Charles Ellicott Commentary Song Of Solomon 1:12

"While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent forth its fragrance." — Song Of Solomon 1:12 (ASV)

While the king sits. —There is no need to imagine a scene where the monarch, having failed in his attempt to allure the shepherdess by fine offers, retires to his banquet, leaving her to console herself with the thoughts of her absent shepherd love. As in Song of Solomon 1:2 the poet makes his mistress prefer his love to wine, so here she prefers the thought of union with him to all the imagined pleasures of the royal table.

Spikenard —Hebrew, nerd —is exclusively an Indian product, procured from the Nardostachys jatamansi, a plant of the order Valerianaceae. It was imported into Palestine at a very early period. The perfume is prepared by drying the shaggy stem of the plant (see Tristram’s Natural History of the Bible, pages 484, 485). There is a sketch of the plant in Smith’s Biblical Dictionary.