Albert Barnes Commentary Song Of Solomon 4:12-15

"A garden shut up is my sister, [my] bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants, Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices. [Thou art] a fountain of gardens, A well of living waters, And flowing streams from Lebanon." — Song Of Solomon 4:12-15 (ASV)

The loveliness and purity of the bride are now set forth under the image of a paradise or garden, firmly barred against intruders, filled with the rarest plants of excellent fragrance, and watered by abundant streams .

In Song of Solomon 4:12, the phrase a garden enclosed refers to a garden protected from outsiders, and a fountain sealed refers to a wellspring covered with a stone (Genesis 29:3) and sealed with the king’s own signet (Daniel 6:17).

In Song of Solomon 4:13, the word “orchard” is the rendering here and in Ecclesiastes 2:5 of the word “pardes” (Nehemiah 2:8). The pomegranate was a sacred fruit for the Jews and a characteristic product of the promised land (Numbers 20:5; Deuteronomy 8:8; 1 Kings 7:18, 20). It is frequently mentioned in the Song, always in connection with the bride, and it abounds to this day in the ravines of Lebanon.

The word “camphire” refers to the cyprus-flower, or henna (see the note on Song of Solomon 1:14).

In Song of Solomon 4:13–15, seven kinds of spices (some with Indian names, for example, aloes, spikenard, and saffron) are listed as being found in this symbolic garden. They are, for the most part, pure exotics that have been articles of commerce in the East for countless ages. At that time, they were brought in Solomon’s ships from southern Arabia, the great Indian Peninsula, and perhaps the islands of the Indian Archipelago.

The picture here is best regarded as a purely ideal one, having no corresponding reality except in the bride herself. The beauties and attractions of both north and south—of Lebanon with its streams of sparkling water and fresh mountain air, of Engedi with its tropical climate and henna plantations, of the spice-groves of Arabia Felix, and of the rarest products of the distant, mysterious Ophir—all combine to furnish one glorious representation: Thou art all fair!