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Texts -- The Song of Songs 4:12-16 (NET)

Context
The Wedding Night: The Delightful Garden
4:12 The Lover to His Beloved: You are a locked garden , my sister , my bride ; you are an enclosed spring , a sealed-up fountain . 4:13 Your shoots are a royal garden full of pomegranates with choice fruits : henna with nard , 4:14 nard and saffron ; calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice , myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices . 4:15 You are a garden spring , a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon . 4:16 The Beloved to Her Lover: Awake , O north wind; come , O south wind ! Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its delightful fruit !

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • GARDEN

    [isbe] GARDEN - gar'-d'-n (gan, gannah, ginnah; kepos): The Arabic jannah (diminutive, jannainah), like the Hebrew gannah, literally, "a covered or hidden place," denotes in the mind of the dweller in the East something more than t...
    [smith] Gardens in the East, as the Hebrew word indicates, are enclosures on the outskirts of towns, planted with various trees and shrubs. From the allusions in the Bible we learn that they were surrounded by hedges of thorn, (Isaia...

  • Spikenard

    [isbe] SPIKENARD - spik'-nard (nerd; nardos (Song 1:12; 4:14); neradhim; nardoi (Song 4:13), "spikenard plants"; nardos pistike (Mk 14:3; Jn 12:3), "pure nard," margin "liquid nard"; the English word is for "spiked nard," which com...
    [smith] (Heb. nerd) is mentioned twice in the Old Testament viz. in (Solomon 1:12; 4:13,14) The ointment with which our Lord was anointed as he sat at meat in Simon?s house at Bethany consisted of this precious substance, the costlin...
    [nave] SPIKENARD An aromatic plant, Song 4:13, 14. Perfume prepared from, Song 1:12. A fragrant oil from, used in anointing, Mark 14:3; John 12:3.

  • Personification

    [nave] PERSONIFICATION Of wisdom, Prov. 1; 2:1-9; 8; 9. possibly of the Church or Israel, Song 1-8.

  • Song

    [nave] SONG Sung at the passover, Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26. Didactic, Deut. 32. See: Psalms, Didactic. Impersonation of the church, Song 1-8. Of Moses and the Lamb, Rev. 15:3, 4. New, Psa. 33:3; 40:3. Prophetic, See: Psalms, P...

  • Fellowship

    [nave] FELLOWSHIP. Eccl. 4:9-12; Amos 3:3 See: Fraternity; Fellowship. With God Gen. 5:22, 24; Gen. 6:9; Ex. 29:45; Ex. 33:14-17; Lev. 26:12; Isa. 57:15; Zech. 2:10; Mark 9:37; John 14:23; John 17:21, 23; 2 Cor. 6:16; 2 Cor. 13:...

  • Bridegroom

    [nave] BRIDEGROOM Ornaments of, Isa. 61:10. Exempt from military duty, Deut. 24:5. Companions of, Judg. 14:11. Joy with, Matt. 9:14; Mark 2:19, 20; Luke 5:34, 35. Parable of, Matt. 25:1-13. Song of, Song 4:7-16. Figurative E...

  • PALESTINE, 3

    [isbe] PALESTINE, 3 - IV. Palestine in the Poetic Books of the Old Testament. 1. Book of Job: In Job the scene is distinctively Edomite. Uz (Job 1:1; compare Gen 22:21 the English Revised Version; Jer 25:20; Lam 4:21) and Buz (Job ...

  • Camphire

    [smith] There can be no doubt that "camphire" is the Lawsonia alba of botanists, the henna of Arabian naturalists. The henna plant grows in Egypt, Syria, Arabia and northern India. The flowers are white and grow in clusters, and are ...
    [nave] CAMPHIRE, a shrub bearing fragrant flowers, not related to camphor, Song 1:14; 4:13.

  • SAFFRON

    [isbe] SAFFRON - saf'-run (karkom; krokos): Identical with the Arabic kurqum, the same as za`faran, "saffron." The source of the true saffron is Crocus sativus (Natural Order, Indaceae), a plant cultivated in Palestine; there are 8...
    [smith] (yellow). (Solomon 4:14) Saffron has front the earliest times been in high esteem as a perfume. "It was used," says Rosenmuller, "for the same purposes as the modern pot-pourri." The word saffron is derived from the Arabic za...

  • Myrrh

    [isbe] MYRRH - mur: (1) (mor or mowr; Arabic murr]): This substance is mentioned as valuable for its perfume (Ps 45:8; Prov 7:17; Song 3:6; 4:14), and as one of the constituents of the holy incense (Ex 30:23; see also Song 4:6; 5:1...
    [nave] MYRRH, a fragrant gum. A product of the land of Canaan, Song 4:6, 14; 5:1. One of the compounds in the sacred anointing oil, Ex. 30:23. Used as a perfume, Esth. 2:12; Psa. 45:8; Prov. 7:17; Song 3:6; 5:13. Brought by wise ...

