Song of Solomon 4:15
in Song of Solomon 4You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou art a fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon.
KJV
A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
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This verse in Song of Solomon 4
Commentary
15 notes on this verseAnd 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.
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 Fathers4 voices
[This garden] also contains "a spring" and "a well of water alive and babbling from Lebanon." It contains not only the gospel teaching that flows openly but also the "well" of the law, which is "a well of water alive" that also holds hidden streams …
A commentator
Cyril of AlexandriaFRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 4:15 · Written before 444.
proposed
Virtues are signified by the perfumes and the trees of Lebanon are the prophets. Myrrh and aloes, finally, demonstrate that the buried Christ communed with the saints who preceded him, for, descending to hades, he led them out.
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.
Now who is the "fountain sealed," or who is signified by the "wellspring of living water"? It is the Savior himself, of whom it is written: "For with you is the fountain of life."
The Medieval Church1 voice
Fountain of gardens, well of living waters, etc. The fountain of gardens is born among others in the enclosed garden of the Lord, because the heavenly doctrine has proceeded into the world from the primitive Church, which would generate many churches for the Lord, that …
8 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
Robert of TombelaineCommentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4 · Written in the 11th century.
proposed
Rightly in the sendings forth, she is described as a fountain of gardens and a well of living waters. For what is designated by the fountain and the well, if not Holy Scripture? Which so generates the water of wisdom that it both always refreshes …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
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.
To him she gives all the glory of her fruitfulness, as being nothing with out him: O fountain of gardens! fountain of all good, of all grace, do not thou fail me. Does a believer say to the church, All my springs are in thee, in thee, O Zion? ( Ps. lxxxvii. 7 ), the church transmits the praise to Christ, and says to him, All my springs are in thee; thou art the well of living waters ( Jer. ii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
A large and particular account of the beauties of the church, and of gracious souls on whom the image of God is renewed, consisting in the beauty of holiness. In general, he that is a competent judge of beauty, whose judgment, we are sure, is according to truth, and what all must subscribe to, he has said, Behold, thou art fair.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
of--This pleasure-ground is not dependent on mere reservoirs; it has a fountain sufficient to water many "gardens" (plural). living-- (Jer 17:8; 7:38, 39). from Lebanon--Though the fountain is lowly, the source is lofty; fed by the perpetual snows of Lebanon, refreshingly cool (Jer 18:14), fertilizing the gardens of Damascus.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
OBSERVE the sweet titles with which Christ, the Husband, addresses His Church the bride. "My sister," one near to Me by ties of nature. My next of kin, born of the same mother, partaker of the same sympathies. My spouse, nearest and dearest, united to Me by the most tender bands of love—My sweet companion, part of My own Self. My sister, by My Incarnation, which makes Me bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. My spouse, by heavenly betrothal in which I have espoused you unto Myself in righteousness. My sister, whom I knew of old and over whom I watched from her earliest infancy. My spouse, taken from among the daughters, embraced by arms of love and affianced unto Me forever. See, my Brethren, how true is it that our royal kinsman is not ashamed of us, for He dwells with manifest delight upon this twofold relationship. Be not, O Beloved, slow to return the hallowed flame of His love. We have the word "My" twice in our version. As if Christ dwelt with rapture on His possession of His Church. "His delights were with the sons of men," because those sons of men were His. He, the Shepherd, sought the sheep, because they were His sheep. He lit the candle and swept the house, because it was His money that was lost. He has gone about "to seek and to save that which was lost," because that which was lost was His long before it was lost to itself or lost to Him. The Church is the exclusive portion of her Lord's—none else may claim a partnership, or pretend to share her love. Jesus, Your Church delights to have it so! Let every believing soul drink solace out of these wells. Soul, Christ is near to you in ties of relationship! Christ is dear to you in bonds of marriage union and you are dear to Him.
OBSERVE the sweet titles with which Christ, the Husband, addresses His Church the bride. "My sister," one near to Me by ties of nature. My next of kin, born of the same mother, partaker of the same sympathies. My spouse, nearest and dearest, united to Me by the most tender bands of love—My sweet companion, part of My own Self. My sister, by My Incarnation, which makes Me bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. My spouse, by heavenly betrothal in which I have espoused you unto Myself in righteousness.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מַעְיַ֣ן | ma'yan | a spring of | H4599 → | |
| גַּנִּ֔ים | ganim | gardens | H1588 → | 42 times |
| בְּאֵ֖ר | beer | a well of | H875 → | |
| מַ֣יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| חַיִּ֑ים | chaiyim | living | H2416 → | |
| וְנֹזְלִ֖ים | venozelim | and flowing | H5140 → | |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| לְבָנֽוֹן׃ | levanon | Lebanon | H3844 → | 71 times |
מַעְיַ֣ןa spring of
ma'yanH4599 →
גַּנִּ֔יםgardens
ganimH1588 →42 times
בְּאֵ֖רa well of
beerH875 →
מַ֣יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
חַיִּ֑יםliving
chaiyimH2416 →
וְנֹזְלִ֖יםand flowing
venozelimH5140 →
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
לְבָנֽוֹן׃Lebanon
levanonH3844 →71 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
John 7:38Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
it leads to
- John 4:14
But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 44:3
For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 58:11
The LORD will always guide you; He will satisfy you in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
- Isaiah 12:3
With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation,
- John 4:10
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
- John 4:14
Through
John 4:14But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”
it leads to
- John 7:38–39
Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
- John 6:35
Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.
- John 7:38–39
Through
John 4:10Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
it leads to
- Revelation 21:6
And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 21:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Song of Solomon
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Ambrose of Milan, On Isaac and the Soul 4.26; Bede, Commentary on the Song of Songs; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 431: “A Secret And Yet No Secret” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyprian, Epistle LXXV:2; Cyril of Alexandria, FRAGMENTS IN THE COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 4:15; Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 14:5; Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Robert of Tombelaine, Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4 and Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 4.