Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Song of Solomon 4:16
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.
16. It is doubtful whether this whole verse is spoken by the Shulammite, or the latter clause only, her lover being still the speaker in the first half of the verse. That he is still the speaker in the first clause is suggested by ‘ my garden’ in Son 4:16 b and ‘ his garden’ in Son 4:16 c. But the change of pronoun is quite compatible with the view that the bride is the speaker throughout. My garden would then be ‘myself,’ ‘my person,’ as in ch. Son 1:6, ‘my vineyard.’ His garden again, in the mouth of the Shulammite indicates, as Oettli well remarks, “a certain shamefast modesty.” Probably the view that the bride speaks the whole verse is preferable.
Awake, O north wind ] The north wind is cool in Palestine, and the south or south-west wind is warm. They are here called upon to bring forth, by their alternation, the perfumes (not the spices) of the garden, that they may flow out, i.e. she desires that the graces of her person and her mind may come to their highest perfection. This would be more appropriate in the mouth of the bride, who like all true lovers would desire to be nobler and more beautiful than she is, that her lover might find her worthy, than in the mouth of her lover, who would naturally think of her as being altogether fair.
Let my beloved come into his garden, &c.] This last clause of the verse is spoken, it should be remembered, by a loving woman shut up in a royal dwelling away from her lover, and expresses her longing for the time when she shall be wholly his.
pleasant fruits ] R.V. precious fruits, as in Son 4:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The brides brief reply, declaring her affection for the king and willingness to belong to him.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Son 4:16
Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.
Grace for communion
The loved one in the text desired the company of her Lord, and felt that an inactive condition was not altogether suitable for His coming. Her prayer is first about her garden, that it may be made ready for her Beloved; and then to the Bridegroom Himself, that He would come into His garden, and eat its pleasant fruits. She pleads for the breath of heaven, and for the Lord of heaven.
I. First she cries for the breath of heaven to break the dead calm which broods over her heart. In this prayer there is an evident sense of inward sleep. She does not mean that the north wind is asleep: it is her poetical way of confessing that she herself needs to be awakened. She has a sense of absentmindedness, too, for she cries, Come, thou south. If the south wind would come, the forgetful perfumes would come to themselves, and sweeten all the air. The fault, whatever it is, cannot lie in the winds; it lies in ourselves. Notice that the spouse does not mind what form the Divine visitation takes so long as she feels its power. Awake, O north wind; though the blast be cold and cutting, it may be that it will effectually fetch forth the perfume of the soul in the form of repentance and self-humiliation. The rough north wind has done much for some of us in the way of arousing our best graces. Yet it may be that the Lord will send something more tender and cheering; and if so, we would cry, Come, thou south. Divine love warming the heart has a wonderful power to develop the best part of a mans nature. Many of our precious things are brought forth by the sun of holy joy. Either movement of the Spirit will sufficiently bestir our inner life; but the spouse desires both. Although in nature you cannot have the north wind and the south blowing at the same time; yet in grace you can. The prayer is blow, and the result is flow. Lord, if thou blowest, my heart floweth out to Thee! Draw me, we will run after Thee.
II. The second half of the prayer expresses our central desire: we long for the Lord of Heaven to visit us. The bride does not seek that the spices of her garden may become perceptible for her own enjoyment, nor for the delectation of strangers, nor even for the pleasure of the daughters of Jerusalem, but for her Beloveds sake. He is to come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits. Note well the address of the spouse to her Beloved in the words before us. She calls Him hers–my Beloved. When we are sure that He is ours we desire Him to come to us as ours, and to reveal Himself as ours. While He is hers she owns that she is wholly His, and all that she has belongs to Him. In the first clause she says, Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden; but now she prays, Let my Beloved come into His garden. She had spoken just before of her fruits, but now they are His fruits. She was not wrong when she first spoke; but she is more accurate now. We are not our own. We do not bring forth fruit of ourselves. The Lord saith, From Me is thy fruit found. The garden is of our Lords purchasing, enclosing, planting, and watering; and all its fruit belongs to Him. This is a powerful reason for His visiting us. Should not a man come into his own garden, and eat his own fruits? Oh, that the Holy Spirit may put us into a fit condition to entertain our Lord! The spouse further cries, Let Him eat His pleasant fruits. I have often felt myself overcome with the bare idea that anything I have ever done should give my Lord pleasure. Can He perceive any perfume in my spices, or taste any flavour in nay fruits? This is a joy worth worlds. It is one of the highest tokens of His condescension. O Lord Jesus, come into our hearts now! O Holy Spirit, blow upon our hearts at this moment! Let faith, and love, and hope, and joy, and patience, and every grace be now like violets which betray themselves by their perfume, or like roses which load the air with their fragrance! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Churchs prayer
Let us consider the prayer of those who are planted in this garden, and who are represented in the text, as imploring the Holy Spirit to descend upon them.
I. In his convincing and humbling power, as the piercing north wind. As the cold north wind prepares the soil, and fits it for vegetation, so are the sharper operations of the Spirit needful for the believer, when, as too often happens, he is under a decay in grace; when the things that are in him are ready to die. When He thus comes, He uses various means of awakening.
1. His grand instrument is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, sharper than any two-edged sword, etc. When a believer grows cold and careless in his walk, God directs to him some text, some threatening, or warning, or promise.
2. He often comes with awakening power in the shape of afflictions.
II. In his comforting and enlivening power, as the gentle south wind. When He has pierced the backsliding heart with sorrow for sin. He binds up the wound; shines upon the heart, like the cheering sun; and breathes, like the mild and gentle south. (E. Blencowe, M. A.)
The graces of the Holy Spirit implored
The wind bloweth where it listeth. The Spirit of God is an unshackled agent, acting freely in the first application of grace to the sinners soul, and in all its future operations.
1. Pray that your faith in Christ Jesus may be greatly strengthened. If faith be the element of a Divine life, will not that life, in its exercise and development, be more vigorous, according as God shall give us a stronger and a larger measure of faith?
2. Again, a believer will plead with Christ, that the Spirit may give him a more lively hope.
3. And should not a believer say, Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south–let my love abound? But is not this love? Doth the love of Christ, producing a corresponding affection within us, constrain us as it ought?
4. And is it not fitting that a child of God should say, Let my humility be deepened? It is the great business of the Gospel to hinder the poor guilty worm of the earth from saying, I am rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing.
5. Should not, moreover, a believer pray, Come, thou south wind, breathe upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out, that my joy may be increased? (R. P. Buddicom, M. A.)
North and south winds
There is a law of classification and contrasts in all life. Things are paired off. They present themselves in sets or classes. We have stars in galaxies, and the rolling worlds arranged into systems. Vegetable and animal life be known by their genus and species. The principle of order characterizes the conditions of man in the complexity of his nature and the diversity of his life. Our main purpose is to trace the Divine plan of working in the developing and perfecting of Gods image in a human soul. In the text we are taught that it is by contrary and conflicting forces that perfection of character is attained.
I. The text is true of natural life. North and south are the two extremes of this sphere. Between these two extremes exist all the fluctuating variations of the earths condition. The days weather depends very largely upon the point from which the wind will blow. We divine the meteorological conditions of the day by the prophecy of the morning. North winds bring cold, hail and snow; south winds are balmy and warm. These facts find their analogue in our higher experiences. What contrasts there are in the conditions of our everyday life! This is true socially. When all things are going smoothly in the home, when health and plenty abound–when children are dutiful and diligent, parents revel in the gentle breezes as they waft down from the southern sky. But, alas! the wind sometimes veers round to the opposite point with a surprising suddenness, and the chilly blasts beat upon us with pitiless fury and pierce our spirits to the quick. How true is the text to business life. Prosperity is verily a congenial south wind. We all aim at and desire success. But the winds of commercial enterprises do not always blow from the south; and for aught we know to the contrary, there may be more perfect developments of character under the latter than by the agency of the former. The two winds are useful and necessary. The south for the comfort and nourishing of young elements and principles in their more incipient stages, and the north wind for giving setness and endurance to these essential qualities.
