Song of Solomon 4

Chapter context

What is happening in Song of Solomon 4?

lovedesirebeautyunion

Song of Solomon 4 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as seeking and finding. Song of Solomon is the Bible’s great lyric of love, desire, beauty, absence, seeking, delight, and union. Read this chapter with the wider themes of love, desire, and beauty in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

¹ Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead. ² Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them. ³ Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks. ⁴ Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men. ⁵ Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. ⁶ Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. ⁷ Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee. ⁸ Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards. ⁹ Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. ¹⁰ How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! ¹¹ Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. ¹² A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. ¹³ Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, ¹⁴ Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: ¹⁵ A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. ¹⁶ Awake, 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 pleasant fruits.

Study helps

Glossary

Gilead Place v. 1: Biblical region. Modern identification: Tell edh Dhahab esh Sherqiyeh.
David Person v. 4: Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam. 17:25 .
Amana Place v. 8: Perennial. (1. ) The Hebrew margin of 2 Kings 5:12 gives this as another reading of Abana (q. v. ), a stream near Damascus. (2. ) A mountain. Modern identification: Jebel Zabadani.
Lebanon Place v. 8, 11, 15: Biblical region. Modern identification: Jezzine.
Mount Hermon Place v. 8: Biblical mountain. Modern identification: Mount Hermon.
Senir Place v. 8: Biblical mountain. Modern identification: Mount Hermon.