Song of Solomon 4 — Summary & Meaning

The wedding day arrives, and the bridegroom turns to praise his bride at length, moving from her doves' eyes and flowing hair to her lips and her neck 'like the tower of David,' declaring, 'thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.' He calls her his spouse and his sister, saying she has ravished his heart, and names her 'a garden inclosed... a spring shut up, a fountain sealed,' honoring the reserved purity she has kept for him alone. The bride answers by bidding the winds blow upon her garden and inviting her beloved to come in and eat its pleasant fruits. The chapter brings the courtship to its consummation in marriage, presenting bodily union not as shameful but as the honored gift of the God who made man and woman for one another, and to Christian readers an image of the spotless bride Christ presents to Himself.

Historical backdrop

Solomon's Israel sat astride the trade routes that carried spices north from Arabia and India, and the Song is scented with them: myrrh and frankincense, nard and saffron, cinnamon and aloes brought from far countries. It is the world of a kingdom at peace, of walled gardens and the cedars of Lebanon and the vineyards of Engedi, where such wealth of perfume could furnish the very language of love.

Matthew Henry on Song of Solomon 4

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Song of Solomon 4

The Church Fathers on Song of Solomon 4

¹Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, That lie along the side of mount Gilead.

²Thy teeth are like a flockof ewesthat arenewlyshorn, Which are come up from the washing, Whereof every one hath twins, And none is bereaved among them.

³Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy mouth is comely. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate Behind thy veil.

⁴Thy neck is like the tower of David Builded for an armory, Whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, All the shields of the mighty men.

⁵Thy two breasts are like two fawns That are twins of a roe, Which feed among the lilies.

⁶Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, And to the hill of frankincense.

⁷Thou art all fair, my love; And there is no spot in thee.

⁸Come with me from Lebanon, mybride, With me from Lebanon: Look from the top of Amana, From the top of Senir and Hermon, From the lions’ dens, From the mountains of the leopards.

⁹Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, mybride; Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, With one chain of thy neck.

¹⁰How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices!

¹¹Thy lips, O mybride, drop asthe honeycomb: Honey and milk are under thy tongue; And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

¹²A garden shut up is my sister, my bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

¹³Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants,

¹⁴Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.

¹⁵Thou arta fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon.

¹⁶Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits.

What is Song of Solomon 4 about?