Song of Solomon 4:14
in Song of Solomon 4with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.
KJV
Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
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This verse in Song of Solomon 4
Commentary
12 notes on this verseThe 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."
This site's exposition
A garden inclosed
on Song of Solomon 4:12-15
A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed: the poem's most quoted figure, chastity as a garden kept for one, water sealed against every other claim. The catalogue that follows plants the garden with the ancient world's whole spice trade, camphire, spikenard, saffron, calamus, cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh and aloes, most of them imports from Arabia and India, which the material-culture rows carry; the catalogue is read once as abundance rather than item by item. The figure turns at verse 15: the sealed fountain is at the same time a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, closed to strangers and flowing for its own, and the older writers set the living-water vocabulary beside Jer 2:13 and John 4:10 by name as their reading.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
When the Word raises his bride to such a point through her ascents, he leads her even further, saying that her garments have the scent of frankincense. Scripture testifies that Christ is clothed with this frankincense. The end of a virtuous life is participation in God, for frankincense manifests the divinity. The soul is not always led by the Word to what is higher by means of honey and milk, but after having been compared with the scent of frankincense, the garden becomes an image of paradise. It is not loosely guarded as with our first parents, but protected from every side by recollection of the bridegroom's command.
But that the Church is one, the Holy Spirit declares in the Song of Songs, saying, in the person of Christ, "My dove, my undefiled, is one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her." Concerning which also He says again, "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring sealed up, a well of living water." But if the spouse of Christ, which is the Church, is a garden enclosed; a thing that is closed up cannot lie open to strangers and profane persons. And if it is a fountain sealed, he who, being placed without has no access to the spring, can neither drink thence nor be sealed. And the well also of living water, if it is one and the same within, he who is placed without cannot be quickened and sanctified from that water of which it is only granted to those who are within to make any use, or to drink.
The Medieval Church3 voices
Cyprus with nard, nard and saffron. Cyprus in Egypt is an aromatic tree, with leaves like those of the jujube, and a seed whiter than coriander. This is cooked in oil and then pressed; this called Cyprus, a royal ointment is prepared from it. The …
Pipe and cinnamon, etc. The pipe, which is also called cassia, is counted among aromatic trees. It has a robust and purple bark, which is said to be very beneficial for curing internal ailments. Due to its brevity, some consider it among fragrant herbs; these …
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
For what is designated by these diverse species of spices, if not the fragrance and progress of holy virtues, which is found in the saints? From these species, indeed, royal ointments are prepared; from these, healings of bodies are obtained. Rightly, therefore, they designate the …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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.
Spikenard and saffron,....
She ascribes all she had that was valuable in her to him, and depends upon the continued influence of his grace to make her more and more acceptable to him,
Saints are the blessings of this earth, and their graces are their riches, with which they trade as the merchants of the east with their spices. [5.] They are permanent, and will be preserved to good purpose, when flowers are withered and good for nothing. Grace, ripened into glory, will last for ever. The Love of the Church to Christ.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
calamus--"sweet cane" (Ex 30:23; Jer 6:20). myrrh and aloes--Ointments are associated with His death, as well as with feasts (Joh 12:7). The bride's ministry of "myrrh and aloes" is recorded (Joh 19:39).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| נֵ֣רְדְּ׀ | nered | nard | H5373 → | 3 times |
| וְכַרְכֹּ֗ם | vekharkom | and saffron | H3750 → | |
| קָנֶה֙ | kaneh | calamus | H7070 → | |
| וְקִנָּמ֔וֹן | vekinamon | and cinnamon | H7076 → | |
| עִ֖ם | ʾim | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עֲצֵ֣י | ʾatzei | [the] trees of | H6086 → | 328 times |
| לְבוֹנָ֑ה | levonah | frankincense | H3828 → | 21 times |
| מֹ֚ר | mor | myrrh | H4753 → | 12 times |
| וַאֲהָל֔וֹת | vaahalot | and aloes | H174 → | |
| עִ֖ם | ʾim | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| רָאשֵׁ֥י | rashei | [the] choicest of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| בְשָׂמִֽים׃ | vesamim | spices | H1314 → | 29 times |
נֵ֣רְדְּ׀nard
neredH5373 →3 times
וְכַרְכֹּ֗םand saffron
vekharkomH3750 →
קָנֶה֙calamus
kanehH7070 →
וְקִנָּמ֔וֹןand cinnamon
vekinamonH7076 →
עִ֖םwith
ʾimH5973 →1050 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עֲצֵ֣י[the] trees of
ʾatzeiH6086 →328 times
לְבוֹנָ֑הfrankincense
levonahH3828 →21 times
מֹ֚רmyrrh
morH4753 →12 times
וַאֲהָל֔וֹתand aloes
vaahalotH174 →
עִ֖םwith
ʾimH5973 →1050 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
רָאשֵׁ֥י[the] choicest of
rasheiH7218 →599 times
בְשָׂמִֽים׃spices
vesamimH1314 →29 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Song of Solomon 3:6Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 1:13
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Song of Solomon 8:5
Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? I roused you under the apple tree; there your mother conceived you; there she travailed and brought you forth.
- Revelation 12:14
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle to fly from the presence of the serpent to her place in the wilderness, where she was nourished for a time, and times,…
- Song of Solomon 1:13
Through
Song of Solomon 6:2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 5:13
His cheeks are like beds of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are like lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.
- Song of Solomon 5:13
Through
Song of Solomon 4:6Before the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
it leads to
- Song of Solomon 2:17
Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
- Song of Solomon 2:17
Through
Exodus 30:23“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,
it leads to
- Ezekiel 27:19
and casks of wine from Izal for your wares. Wrought iron, cassia, and sweet cane were exchanged for your merchandise.
- Ezekiel 27:22
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah traded with you; for your wares they exchanged gold, the finest of all spices, and precious stones.
- Ezekiel 27:19
Through
Proverbs 7:17I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, with aloes, and with cinnamon.
it leads to
- Psalms 45:8
All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.
- Psalms 45:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Song of Solomon
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Cyprian, Epistle LXXV:2; 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4.