II. The text is also true of spiritual life. The life of the soul is promoted by principles similar to those which rule in our physical nature. There are opposing elements even in our food. Some are alimentary, building up the body, repairing waste tissue; while others are poisonous, rendering innocuous, or eliminating elements that are deleterious, and that would, if permitted to operate unchecked, kill the body. The value of foods depends upon their adaptation to the peculiar and varying states and requirements of the physical system. In the childhood of our divine life we need the tender and sympathetic. Either through sin or neglect of duty, or strange providences, or the wearing power of temptation and persecution, or the ordinary and inevitable friction of life, we become attenuated in our spiritual proportions and correspondingly feeble. The north wind is too strong for us, and so we need the southern breezes to soothe back into strength the weakened energies of the soul. But then spiritual athletes are not braced into might by south winds only. We need to cry, Awake, O north wind. Too many of the avowed followers of Him who was rich yet for our sakes became poor, who pleased not Himself, who had not where to lay His head, are resting in the warmth of the southern sphere, thus taking no part in the great activities of the Christian Church. If all were as they are what would be the future of Christianity, aye, and of the world, too? It is a good thing to get out into the refreshing breezes which come even from the northern regions. Many a Christian will have to thank God for pain and trial and losses. As the north and south winds are essential, we do well to keep ourselves in the line of both. True greatness is attained by a combination of opposite qualities. It is the strong man tender, the great man lowly, the rich man humble, the wise man with condescending simplicity we most admire. Do not arraign the Divine government if north winds blow, but keep well in mind the great fact that He is designing and evolving your good in all things so that you may attain the stature of a perfect man; and in the last day you shall be presented perfect, wanting nothing. (M. Brokenshire.)
Let my Beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits.
My garden-His garden
What a difference there is between what the believer was by nature and what the grace of God has made him! Naturally we were like the waste howling wilderness, like the desert which yields no healthy plant or verdure. But now, as many of us as have known the Lord are transformed into gardens; our wilderness is mane like Eden, our desert is changed into the garden of the Lord. In a garden there are flowers and fruits, and in every Christians heart you will find the same evidences of culture and care; not in all alike, for even gardens and fields vary in productiveness. Still, there are the fruits and there are the flowers, in a measure; there is a good beginning made wherever the grace of God has undertaken the culture of our nature.
I. Now coming to our text, and thinking of Christians as the Lords garden, I want you to observe, first, that there are sweet spices in believers. For instance, there is faith; is there anything out of heaven sweeter than faith–the faith which trusts and clings, which believes and hopes, and declares that, though God shall slay it, yet will it trust in Him? Then comes love; and again I must ask, Is there to be found anywhere a sweeter spice than this–the love which loves God because He first loved as, the love which flows out to all the brotherhood, the love which knows no circle within which it can be bounded, but which loves the whole race of mankind, and seeks to do them good? And there is also hope, which is indeed an excellent grace, a far-seeing grace by which we behold heaven and eternal bliss. You do not need that I should go over all the list of Christian graces, and mention meekness, brotherly kindness, courage, uprightness or the patience which endures so much from the hand of God: but whatsoever grace I might mention, it would not be difficult at once to convince you that there is a sweetness and a perfume about all grace in the esteem of Him who created it, and it delights Him that it should flourish where Once its opposite alone was found growing in the heart of man. These, then, are some of the saints sweet spices. Next notice that these sweet spices are delightful to God. He has joy over one sinner that repenteth, though repentance is but an initial grace and when we go on from that to other graces, and take yet higher steps in the Divine life, we may be sure that His joy is in us, and therefore our joy may well be full. These spices of ours are not only delightful to God, but they are healthful to man. A man of faith and love in a Church sweetens all his brethren. Give us but a few such in our midst, and there shall be no broken spiritual unity, there shall be no coldness and spiritual death; but all shall go well where these men of God are among us as a mighty influence for good. And, as to the ungodly around us, the continued existence in the earth of the Church of Christ is the hope of the world. It sometimes happens that these sweet odours within Gods people lie quiet and still. You cannot stir your own graces, you cannot make them move, you cannot cause their fragrance to flow forth. At such times, a Christian is very apt to ask, Am I indeed planted in Gods garden? Am I really a child of God? Now, I will say what some of you may think a strong thing; but I do not believe that he is a child of God who never raised that question.
II. What is wanted is that those sweet odours should be diffused. Observe, first, that until our graces are diffused, it is the same as if they were not there. We may not know that we have any faith till there comes a trial, and then our faith starts boldly up. We can hardly know how much we love our Lord till there comes a test of our love, and then we so behave ourselves that we know that we do love Him. Notice next, that it is very painful to a Christian to be in such a condition that his graces are not Stirring. He cannot endure it. We who love the Lord were not born again to waste our time in sinful slumber; our watchword is, Let us not sleep, as do others. Quicken Thou me, O Lord, according to Thy word–whichever word Thou shalt choose to apply, only do quicken Thy servant, and let not the graces within me be as if they were dead! Remember, however, that the best quickener is always the Holy Spirit; and that blessed Spirit can come as the north wind, convincing us of sin, and tearing away every rag of our self-confidence, or He may come as the soft south wind, all full of love, revealing Christ, and the covenant of grace, and all the blessings treasured for us therein. You see, also, from this text, that when a child of God sees that his graces are not diffused abroad, then is the time that he should take to prayer. Let no one of us ever think of saying, I do not feel as if I could pray, and therefore I will not pray. On the contrary, then is the time when you ought to pray more earnestly than ever. Say, O my Father, I cannot endure this miserable existence! Thou hast made me to be a flower, to shed abroad my perfume, yet I am not doing it. Oh, by some means, stir my flagging spirit, till I shall be full of earnest industry, full of holy anxiety to promote Thy glory, O my Lord and Master!
III. Let my Beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits. These words speak of the company of Christ and the acceptance of our fruit by Christ. I want you specially to notice one expression which is used here. While the spouse was, as it were, shut up and frozen, and the spices of the Lords garden were not flowing out, she cried to the winds, Blow upon my garden. She hardly dared to call it her Lords garden; but now, notice the alteration in the phraseology: Let my Beloved come into His garden, and eat His pleasant fruits. The wind has blown through the garden, and made the sweet odours to flow forth; now it is no longer my garden, but His garden. It is wonderful how an increase of grace transfers our properties; while we have but little grace, we cry, my, but when we get great grace, we cry, His. He planted every flower, and gave to each its fragrance; let Him come into His garden, and see what wonders His grace has wrought. Do you not feel, beloved, that the one thing you want to stir your whole soul is that Christ shall come into it? The best condition a heart can be in, if it has lost fellowship with Christ, is to resolve that it will give God no rest till it gets back to communion with Him, and to give itself no rest till once more it finds the Well-beloved. Next observe that, when the Beloved comes into His garden, the hearts humble but earnest entreaty is, Let Him eat His pleasant fruits. The greatest joy of a Christian is to give joy to Christ; I do not know whether heaven itself can overmatch this pearl of giving joy to the heart of Jesus Christ on earth. It can match it, but not overmatch it, for it is a superlative joy to give joy to Him–the Man of sorrows, who was emptied of joy for our sakes, and who now is filled up again with joy as each one shall come and bring his share, and cause to the heart of Christ a new and fresh delight. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south] It is granted that the south wind in Palestine, in the summer, is extremely hot and troublesome; therefore, another interpretation of this passage has been proposed by Mr. Harmer; who thinks boi, which we render come, signifies enter into thy repositories; and, therefore, supposes the true interpretation of the words to be as follows: “Arise, thou north wind, (and retire, thou south,) blow upon my garden; let the spices thereof flow forth, that my beloved may come into his garden, invited by the coolness and fragrancy of the air, and may eat his pleasant fruits; for, if the south wind blow, the excessive heat will forbid his taking the air, and oblige him to shut close the doors and windows of his apartments.” Others think that he wishes the winds from all directions to carry throughout the land the fume of his spices, virtue, and perfections.
