Royal procession, wedding praise, and married joy

3:6 Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, like a fragrant billow of myrrh and frankincense, every kind of fragrant powder of the traveling merchants? 3:7 Look! It is Solomon’s portable couch! It is surrounded by sixty warriors, some of Israel’s mightiest warriors. 3:8 All of them are skilled with a sword, well-trained in the art of warfare. Each has his sword at his side, to guard against the terrors of the night. 3:9 King Solomon made a sedan chair for himself of wood imported from Lebanon. 3:10 Its posts were made of silver; its back was made of gold. Its seat was upholstered with purple wool; its interior was inlaid with leather by the maidens of Jerusalem. 3:11 Come out, O maidens of Zion, and gaze upon King Solomon! He is wearing the crown with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day, on the most joyous day of his life! The Wedding Night: Praise of the Bride The Lover to His Beloved: 4:1 Oh, you are beautiful, my darling! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of female goats descending from Mount Gilead. 4:2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly-shorn sheep coming up from the washing place; each of them has a twin, and not one of them is missing. 4:3 Your lips are like a scarlet thread; your mouth is lovely. Your forehead behind your veil is like a slice of pomegranate. 4:4 Your neck is like the tower of David built with courses of stones; one thousand shields are hung on it – all shields of valiant warriors. 4:5 Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of the gazelle grazing among the lilies. 4:6 Until the dawn arrives and the shadows flee, I will go up to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. 4:7 You are altogether beautiful, my darling! There is no blemish in you! The Wedding Night: Beautiful as Lebanon 4:8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions’ dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards. 4:9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride! You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace. 4:10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine; the fragrance of your perfume is better than any spice! 4:11 Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride, honey and milk are under your tongue. The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. The Wedding Night: The Delightful Garden The Lover to His Beloved: 4:12 You are a locked garden, my sister, my bride; you are an enclosed spring, a sealed-up fountain. 4:13 Your shoots are a royal garden full of pomegranates with choice fruits: henna with nard, 4:14 nard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice, myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices. 4:15 You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon. The Beloved to Her Lover: 4:16 Awake, O north wind; come, O south wind! Blow on my garden so that its fragrant spices may send out their sweet smell. May my beloved come into his garden and eat its delightful fruit! The Lover to His Beloved: 5:1 I have entered my garden, O my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk! The Poet to the Couple: Eat, friends, and drink! Drink freely, O lovers! The Trials of Love: The Beloved’s Dream of Losing Her Lover The Beloved about Her Lover:

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible®, copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

This passage uses royal wedding imagery to celebrate the lovers’ union. It moves from public procession to intimate praise and garden imagery. It honors exclusive marital love, mutual delight, and embodied union within marriage.

The poem moves from a public scene to a private one. First, there is a royal procession with guards, beauty, and honor. Then the groom speaks to the bride with rich poetic praise. He celebrates her beauty with images from nature, clothing, and precious things. This is love poetry, not flat description.

The bride is called a locked garden and a sealed spring. This most naturally means that she is reserved for her beloved alone. The images of spices, fruit, wine, and honey show abundance, delight, and sweetness in marriage. The final scene uses garden language to celebrate intimate marital union in poetic form. The poem presents their joy positively.

This passage shows that marriage is good. It also shows that desire is not evil when it is kept within God’s design. The text honors affection, protection, exclusivity, and delight within marriage.

• The passage presents marriage in royal and joyful language.
• The groom praises the bride with poetic images of beauty and delight.
• The locked garden image points to exclusivity and reserved love.
• The garden, fruit, spice, honey, and wine images celebrate abundance and pleasure in marriage.
• The ending uses garden imagery to celebrate intimate marital union in poetic form.
• The passage treats marital union as honorable and good.

• Honor marriage as a good gift.
• Keep sexual intimacy within marriage.
• Do not turn the poem into hidden allegory that erases the literal goodness of marriage.
• Do not read the erotic language in a prurient or careless way.
• Speak admiration and affection within marriage.

This unit belongs to the Bible’s teaching that created marriage is good. It does not function as a direct prophecy. Later Scripture will use marriage as an image for God’s covenant love, Christ, and the church, but that is a later development. Here the main point is the goodness of human marriage in God’s world.

Believers should honor marriage, protect purity, and receive marital delight with gratitude. Spouses should learn to speak with admiration, not only duty. The passage also warns readers not to misuse intimate language outside covenant bounds.

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