  • Lebanon

    [isbe] LEBANON - leb'-a-non (lebanon; Septuagint Libanos; Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) Libanus): 1. Name: Derived from the root labhen, "to be white," probably from the snow which covers its summits the greater part...
    [nave] LEBANON A mountain range. Northern boundary of the land of Canaan, Deut. 1:7; 3:25; 11:24; Josh. 1:4; 9:1. Early inhabitants of, Judg. 3:3. Snow of, Jer. 18:14. Streams of, Song 4:15. Cedars of, Judg. 9:15; 2 Kin. 19:23;...

  • Aloes

    [nave] ALOES Used as perfume, Psa. 45:8; Prov. 7:17; Song 4:14. In embalming the dead, John 19:39. Lign-aloes, Num. 24:6.

  • Righteous

    [nave] RIGHTEOUS. Index of Sub-Topics Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics; Contrasted with the Wicked; Described; Promises to, Expressed or Implied. Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics Compared with: The sun, Judg. 5:31; Matt. 13:43; sta...

  • Symbols and Similitudes

    [nave] SYMBOLS AND SIMILITUDES Trees of life and knowledge, Gen. 2:9, 17; 3:3, 24; Rev. 22:2. Rainbow, Gen. 9:12, 13. Circumcision, of the covenant of Abraham, Gen. 17:11; Rom. 4:11. Passover, of the sparing of the firstborn, an...

  • ALOES, LIGN ALOES

    [smith] (in Heb. Ahalim, Ahaloth), The name of a costly and sweet-smelling wood which is mentioned in (Numbers 24:6; Psalms 45:8; Proverbs 7:17; Solomon 4:14; John 19:39) It is usually identified with the Aquilaria agollochum , an ar...

  • WINDS

    [smith] That the Hebrews recognized the existence of four prevailing winds as issuing, broadly speaking, from the four cardinal points, north, south, east and west, may be inferred from their custom of using the expression "four wind...

  • Church

    [nave] CHURCH, the collective body of believers. Miscellany of Minor Sub-Topics Called in the O.T., The Congregation, Ex. 12:3, 6, 19, 47; 16:1, 2, 9, 10, 22; Lev. 4:13, 15; 10:17; 24:14. Called in the N.T., Church, Matt. 16:18; ...

  • WIND

    [isbe] WIND - wind (anemos: 1. Causes: Unequal distribution of heat in the atmosphere causes currents of air or wind. The heated air rises and the air from around rushes in. The direction from which a current comes determines its n...

  • Lovers

    [nave] LOVERS. Instances of Isaac for Rebekah, Gen. 24:67. Jacob for Rachel, Gen. 29:20, 30. Shechem for Dinah, Gen. 34:3, 12. Boaz for Ruth, Ruth 2-4. of romance, mistresses, paramours Song 1:13, 14, 16; 2:3, 8, 9, 10, 16, 1...

  • Cypress

    [nave] CYPRESS. Isa. 44:14; Song 1:14; 4:13.
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Arts

Hymns

(Note: In "active" or "on" condition, the hymns music will be played automatically when mouse hover on a hymns title)
  • [Sos 4:16] Christ Hath A Garden
  • [Sos 4:16] O Holy Ghost, Thy People Bless

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 45:1 The psalmist claimed to be full of joy and inspiration as he composed this song. He said what he did out of a full heart.45:2 To him the king was the greatest man he knew. One evidence of this was his gracious speech for...
  • Verses 15-23 point out a better way, namely, fidelity. Strict faithfulness will not result in unhappiness or failure to experience what is best in life, as the world likes to try to make us think. Rather it guards us from the...
  • I. The superscription 1:1II. The courtship 1:2-3:5A. The beginning of love 1:2-111. Longing for the boyfriend 1:2-42. The girl's insecurity 1:5-83. Solomon's praise 1:9-11B. The growth of love 1:12-3:51. Mutual admiration 1:1...
  • Perhaps the outstanding characteristic of this first major section of the book is the sexual restraint that is evident during the courtship. This restraint contrasts with the sexual intimacy that characterizes the lovers afte...
  • Whereas the setting so far had been Israel, it now shifts to the Shulammite's home that was evidently in Lebanon (cf. 4:8, 15).2:8-9 The girl described her young lover coming for a visit in these verses. He was obviously eage...
  • Weddings in Israel took place before the local town elders rather than before the priests (e.g., Ruth 4:10-11). They transpired in homes rather than in the tabernacle or temple (or synagogue later). They were civil rather tha...
  • In these verses Solomon evidently praised his bride for giving herself wholly to him as he had asked.4:9 "Sister"was evidently an affectionate term for wife (cf. vv. 10, 12; 5:1-2; Tobit 7:16; 8:4, 7).4:10 Again the word tran...
  • 4:12 Solomon praised his bride's virginity also. She had kept herself a virgin for the man she would marry.4:13-14 She was like a garden full of beautiful and pleasing plants that was now open to Solomon.68These spices, fruit...
  • 4:16 The Shulammite invited Solomon to take her completely. She called on the winds to carry the scents to which Solomon had referred so he would find full satisfaction (cf. vv. 13-14).5:1 Solomon exulted in the joy that unio...
  • 6:16 Yahweh commanded the Judahites to compare the paths in which they could walk. Then they should ask their leaders to direct them in the good old paths, the teachings of the Mosaic Covenant. Then they should walk in those ...
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