Let my beloved come into his garden] This is the invitation of the bride: and if we look not for far-fetched meanings, the sense is sufficiently evident. But commentators on this song sometimes take a literal sense where the metaphor is evident; at other times they build an allegory upon a metaphor. The Gitagovinda has an elegant passage similar to this. See the place, Part VII., beginning with Enter, sweet Radha.
The whole of this chapter is considered to be unconnected with any particular time of the marriage ceremonies.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Awake; or, arise; either,
1. To be gone, as being commonly hurtful to plants and gardens; or rather,
2. To come, as the next clause explains it. For both the north wind and the south wind have their several uses in gardens; the former to purge and cool the air, and to bring fair weather; the latter to warm and moisten the earth, and cherish the plants. And these winds may signify the several dispensations either of Gods providence, or rather of his Spirit, which is compared to the wind, Joh 3:8, whereby the following effects are produced.
My garden: this verse is spoken; by the spouse, as appears from the last clause of it. And she calls the garden both hers and his, because of that oneness which is between them, Son 2:16, whereby they have a common interest one in anothers person and concerns.
That the spices thereof may flow out; that my graces may be exercised to thy glory, the edification of others, and my own comfort.
Let my Beloved come into his garden, let Christ afford his gracious presence more and more to his church, and eat his pleasant fruit; and let him delight himself in that service and glory which is given to him, both by the religious worship and by the holy conversations of his people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. Awakeliterally, “arise.”All besides is ready; one thing alone is wantedthe breath of God.This follows rightly after His death (Son 6:12;Act 2:1-4). It is His callto the Spirit to come (Joh 14:16);in Joh 3:8, compared to “thewind”; quickening (Joh 6:63;Eze 27:9). Saints offer the sameprayer (Psa 85:6; Hab 3:2).The north wind “awakes,” or arises strongly,namely, the Holy Ghost as a reprover (Joh16:8-11); the south wind “comes” gently, namely,the Holy Ghost as the comforter (Joh14:16). The west wind brings rain from the sea (1Ki 18:44;1Ki 18:45; Luk 12:54).The east wind is tempestuous (Job 27:21;Isa 27:8) and withering (Ge41:23). These, therefore, are not wanted; but first the northwind clearing the air (Job 37:22;Pro 25:23), and then the warmsouth wind (Job 37:17); so theHoly Ghost first clearing away mists of gloom, error, unbelief, sin,which intercept the light of Jesus Christ, then infusing spiritualwarmth (2Co 4:6), causing thegraces to exhale their odor.
Let my beloved, c.thebride’s reply. The fruit was now at length ripe the lastpassover, which He had so desired, is come (Luk 22:7;Luk 22:15; Luk 22:16;Luk 22:18), the only occasion inwhich He took charge of the preparations.
hisanswering to JesusChrist’s “My.” She owns that the garden is His, and thefruits in her, which she does not in false humility deny (Psa 66:16;Act 21:19; 1Co 15:10)are His (Joh 15:8; Phi 1:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Awake, O north wind,…. These words, according to some l, are the words of the church continued, praying for the spirit; to which sense the order and connection of the words seem to incline; though the language suits best with Christ, who has the command of the winds, and a right and property in the garden, the church: nor does it seem so agreeable, that the church should petition Christ to let loose the north wind upon her, if by that are meant afflictive dispensations of Providence; but agrees well enough with Christ, since these come not without his will and order, and by him made to work together for good; by which he nips the corruptions of his people, tries their graces, and causes them to come forth into exercise: though some m think this is a command to the north wind to remove, and be gone, and blow no longer, since it was spring, So 2:11; and would be harmful to the plants in the garden; and the verb “blow” is singular, and only in construction with the south wind; and, besides, winds diametrically opposite n cannot blow together in the same horizon, with a continued blast: though others o are of opinion, that both winds are designed, being both useful to gardens; the one to scatter the clouds, and make the air clear and wholesome, and restrain the luxuriance of the plants; and the other, being moist and warming, of use to bring plants and fruits to maturity; and both may design the Spirit of God, in his different operations and effects, through the law and the terrors of it, and by the Gospel and its comforting doctrines;
and come, thou south, blow upon my garden; the church, Christ’s property, as she asserts in the latter part of the verse: the Spirit of God is intended by the “south”, or south wind; who is compared to the “wind”, because it blows like that, freely, and as he pleases, when, where, and on whom, and imperceptibly, powerfully, and irresistibly, Joh 3:8; and to the “south wind”, because it is a warm wind, brings serenity, and makes fruitful with showers of rain: so the Spirit of God warms the cold heart of a sinner; thaws his frozen soul, and comforts with the discoveries of divine love; brings quietness and peace into the conscience; and makes fruitful in grace and good works, by causing the rain of Gospel doctrines to descend and distil upon men. The end to be answered is,
[that] the spices thereof may flow out; the spices in the garden, the odoriferous plants, might emit a fragrant smell; though Virgil p represents the south wind as harmful to flowers; so it might be in Italy, where it dried them up, as Servius on the place observes; and yet be useful to them in Palestine, where it blew from the sea, and is sometimes so called, Ps 107:3. Spices denote the graces of believers, rare, precious, and odorous; and their “flowing out” the exercise of them, their evidence, increase, and the ripening of them; when they diffuse a sweet odour to Christ and others, and make it delightful to walk in his garden; as it is to walk in one after a delightful shower of rain, and when the wind gently blows upon it. And hence what is prayed for being granted, the church speaks again, and invites Christ, saying;
let my beloved come into his garden; which “coming” is to be understood, not of Christ’s first, nor of his second coming; but of his spiritual coming, to visit his people, grant his presence, and manifest his love; which is very desirable by them; and, when granted, is reckoned a great favour, and is an instance of the condescending grace of Christ, Joh 14:22; the church is “his garden” by his own choice, his Father’s gift, the purchase of his blood, and the power of his grace: and here he is invited to come,
and eat his pleasant fruits; meaning either the graces of the Spirit, which are his fruits; and called Christ’s, because they come from him, and are exercised on him, and he is the author and finisher of them: or the good works of believers, which are performed by virtue of union to him, and abiding in him; are done in his strength, and designed for his glory: and both are “pleasant”, that is, well pleasing and acceptable to him; the graces of the Spirit, when in exercise, as appears from So 4:9; and good works, when done in faith, from a principle of love, and to his glory: and he may be said to eat them when he expresses his well pleasedness with them, and acceptation of them.
l So Cocceius, Marckius, Michaelis. m Foliot, Sanctius, & Tig. Not. in loc. So Ambrose is Psal. i. 5. p. 686. n Aristot. Meteorolog. l. 2. c. 6. o Jarchi & Aben Ezra in loc. p “Floribus austrum perditus”, Bucolic. Eclog. 2. v. 58.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The king’s praise is for Shulamith proof of his love, which seeks a response. But as she is, she thinks herself yet unworthy of him; her modesty says to her that she needs preparation for him, preparation by that blowing which is the breath of God in the natural and in the spiritual world.
