Song of Solomon 4: All Beautiful, My Bride
The Bridegroom lavishes praise on the Bride from head to heart, calls her a locked garden, and she invites him to come into his garden.
Song of Solomon 4 (WEB)
1 Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead.
2 Your 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.
3 Your lips are like scarlet thread. Your mouth is lovely. Your temples are like a piece of a pomegranate behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like David’s tower built for an armory, whereon a thousand shields hang, all the shields of the mighty men.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns that are twins of a roe, which feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.
8 Come 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.
9 You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck.
10 How 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!
11 Your 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.
12 A locked up garden is my sister, my bride; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain.
13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits: henna with spikenard plants,
14 spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree; myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices,
15 a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, flowing streams from Lebanon. Beloved
16 Awake, 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.
Song of Solomon 4 (KJV)
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.
Song of Solomon 4 (ASV)
1 Behold, 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.
2 Thy 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.
3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, And thy mouth is comely. Thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate Behind thy veil.
4 Thy neck is like the tower of David Builded for an armory, Whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, All the shields of the mighty men.
5 Thy two breasts are like two fawns That are twins of a roe, Which feed among the lilies.
6 Until the day be cool, 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; And there is no spot in thee.
8 Come 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.
9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, mybride; 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 bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices!
11 Thy 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.
12 A garden shut up is my sister, my bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
13 Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants,
14 Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.
15 Thou arta fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing 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 precious fruits.
Summary
This chapter is the Bridegroom's great song of praise for his bride. He marvels at her beauty point by point—her eyes like doves behind her veil, her hair like a flock descending Mount Gilead, her teeth white and matched, her lips like scarlet thread, her neck like a tower hung with shields—declaring her wholly beautiful, with no spot in her. He calls her to come away with him from Lebanon's heights, away from the lions' dens and leopards' mountains. He confesses she has ravished his heart, calls her his sister and his bride, and praises her love as better than wine and her lips dripping honey. Then comes a central image: she is a locked garden, a sealed fountain, an orchard of choice fruits and rare spices, a well of living waters. The Bride responds by inviting the north and south winds to blow upon her garden so its spices flow out, and bids her beloved come into his garden and taste its precious fruits. The chapter celebrates the bride's beauty and the longed-for, consummated intimacy of covenant love, held back until rightly shared.
Main Characters
- The Bridegroom (the Lover) — The beloved who praises the Bride's beauty from head to heart, calls her his sister and bride, and delights in her as a locked garden and sealed fountain.
- The Bride (the Beloved) — The young woman, praised as all beautiful and without spot, who invites her beloved to come into his garden and taste its precious fruits.
Key Verse
Song of Solomon 4:7 (WEB)
You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.
Lessons Learned
- Love delights to praise the beloved openly and in detail.
- True love sees and treasures the whole beauty of the other.
- Intimacy is meant to be a locked garden, reserved and shared in covenant.
- Love invites the beloved in, freely giving what has been faithfully kept.
- Love sees beauty fully. “You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you” (Song 4:7, WEB). The beloved is treasured as wholly lovely.
- Love captivates the heart. “You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride” (Song 4:9, WEB). Covenant love is captured, willingly and joyfully, by the beloved.
- Intimacy is a sealed garden. “A locked up garden is my sister, my bride; a locked up spring, a sealed fountain” (Song 4:12, WEB). Love's intimacy is reserved, not common.
- Love freely opens to the beloved. “Let my beloved come into his garden, and taste his precious fruits” (Song 4:16, WEB). What was kept is now gladly given within covenant.
- How does the Bridegroom's detailed praise honor his bride?
- What does it mean that he sees her as “all beautiful” with “no spot” in her (4:7)?
- Why is the image of a “locked up garden” and “sealed fountain” significant for intimacy (4:12)?
- How does the Bride's invitation in verse 16 complete the picture of covenant love?
- How might learning to speak genuine, specific praise change the way you love those closest to you?
- He praises her feature by feature, naming her beauty in rich, particular images (4:1-5). Such detailed, attentive praise tells the bride she is fully seen and treasured, not flattered in general but cherished in particular.
- To see her as all beautiful and without spot is the language of love that delights wholly in the beloved. Read in light of the whole canon, it foreshadows how Christ presents his church beautiful and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27). Help the group hold both meanings with care.
- A locked garden and sealed fountain picture intimacy reserved and protected, not made common. Encourage the group to see that the very exclusiveness of covenant love is what makes its sharing precious and safe.
- Having been a sealed garden, the Bride now invites her beloved in to taste its fruits (4:16). What was faithfully kept is now freely given within the covenant, completing the movement from reserve to glad union.
- This is a personal-application question. Invite members to practice specific, sincere words of honor rather than vague compliments. As leader, model warmth and gentleness, and let praise be a way of building one another up.