God’s Word for You
Song of Solomon 4:13-15 Living Water
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, May 11, 2024
(The husband is still speaking)
13 The plants that grow for you
are a paradise of pomegranates
and other choice fruits,
henna with nard,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh and aloes and all the finest spices.
These two verses do not follow the usual forms of poetic parallelism. It combines formal and emblematic parallel lines. In formal parallel lines, the first line is continued by those that follow without repetition; it approaches prose, or might be the beginning of a list (which is what we find here). Emblematic parallel lines use a figure of speech as a symbol: “As the deer pants… so my soul thirsts” (Psalm 42:1). Here, the emblem is everything in the list, and the content or comparison is in the first words: “Your plants.” The word shelach means “sprouts” or “shoots,” the new growth just as it breaks through the soil, when row upon row of green shoots resemble a line of spears all ready for battle. The Hebrew says more literally, “What sprouts for you.” So we have two images, as usual, here. First, there is a figure of speech to describe the body of the young bride, a body that remains a secret; unknown to anyone until her wedding night. Under the Law of Moses, a girl who was discovered not to be a virgin was a disgrace to the nation. She and her lover were to be stoned to death “for being promiscuous while still in her father’s house” (Deuteronomy 22:21). It was the same punishment for adultery. As Roland Elke wrote: “Even though we do not live under the same civil laws, we are to conduct ourselves in chastity before and after marriage” (People’s Bible: Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs p. 180).
The wife’s body is described as her husband’s private “park” or “grove” of various fruit trees and delightful scents. Solomon uses the rare word pardes, from which we get the word Paradise (see also Ecclesiastes 2:5; Nehemiah 2:8). Jesus picked up the same word and used it on the cross as a name for heaven: “Today you will be with me in paradise” (παραδείσῳ, Luke 23:43).
The list of fruits and fragrant things is typical of the Song. One of these, saffron, occurs only here in the Bible (saffron was used as a condiment, a medicine, and as perfume). Others are rare; almost all are exotic. One commentator (Rocke) said, “If I only knew here how to disclose the meaning, certainly all these flowers and fruits, in the figurative language of the Orient, in the flower-language of love, had their beautiful interpretation.” He calls to mind the scene in Hamlet when poor Ophelia is beginning to go mad, and says about her flowers: “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance… and there is pansies. That’s for thoughts. There’s fennel for you, and columbines: there’s rue for you; and here’s some for me…” (Hamlet IV:5). Perhaps the more casual reader will be content to find that there are about twelve plants (or plant-pairings) here. Twelve is symbolically the number of God (3) times the number of man (4) and therefore the number of the church. And therefore we have a fine place to look for the spiritual meaning, since Christ the bridegroom accounts for all of the talents and good works of his bride, the church, and takes delight in them.
15 You are a garden fountain,
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.
Radio host Stephen Hill said: “Everyone loves a garden, but in the desert countries gardens take on a whole other level of meaning. Precious and rare in contrast to the rest of the environment, in [the ancient Middle East] they became nothing less than a symbol of heaven on earth—a sanctuary for rest, renewal, music and poetry.”
The husband continues the thought of his wife’s private gifts for him; her body belongs to him just as his body belongs to her (1 Corinthians 7:4), which was God’s plan from the beginning: “They will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). But the husband adds to the imagery by praising his bride’s purity: “flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.” The streams coming from the mountains of Lebanon are fast, fresh, and clear. The water is pure and cool, a delight to drink. The bride waters and nourishes everything in the household. Husband, children, animals, visitors, and yes, the household garden and other plants are all tended by her. She brings life to her home; she recalls the name of Eve our ancient grandmother, whose name means “Life.” In ancient literature and poetry, and even in a story like The Lord of the Rings, women are the symbol of home, life, rest, nourishment, recuperation, love, and affection. Where the woman is, there is peace, and growth, and family. A marriage makes a mere house into a home.
Spiritually, Christ gathers his church by means of the people who are called to faith. Where two or three of them are gathered, there is the church (Matthew 18:20); for “two can defend themselves, and a cord of three strands is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). We encourage each other when we confess our faith together. We proclaim Christ as we live, speak, sing, and pray together. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:39). And the prophet said: “Streams of water will flow on every high mountain and every lofty hill… when the Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted” (Isaiah 30:25,26). For the Lord is the one who is binding, healing, and saving, but he brings his healing and saving message through his messengers, the people of his holy church. This is one of the chief ways that Christ “feeds and cares for the church.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.