16 Awake, thou North (wind), and come, thou South!
Blow through my garden, cause its spices to flow –
Let my beloved come into his garden,
And eat the fruits which are precious to him.
The names of the north and south, denoting not only the regions of the heavens, but also the winds blowing from these regions, are of the fem. gender, Isa 43:6. The east wind, , is purposely not mentioned; the idea of that which is destructive and adverse is connected with it ( vid., under Job 27:21). The north wind brings cold till ice is formed, Sir. 43:20; and if the south wind blow, it is hot, Luk 12:55. If cold and heat, coolness and sultriness, interchange at the proper time, then growth is promoted. And if the wind blow through a garden at one time from this direction and at another from that, – not so violently as when it shakes the trees of the forest, but softly and yet as powerfully as a garden can bear it, – then all the fragrance of the garden rises in waves, and it becomes like a sea of incense. The garden itself then blows, i.e., emits odours; for ( = the Arab. fakh , fah , cf. fawh , pl. afwah , sweet odours, fragrant plants) as in , Gen 3:8, the idea underlies the expression, that when it is evening the day itself blows, i.e., becomes cool, the causative , connected with the object-accus. of the garden, means to make the garden breezy and fragrant. is here used of the odours which, set free as it were from the plants, flow out, being carried forth by the waves of air. Shulamith wishes that in her all that is worthy of love should be fully realized. What had to be done for Esther (Est 2:12) before she could be brought in to the king, Shulamith calls on the winds to accomplish for her, which are, as it were, the breath of the life of all nature, and as such, of the life-spirit, which is the sustaining background of all created things. If she is thus prepared for him who loves her, and whom she loves, he shall come into his garden and enjoy the precious fruit belonging to him. With words of such gentle tenderness, childlike purity, she gives herself to her beloved.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
RESPONSE OF SPOUSE
Verse 16 expresses the agreement of the spouse that what had been described as “her garden” was also the garden of her beloved shepherd and he is free to come into “his garden” and enjoy “his” pleasant fruits.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE BRIDES DESIRE
Son. 4:16
Let my Beloved come into his garden
And eat his pleasant fruits.
The Bride reciprocates the Bridegrooms love. My love, answered with My Beloved. Christs love to us the ground and occasion of ours to Him. The Brides desire one with her Husbands. He admires and commends her as his garden. She invites him to the enjoyment of it. His desire that its spices should flow forth; here that he should come and eat its pleasant fruits. Believers made such for Christs enjoyment: their desire that He should have it. The Bride calls herself: His garden. Believers no longer their own, but Christs. Ye are bought with a price. Christ claims the Church as His garden: believers gladly respond to the claim. One shall say: I am the Lords. O Lord, I am Thy servant; thou hast loosed my bonds (Isa. 44:5; Psa. 116:16). Christs presence in and with His Church the believers greatest desire. Let my beloved come into his garden. His presence in His Church and with believers, not always alike. Times in the Lords earthly ministry when He hid Himself Such times still. Thou art a God that hidest Thyself. He hideth His face from the house of Jacob. Times when the Bride has to cry to her Husband: Why hidest thou Thyself. Israel exhorted to keep their camp holy, lest the Lord who walked in the midst of it should see any unclean thing and turn away from them (Deu. 23:14). Christs visit to and continuance with believers connected with their love and obedience. He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, &c. (Joh. 14:21) The Brides desire that nothing may hinder his presence and stay with her. The Church and the believer who desires Christs presence, to be careful to put away whatever is offensive to Him. His words to the lukewarm, self-satisfied, and self-righteous, yet poor, wretched, miserable, and blind, and naked Church at Laodicea: Beloved, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Rev. 3:20). Christs condescension and love to His Church, that He finds His sweetest entertainment in it. Finds and eats his pleasant fruits. With desire have I desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer. Fellowship with loving and lively believers His greatest joy. The desire of such believers that He may find in them that joy. The believer, notwithstanding his own corruption, conscious that through grace there are with him pleasant fruits for Christ to eat. No part of faith to deny the Spirits work. Know ye not that Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? The care of believers that Christ may have pleasant fruits in them, both in abundance and in good condition, for His own enjoyment. No pleasant fruits in the Church or a believer, out what are His, and the production of His own Spirit. His pleasant fruits. The fruits in the garden Christs; the weeds and briars our own. The productions of grace in the soul, pleasant fruits; those of unsanctified nature, sour crabs. Christs pleasant fruits found only in His Church. Elsewhere, only wild grapes. Pleasant fruit found only on the branches of the True Vine. The smallest service of believers rendered in faith and love, reckoned and enjoyed by Christ as His pleasant fruits. Their believing prayers sweet incense to Him. Their thanksgivings and praises a well-pleasing sacrifice. Then gracious words recorded in His Book of remembrance. Their tears of godly sorrow put into His bottle. Observe
1. Believers to be more concerned about Christs enjoyment than their own. Their desire to be rather that Christ may eat His pleasant fruits than that they themselves should.
2. Believers to consider that all that is theirs is His, and that what He accepts at their hands is best bestowed. Their honour and happiness that He can accept of anything they have, and can employ it for His own glory and pleasure.
3. Fruitfulness and love on the part of the Church most likely to secure Christs presence in it. To gain the Bridegrooms presence the Bride must have her pleasant fruits.
4. The believers best time when Christ comes in to him, and eats with him his pleasant fruits. I will sup with him and he with Me.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(16) Blow upon my garden.After the description of his beloveds charms under these figures, the poet, under a companion figure, invokes the airs of love to blow upon the garden, that its perfumes may flow out for himthat the object of his affections may no longer keep herself reserved and denied to him. Tennysons melodious lines are recalled which describe how, when a breeze of morning moves,
The woodbine spices are wafted abroad,
And the musk of the roses blown.
Let my beloved . . .This should form a separate verse, being the reply made to the appeal in the first part of the verse. The maiden yields to her lovers suit.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
16. Awake, O north wind The Beloved closes this well-sustained figure of a garden by invoking the breezes to arise, that the perfume they exhale may be diffused widely, that many may enjoy it. What is his own to possess, he would make many glad to share. The Enamoured says modestly, (If I be such,)
Let my Beloved, etc. For the garden is his, and its pleasant fruits are his. Her joy is in making it beautiful and rich for him. Her Beloved responds in the language of the following chapter, the first verse of which should be in this chapter, as its connexion is unbroken and necessary to its significance.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
THE BRIDE’S RESPONSE in which she offers herself to the bridegroom.
“Awake, O north wind, And come, you south, Blow on my garden, That its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits.”
The bride is delighted that the bridegroom should partake of the fruits of the garden (of herself) to which he is so looking forward, and calls on the winds of heaven to ensure that he enjoys her spices, granting him full rights of access to her garden that he might partake of its fruits.
