Song Of Solomon 4
Song of Songs 4 begins with praise for the bride by the bridegroom. In the early part of the text (verses 1-7), the bridegroom describes the bride’s beauty in detail from head to toe, expressing his love for her deeply. Then, in verses 8-15, the bridegroom invites the bride and marvels at her purity and fragrance. In the final verse, verse 16, the bride opens her heart in response to love and confesses that she will entrust herself to the bridegroom. Overall, this chapter beautifully sings of affection for one another and the communion of pure love.
1verseBehold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead.
2verseYour teeth are like a newly shorn flock, which have come up from the washing, where every one of them has twins. None is bereaved among them.
3verseYour lips are like scarlet thread. Your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
4verseYour neck is like David’s tower built for an armory, on which a thousand shields hang, all the shields of the mighty men.
5verseYour two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a roe, which feed among the lilies.
6verseUntil the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense.
7verseYou are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.
8verseCome with me from Lebanon, my bride, 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.
9verseYou have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck.
10verseHow beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, the fragrance of your perfumes than all kinds of spices!
11verseYour lips, my bride, drip like the honeycomb. Honey and milk are under your tongue. The smell of your garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
12verseMy sister, my bride, is a locked up garden; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain.
13verseYour shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits, henna with spikenard plants,
14versespikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree; myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices,
15versea fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon.
16verseAwake, north wind, and come, you south! Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and taste his precious fruits.
Key Symbols and Meanings in Song of Songs 4
The various images used in Song of Songs 4 are rich in metaphor and symbolism. The natural elements compared to each body part of the bride—her hair, eyes, lips, and neck—express the beauty, purity, and dignity that were regarded as the highest in the culture of the time. The bridegroom also calls the bride a “locked garden” and a “sealed spring,” highlighting her purity and distinctiveness. The scene in which the bride compares herself to a garden and invites the bridegroom shows her posture of giving herself completely in love. In this way, Song of Songs 4 teaches how respect, devotion, and the joy of love toward one another should be expressed.
Meditation Points
- Let’s reflect on how our hearts to cherish each other’s beauty and respect one another are being put into practice in our relationships.
- Think about whether we value the people we meet with God’s perspective, just as the bridegroom’s loving gaze is detailed and careful.
Try Applying It to Yourself
- Check how carefully you understand and respect the family, friends, and neighbors you love.
- May you also be able to keep the “garden” of your heart in purity, and reflect on whether there is wholeness and purity in your relationship with God in your life.
