, sin, which intercept the light of Jesus Christ, then infusing spiritual warmth (2Co 4:6), causing the graces to exhale their odor.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Song of Solomon 4:16
“WHAT a difference there is between what the Believer was by nature and what the Grace of God has made him! Naturally, we were like the waste howling wilderness, like the desert which yields no healthy plant or verdure. It seemed as if we were given over to be like a salt land which is not inhabited—no good thing was in us, or could spring out of us. But now, as many of us as have known the Lord are transformed into gardens—our wilderness is made like Eden, our desert is changed into the garden of the Lord.”
Charles Spurgeon · written before 1892 · The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2475: “"My Garden"—"His Garden"” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition)Particular Baptist
How this psalm is built
The form: A descriptive praise song of the bride, followed by the song of the enclosed garden that runs to 5:1, as Delitzsch classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The praise from head downward | Verses 1 to 5 name the bride's eyes, hair, teeth, lips, mouth, brow, neck and breasts in order, each with a picture from the land. The same form returns when she describes him at 5:10 to 16 and when he describes her again at 6:4 to 7 and 7:1 to 9.Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, 1875. | Song of Solomon 4:1, Song of Solomon 5:10, Song of Solomon 6:5, Song of Solomon 7:1 |
| How beautiful you are | The praise opens at verse 1 and closes at verse 7 on the same claim, that she is beautiful, so the list of her features is framed by the verdict it proves.the Berean text, counted, the store's Berean Standard Bible, Song of Solomon 4:1 and 4:7. | Song of Solomon 4:1, Song of Solomon 4:7 |
How this chapter is built
2 more paragraphs on the patterns
Verses 1 to 7 are a description of the bride from her eyes down, framed by the claim that she is beautiful at the start and at the close. Verse 8 turns to call her from the northern mountains. From verse 12 she is a garden locked and a spring sealed, and at verse 16 she opens the garden to him. The song ends at 5:1 when he answers that he has come into it.
Sources: Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, 1875; Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, on Song of Solomon 4.
Keep studying
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Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, 1875 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Ambrose of Milan; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 14:11; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; Gregory of Nyssa, HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 9; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1.30; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.