This is a reminder of the fact that we also should allow our Lord, Jesus Christ, our heavenly Bridegroom, full access to our lives, calling on the winds of the Spirit to so open our hearts to Him that He can enjoy our love and do with us as He will, because we belong totally to Him. It is a call for full yieldedness.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Wedding Vows – Some Christian scholars have interpreted Son 4:16 to Son 5:1 as a description of the act of consummating the marriage between a man and a woman in the wedding bed. We find a similar description of this bed of spices in Pro 7:16-18 when the adulteress tries to woo the naive young man into her bed of worldly pleasures. However, I understand it to be symbolic of the couple’s wedding vows towards one another. Having been impressed by the wedding processional (Son 3:6-11) and wooed by a wedding song (Son 4:1-15), the bride finally yields to his desires by allowing him to come into her “garden,” which is figurative of an experience of intense delight (Son 4:16 to Son 5:1). She vows herself to him (Son 4:16) and he responds by accepting her as his wife (Son 5:1).
Pro 7:16-18, “I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.”
Son 4:16 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.
Son 4:16
Son 4:16 Word Study on “the spices” Strong says the Hebrew word “spices” “besem” ( ) or “bsem” ( ) (H1314) means, “fragrance, spicery, the balsam plant.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 29 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “spice 24, sweet odours 2, sweet 2, sweet smell 1.” This word is used six times in the Song of Solomon (Son 4:10; Son 4:14; Son 4:16; Son 5:13; Son 6:2; Son 8:14).
Son 4:16 Literal Interpretation – A garden symbolizes a place of pleasure and delight. In fact, God created a garden for Adam and Eve and named it “Eden”, which means, “delight”. It was created as a place where God could fellowship with Adam and walk with him in the cool of the day. In the same way, the Beloved invites her Lover into her “garden of delights” to taste of them. This means that she has yielded herself entirely to him and allows their love to be consummated in the marriage bed.
Figurative Interpretation “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south” The wind is figurative of the Holy Spirit; or, the north wind symbolizes her willingness to endure adversities, and the south winds symbolize times of refreshing. Her commitment to accept the north wind is tested in Son 5:3-7 as she faces persecution. “blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out” Bickle refers to 2Co 2:15 to suggest the outflow of spices symbolizes her effort to offer life to others, committing herself to a deeper walk of consecration. [200]
[200] Mike Bickle, Session 12 – The Ravished Heart of the Heavenly Bridegroom (Song of Solomon 4:9-5:1), in Song of Songs (Kansas City, Missouri: International House of Prayer, 1998), 24.
2Co 2:15, “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:”
Son 4:16 may also suggest that she is opening her heart for the Holy Spirit comes upon her. His presence during times of communion allows us to pray effectively and confidently as we feel God’s presence. We can pray according to the will of God. This verse may also imply that a child of God is praying in the Holy Ghost, praying in tongues.
Son 5:1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
Son 5:1
Son 5:1 Word Study on “my spouse” Gesenius says the Hebrew word “spouse” “kal-law’” ( ) (H3618) means, “a bride, maiden bethrothed, a daughter-in-law.” Strong says it means, “a bride, a son’s wife.” The Enhanced Strong says it is used 34 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as “daughter in law 17, bride 9, spouse 8.” This word is found 6 times in the Songs (Son 4:8-12; Son 5:1).
Son 5:1 Word Study on “O beloved” Strong says the Hebrew word “love” “dwd” ( ) (H1730) means, a love-token, lover, friend, beloved, uncle,” and comes from an unused root properly meaning “to boil.” The Enhanced Strong says this word it is used 61 times in the Old Testament, being translated in the KJV as, “beloved 34, uncle 16, love(s) 8, father’s brother 2, wellbeloved 1.” It is used 39 times in the book of Songs of its 61 Old Testament uses. This Hebrew word in Son 5:1 is used in its plural form, so should be translated “beloved ones,” which is a reference to the wedding guests within the context of this passage.
Son 5:1 Comments – Son 5:1 serves as a final verse to one of the five divisions of the Song of Solomon.
Literal Interpretation – “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk” – The bridegroom responds to the bride’s invitation and enters into the garden of delight, which is the first act of intercourse. It is a garden that God actually designed and made for this occasion. The variety of metaphors used in Son 5:1 implies the manifold delights of the marriage bed. “drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved” – The bridegroom invites his new bride as well as his wedding guests to enjoy the wedding festival by drinking wine in abundance so that they will feel the pleasure of its effects.
Figurative Interpretation “I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk” The bridegroom now calls her “my garden, my sister, my spouse,” indicating ownership over her will. We are to give our heart entirely unto the Lord. For it was created to belong entirely to Him. We are to guard our hearts with all diligence (Pro 4:23). However, when He alone is the partaker of our heart and affections, as in Son 5:1, “ I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk,” then His love overflows through us so that He may now say, “ eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.” Then there is abundance for everyone to partake of. “eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved” It is the Spirit of God that moves upon our hearts (Son 4:16) and releases His divine gifts that others may partake and be blessed. Communion with God through the Spirit is for everyone.
Pro 4:23 reads, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Son 4:16. Awake, O north wind The bride here takes up the metaphor, and wishes that she could produce any thing to invite or please him. The author of the Observations, remarking that the south wind is extremely hot and troublesome in Palestine, gives a very different interpretation of this text from the usual one. None, I presume, says he, will deny, that the first word may signify awake or arise; all the hesitation, therefore, must be about the second, And come, thou south, which, I suppose, really signifies, Enter into thy repositories. That jatza, and boa, with their derivatives, are directly opposed to each other, we may learn from 2Sa 3:25. Jatza is frequently applied to the causing the wind to blow, Psa 135:7. Jer 10:13 and Jer 51:16. Consequently the verb boa, should signify the direct contrary; that is, its ceasing to blow, or its entering into its repository; just as jatza is used to express the rising of the sun, its coming out of its chamber, Psalms 19 and boa its setting, or entering into it, Deu 11:30. Jos 1:4.; and so the true explanation of the words will be, “Arise, O north wind, (and retire, thou south,) blow upon my garden; let the spices thereof flow forth; that my beloved may come into his garden, invited by the coolness and fragrancy of the air, and may eat his pleasant fruits.” Observations, p. 41.
REFLECTIONS.1st, We have here,
1. The description of the church’s beauty, and that of every gracious soul which bears the Divine image: however despicable they appear in the eyes of men, or in their own, Christ regards them with delight and love; in his eyes they are fair; his love, loving him and beloved by him; and all the marks of beauty center in them; since they are found in him, and that he is, is theirs, and his grace makes them what he describes them.
The images here used are taken from the human form, and the beauties of the body are transferred to the hidden man of the heart.
The eyes of doves within the locks represent the modesty and humility, the sweetness and inoffensiveness of the genuine believer.
The hair compared to that of a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead, may signify the multitude of converts in the church; or the beauty of their outward walk or conversation, visible to all as the hair flowing in ringlets on the shoulders, or a flock of goats feeding on a distant precipice.
The teeth, even as a flock of sheep new shorn, white as their fleeces when come up from washing, may denote ministers in particular, who prepare the food for the infant converts, and in the purity of their lives adorn the doctrine which they profess, and, blest with success in their ministry, see numerous souls begotten in the gospel by their word, and none are barren among them; whatever superior gifts some may possess, or more abundant fruit may crown their labours, all who preach the truth are sure to see some fruit thereof. This may be applied also to believers in general, who feed upon the word of truth, are washed in the laver of regeneration, ascend upwards in their affections, and are fruitful in all good works.
The lips like a thread of scarlet may be considered as a mark of that florid health, and flourishing state of grace, in which the soul abides; or as the following words may explain them: Thy speech is comely, before men, in all gracious conversation, while the hearers delighted hang upon the speaker’s lips; or before God, in prayer and praise, offered through the blood of Jesus, and therefore most pleasing and acceptable.
The temples like a piece of pomegranate within the locks, the colour of the fruit of which being red, may be applied to the conscious blush, with which a sense of his own unworthiness, in the presence of his Lord, covers the believer, and heightens his beauty.
The neck compared to a tower, built for an armoury, filled with the shields of the mighty, may represent the ministers of the sanctuary, who are next to Christ the head, and furnish believers with the spiritual weapons of their warfare: or it may be referred to the saints in general, who are each a strong tower filled with Divine artillery.
The breasts like two young roes that are twins, may be applied to the ministers, who give the sincere milk of the word; or, under the Christian dispensation, to the Old and New Testaments, those fountains of consolation.
2. The heavenly bridegroom retires for a while to wait till his beauteous bride hath made herself ready. Till the day of eternity break, and the shadows of mortality flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense; to the heavenly hill, whither the smoke of prayer and praise continually ascends, and whither the glorified Saviour is gone till the time of consummation.
3. Wherever he is, on earth or in heaven, he has the same regard for his spouse the church, and for every individual faithful soul. Thou art all fair, my love, there is no spot in thee; he sees none, his blood hath washed out every stain, and his Spirit fashions her throughout anew, so that she appears in perfect beauty, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, Eph 5:27; Eph 5:33.
2nd, Christ delights in his church, and wishes for her company at all times: Therefore,
1. He invites her to come with him, and adds the most endearing name to engage her to follow him, My spouse, that nearest, dearest relation; and which should, both from love and duty, constrain her to cleave to him; come with me from Lebanon, or thou shalt come with me; it is a gracious call to do so, or a gracious promise of being enabled for that which Jesus doth enjoin: Lebanon may signify Jerusalem, adorned with the wood of Lebanon, but become a den of thieves and murderers, out of which he calls his people to depart; or, as Lebanon was a goodly mountain, it may be a command to quit the joys of sense, and earth’s vain pleasures and pursuits, to taste the purer delights which flow from a sense of his love: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards, which frequented those places: and such is this world, full of wicked men, fierce and cruel in their tempers as lions, spotted with sin as the leopard’s skin, crafty, and lying in wait to destroy like these devouring animals: From such to depart, therefore, is but to consult our own safety; and to leave the ways of a world lying in wickedness, for communion with the Lord of life and glory, must be an exchange unspeakably to our own comfort.
2. Christ expresses his delight in his spouse, whom he honours also with another title, My Sister; for he is by his incarnation flesh of our flesh, and by adoption we are brought into that family, where he is the first-born of many brethren; thou hast ravished my heart, or, thou hast wounded my heart; intimating the strength of his affection to her; it drew him down from his throne in glory, and made him humble himself to death, and even shed his blood on a cross for her sake; behold how he loved her! Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, or one glance; for no sooner does the eye of faith look to him, but his arms of love are reached forth to embrace the soul; with one chain of thy neck, the pearls of divine grace, which adorn the temper and conversation of the saints, make them amiable in the eyes of their divine Lord; and this he with transport professes: How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! love to Jesus is the most grateful and pleasing oblation: He asks our hearts; and nothing but this inward genuine affection is in his sight of any price: how much better is thy love than wine! more cheering than wine to the weary, or more acceptable than all the drink-offerings which were poured forth at his altar; and the smell of thine ointments than all spices! the graces of the Spirit in her breathed a sweeter perfume than the spices which ascended in smoke from the golden altar of incense. Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honey-comb; the sweetest words of humble prayer and praise, of warm professions of love and duty; or communicating to all around that good conversation which ministers grace to the healers: honey and milk are under thy tongue; the doctrines of the gospel, so pleasant and so refreshing to the soul, of which the pious delight to speak, for their own and others’ edification and comfort; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon; the garments of that holy profession which they make, and adorn with every good word and work, and which render them amiable in the eyes of God, and respected before men.
3. He compares her to a garden inclosed; separated from the world without, and set apart for himself; small, compared with the vast country around it; fenced from all intruders by Almighty love and power; planted with every choice seed of grace, and bringing forth fruit for every faithful soul unto eternal life: a spring shut up, a fountain sealed: such are the souls of the faithful, sealed of Christ for his own, and shut up to be no more polluted by sin. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, &c. the garden of the church is full of trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord; bearing all the richest fruits of grace, perfuming the place of their abode by their good conversation, most excellent and valuable in themselves, esteemed of Christ, and mutual comforts to each other.
3rdly, We have the reply of the church on hearing herself thus commended, ascribing to her Lord the praise of all.
1. He is to her a fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon; or, O fountain of gardens, &c. as the words may be rendered, and immediately addressed to him. Christ is the glorious fountain-head, whence all our waters of grace and consolation flow; the author of all our fruitfulness, and the source of every blessing in time and in eternity; whatever we have we receive from him, and every gracious soul will ascribe the whole to him.
2. She prays for the influences of his blessed Spirit, that her garden may flourish, and, breathing fragrance, invite Christ’s pleasing visits thither, and afford him satisfaction. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden: by these winds may be signified the operations of the Spirit, in his word, providences, and ordinances, suited to the case and necessities of the soul, as may most effectually conduce to its strength, comfort, and fruitfulness: sometimes the north wind of adversity is needful; and always the south wind of divine manifestations, to warm the heart, or to quicken it from its coldness, and to draw forth the graces into lively exercise, that the spices thereof may flow out in warm affections towards God and man, in zeal for his glory, in exemplary diligence to adorn our profession, and, in short, in every good word and work: let my beloved come into his garden, then, when thus breathing fragrance, let him visit our souls with a full sense of his presence and love; for we are his garden, purchased by his blood, sanctified by his grace, and by choice devoted to him; let him come and eat his pleasant fruits: whatever fruits of holiness we bear, it is by virtue of our union with him, who is the living root: he is the great author of all good in us, and takes delight in the works of his own hand; and this especially is what the believer longs for, that he may find gracious acceptance and favour with his divine Lord.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
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.
It should seem, but I do not presume to determine, that the former part of this verse is the call of Jesus to the Holy Ghost to breathe with his divine influences upon his Church the garden; and then when this is done, and grace is in lively exercise, the Church in the latter part invites her beloved to come into his garden, which is his, and take the blessed fruits which his own Holy Spirit had begotten. The north wind of exciting, and the south wind of warming the affections, are both graciously made use of, and the effect is as might be supposed. The habit of soul in a believer, when one with Christ by regeneration, becomes an actual exercise of grace when the Spirit excites, in going forth in the devout frames of faith, and love, and joy, and delight, upon the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus; and while prayers and praises go up, blessings and favours come down; and the Lord cometh into his garden, and causeth all his goodness to pass before his people. Oh! Lord! thus continually send the sweet influences of the north wind, and the south wind upon my soul, and then will my soul invite Jesus to come into his garden, and eat of his pleasant fruits.
REFLECTIONS
AND doth my Lord indeed call me his fair one, his love, his sister, his spouse? Oh! how shall my soul contain itself, in the contemplation of such peerless grace amidst my conscious undeservings. Surely, blessed Jesus, whatever I am that can at all endear a poor sinner to my Lord, all I have, and all I am, and all I hope to have, the whole is in thee and from thee. Well may I take up the language of one of old, and say, By the grace of God I am what I am. And oh! Lord let it be said also as of him, so of me, that the grace bestowed upon me was not in vain.
And doth Jesus call me to go with him from Lebanon, and escape the lion’s den, and the mountains of leopards? Yes, Lord Jesus, I would pray for grace to follow thee, whithersoever thou goest. Nothing shall separate my soul from the love of Christ. For . thou hast bought me, redeemed me, and with a price no less dear than thine own most precious blood: therefore, Lord, I am thine by every endearment, and by every tye. Oh! Lord, give me grace here also, that as I am not my own, but bought with a price, I may glorify thee both in my body and in my spirit which are thine.
But, precious Lord Jesus, as without thee I can do nothing; I pray thee be to me, A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and as streams from Lebanon. Come, Holy Ghost, and be to me as the quickening source in leading to Jesus, and taking from Jesus, and showing everything to me in Jesus. And do thou, Lord, daily maintain, and support, and carry on, the life thy mercy first gave me in Jesus. Thou, Lord, art the only spiritual efficient agent in Christ’s garden the Church, which by breathing thy gracious influences upon my heart, can prepare that poor heart for the visits of my Lord to his servant. I would, therefore, gracious Spirit of all truth, intreat thy mercy upon my poor soul, that by thy grace I may invite my Lord and be prepared for my Lord, that he may daily come into his garden: and my soul be so quickened to receive him, that he may eat of his pleasant fruits. Yea, Lord! do thou knock at the door of my heart, and open it thyself; and let my Lord come in, and let me sup with him and he with me.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Son 4:16 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.
Ver. 16. Awake, O north wind; come, thou south, &c. ] These winds she supposeth to be asleep, because they blew not. Rupertus calls the winds Mundi scopas, the world’s besoms, because God makes use of them to sweep out his large house, and to purge the air. The Spirit of God first purgeth, and then watereth the faithful, whom the Church here calleth her garden, though, indeed it be Christ’s, by reason of the nigh conjunction that is between him and her, Eph 5:30 so that they both make but one mystical Christ. 1Co 12:12 Now, we all know that to a complete garden are necessary (1.) That it be well enclosed; (2.) Well planted; (3.) Well watered; (4.) That it be amoena caeli aspiratione perflabilis, well situated for wind and air; (5.) That it be fruitful and profitable. The Church’s garden hath every one of these good properties, as appears here; and for the fourth, Christ is all the diverse winds, both cold and hot, moist and dry, binding and opening, north and south, fit for every season. What wind soever blows it blows good to the Church, for Christ speaks to them, as David did to his captains, “Do this young man no hurt; handle him gently for my sake.” The sun may not smite him by day, nor the moon by night. Psa 121:6 The nipping north of adversity, the cherishing south wind of prosperity, must both make for him.
That the spices thereof may flow out.
“ Vile latens virtus: quid enim submersa tenebris
Proderit, obscuro veluti sub remige puppis,
Vel lyra quae reticet, vel qui non tenditur arcus? ” b
Christ had made his Church a garden of sweetest sweets. Her desire is therefore that her fruits being rightly ripened, her graces greatened and made mature by the benign breath of the Holy Ghost (compared here, as elsewhere, to the several winds), their sweetness may be dispread, and conveyed to the nostrils of such as have “their senses habitually exercised to discern good and evil.” Heb 5:14 As for others, their heads are so stuffed with the stenches of the world, that great muck hill, and themselves so choked up with earth, as Core and his complices were, that they cannot resent or savour the things of the Spirit; but, as vultures, they hunt after carrion carcases, and as tigers they are enraged with the sweet smell of the Church’s spices.
Let my beloved come and eat his pleasant fruits.
a Horat.
b Claudian. De Consul. Honor.
c Cedren. ad an. 32 Justin.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Son 4:16
16Awake, O north wind,
And come, wind of the south;
Make my garden breathe out fragrance,
Let its spices be wafted abroad.
May my beloved come into his garden
And eat its choice fruits!
Son 4:16 This verse has a series of commands from the maiden to the man (REB has both v.15 and Son 4:16 spoken by her) in metaphors from nature:
1. awake, BDB 734, KB 802, Qal IMPERATIVE
2. come, BDB 97, KB 112, Qal IMPERATIVE
3. breathe, BDB 806, KB 916, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
4. be wafted, BDB 633, KB 683, Qal IMPERFECT used as a JUSSIVE
5. eat, BDB 37, KB 46, Qal IMPERFECT used as a JUSSIVE
This verse is an extension of Son 4:8, come with me from Lebanon. She is calling to him to come to her in the north. Her fragrances are spreading on the southerly winds! Calling herself a garden is typical Near Eastern sexual imagery (cf. Son 5:1).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. Is it certain that Son 3:1-4 and Son 5:2-8 are dreams?
2. Why has this become a common interpretation?
3. What is the recurrent theme of Son 4:5?
4. Why are there so many allusions to geographical locations and specific flora and fauna of the Holy Land in this book?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
3. The Bride (Son 4:16). The Acceptance
4. Solomon (Son 5:1).
(a) To the Bride (1a).
(b) To His Retinue (1b).
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
12.
My hearthis garden
Son 4:16
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.
Here, as in many places in the Holy Scripture, the believers heart is compared to a fruitful garden. If we are the Lords people, if there is true faith in us, our hearts are the Lords garden. Each believers heart is a garden he has purchased, a garden he has enclosed, a garden he has tilled, a garden he has planted and watered. The believing heart is a garden that belongs to Christ and brings forth many pleasant fruits for him. Here the beloved Bride speaks to her beloved Lord and expresses her hearts desire.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.
What a difference there is between what we are by nature and what we have been made by the grace of God! By nature we are like a barren wilderness, or an empty desert. But now, by the grace of God, we who believe have been transformed into fruitful gardens. Our wilderness is made like Eden. Our desert has been turned into the garden of the Lord. We have been enclosed by grace. We have been tilled and sown by the hand of God. Our Lord said to his disciples, My Father is the Husbandman. Now the Divine Husbandman has made us fruitful to his praise. Where there was once no fruit and nothing to give him delight, he now comes to eat his pleasant fruits. Grace makes a great change (2Co 5:17).
In the parable of the sower our Lord compares us to a garden. In a garden flowers, and fruits, and vegetables are planted and cultivated with purpose and care. And in every true believers heart you will find evidences of the cultivation and care of the Divine Gardener. In the good ground, mentioned in the parable, some of the seed brought forth thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, and some a hundred-fold. It is true, not all of the Lords gardens are precisely the same in their productivity. Some yield more, and some yield less fruit. Still, every garden brings forth its fruit and flowers in measure to the honor and glory of God.
A fruitful garden
Our hearts are here compared to a fruitful garden. The believing heart is Christs fruitful garden. Our hearts are the Lords garden; and they bring forth fruit, both for his honor and for his pleasure. There is no such thing as a barren, fruitless, graceless believer. Wherever true grace is found in the heart, there will be the fruit of grace.
The believers heart is a garden into which the good seed of the gospel has been sown (Mat 13:18-23). It is that ground made good and fruitful by the grace of God. No ground is naturally good. It naturally brings forth weeds, briars, and thistles. Before the ground is fit to receive seed, it must be prepared. A wise and good farmer takes much care in properly preparing his ground before he sows his seed. As the farmer sows his seed, some may fall upon the rocks, some by the wayside, and some among thorns. But only that ground which is thoroughly prepared will receive the seed and bring forth fruit.
How does a farmer prepare his ground? He purchases the ground, plows the field, encloses the field, sows the seed, waters the ground, and cultivates the tender plant. In precisely this way the Lord Jesus Christ, like a wise husbandman, has made the hearts of his people his fruitful garden. He purchased us with the price of his own precious blood. He has enclosed us, marking our hearts and souls as his own peculiar property. We were enclosed by his decree of election. We were enclosed by the hand of his wise and gracious providence. He has plowed the field of our hearts, thoroughly breaking up the fallow ground of our hearts, by conviction. He has planted the good seed of the gospel in our hearts, enabling us to hear and understand the blessed word of grace. He waters the ground of our hearts by his grace. He cultivates the tender plants of his garden with trials and afflictions.
Not only are our hearts his garden, every heart that belongs to Christ is a fruitful garden (Gal 5:22-23). In the new birth God the Holy Spirit comes into a mans heart in sovereign, life-giving power. And where the Spirit of God comes there is fruit. The Spirit of the Lord brings life, abundant, productive life (2Co 5:17).
The fruit of the spirit
The produce of the Lords garden is the fruit of the Spirit, not the works of our own hands. The believers graces are not characteristics, or moral virtues, which he produces by diligence and care. These things are the fruits of the Spirit, inevitable results of his grace and power.
Notice that Paul speaks of the fruit of the Spirit as one. He names many virtues; but they are all one. They are like a cluster of grapes. They are many; yet, in essence, they are all one. They all spring from one Vine; and that Vine is Christ himself. All who are really and truly connected to the Vine bear the fruit of the vine (Joh 15:1-6).
Notice, also, that Paul, when he talks about the fruit of the Spirit, speaks of attitudes, not actions. He tells us that if a person is truly born of God, his inward heart attitude will reflect it. God regards not the actions of men, but the attitudes of their hearts. Human religion may change a mans actions. But the grace of God changes the attitude of the heart. Hypocrites reform their actions. Believers undergo a mighty renewing of the heart.
In every believing heart these three clusters of fruit are found. I do not suggest that every believer has this fruit in the same measure. But I do say that every true believer has this pleasant fruit in its essence. In one it is as the newly sown seed. In another it is like a tender plant. In another it is like an ear of corn, not yet full. In another it is like the fully ripe ear, ready for harvest. But in all the essence is the same.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.
This describes our relationship to God. Our relationship to the Lord our God is not one of dread, and fear, and anxiety. We walk before him in love, joy, and peace. This describes our marvelously free, open fellowship with the Lord God. Believers love the Lord. We love his word, his will, his ways, his worship, and his people. We rejoice in the Lord, as well as love him. We rejoice in his person, his purpose, his providence, and his salvation. And we are at peace with God.
The fruit of the Spirit is Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness.
This describes our relationship and attitude toward those around us. The children of God are not hard, critical, and severe. They are patient, gentle, and good to the people around them. True faith is patient, both with providence and with people. True faith is gentle: courteous, thoughtful, and kind. True faith is manifest by goodness toward men: generosity, openness, simplicity, and understanding.
The fruit of the Spirit is faith, meekness, temperance.
This describes the true believers inward character. It tells us what the people of God truly are. They are faithful, honest, and dependable. Believers are meek. Knowing who they are and whose they are, they are truly and honestly humble in their own eyes. And faith in Christ makes people temperate. The children of God are men and women who control their passions. They are modest and temperate in all things. Temperance is control from within. By the grace of God, believers control their tempers, their lusts, and their appetites.
These things are not the result of our labors of self-discipline and self-denial. These things are the result and outflow of Gods grace in regeneration. This is the fruit of the Spirit. It is simply the overflowing of the Spirit of grace in the renewed heart (Joh 7:37-38).
I am constrained to ask this question.Is my heart truly the Lords garden? Am I truly one of the Lords own children? Let us each honestly examine ourselves in this matter. A truly renewed heart is fruitful. It brings forth the fruit of the Spirit. Let us quit looking at our actions and our experiences. We all must honestly face this question.Is my heart a fruitful garden to the Lord?
Heavenly wind
Our garden and its fruit need the Breath of Heaven.Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out.
Sometimes, though the flowers are in bloom their sweet fragrance does not fill the air, because there is no gentle breeze to carry it about. One may walk in the garden where spices abound and never smell their rich odors if there is no wind stirring. Therefore, the loved one of our text prays that the Breath of Heaven might come and break the dead calm of her hearts garden so that the rich fragrance of her spices might flow forth.
In this prayer there is an evident sense of inward sleep.Awake, O north wind. This is a poetic confession that she herself needs to be awakened. Her appeal is to the Spirit of God, the great Breath of Heaven, who operates according to his own will, even as the wind bloweth where it listeth. She does not try to raise the wind, and create a revival in her own heart. She simply acknowledges her utter dependence upon God the Holy Spirit to awaken her graces and enliven her heart.
If the Spirit of the Lord will blow upon our garden, our spices will flow out. Let him move upon us as he will, from the north or from the south. He knows best. If he will but move upon us, our hearts will respond. Sometimes he revives our hearts with the chilling, rough wind of affliction. Sometimes he revives us with the gentle southern breeze of grace and mercy. Sometimes he uses both the cold winds of the north and the gentle breezes of the south to stir us. This is the thing we need. We wait for a visitation from the blessed Spirit of God. If the Breath of Heaven will blow upon us, the fragrant flowers of our garden will fill the air with their rich perfume.
Come and eat
Let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits.We greatly desire that the Lord himself will visit his garden. The Bride does not desire for the spices of her garden to fill the air with their fragrance for her own enjoyment, nor even for the delight of the daughters of Jerusalem. Her desire is that her spices may flow forth for the pleasure and enjoyment of her Beloved.
The highest, noblest wish of our souls is that Christ may have joy, pleasure, and delight in us. And the great condescension of grace is this: The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our great Savior does delight and take pleasure in his people.
She calls him hers – My Beloved. What music there is in these two words. He is My Beloved. My graces, the flowers of my garden, may be terribly dormant. But he is my Beloved still. With these words we acknowledge that we belong to Christ. My heart is his garden. The fruit and affection of my heart belongs to him, only to him.
This is the prayer and desire of our hearts.Let my Beloved come. Let him come in the glory of his second advent. Let him come in the majesty of his judgment-seat. Let him come to make all things new. But, let him come into my heart!Let him come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. Child of God, open your heart to the King of Heaven, our great Solomon, and he will come. He will sup with you; and you will sup with him (Rev 3:20).
Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible
Awake: Son 1:4, Ecc 1:6, Isa 51:9-11, Isa 64:1, Eze 37:9, Joh 3:8, Act 2:1, Act 2:2, Act 4:31
the spices: Son 4:13, Son 4:14, Son 7:12, Son 7:13, 2Co 9:10-15, Phi 1:9-11, Col 1:9-12, 1Th 2:12, 1Th 2:13, Heb 13:20, Heb 13:21, 2Pe 3:18
Let: Son 5:1, Son 8:12, Mat 26:10, Mat 26:12, Joh 5:8, Rom 15:16, Rom 15:28, 1Pe 2:5, 1Pe 2:9, 1Pe 2:10
Reciprocal: Son 1:12 – sitteth Son 7:8 – I will go Son 8:13 – dwellest Isa 61:11 – as the earth Luk 13:19 – cast Joh 12:2 – they made Act 27:13 – the south
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Son 4:16. Awake, O north wind, &c. These winds may signify the several dispensations of Gods Spirit. Blow upon my garden This verse is spoken by the spouse. And she calls the garden both hers and his, because of that oneness which is between them, Son 2:16. That the spices may flow out That my graces may be exercised. Let my beloved come into his garden Let Christ afford his gracious presence to his church; and eat his pleasant fruits And let him delight himself in that service which is given him, both by the religious worship, and by the holy conversation of his people.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:16 Awake, O {i} north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, [that] its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
(i) She desires Christ to comfort her and to pour the graces of his Spirit on her, which is meant by the North and South wind.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
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. Son 4:13-14).
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
5. The bride’s surrender 4:16-5:1