TRV
Translation
King James Version
Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
Complete Jewish Bible
nard, saffron and aromatic cane, cinnamon and all kinds of frankincense trees, myrrh, aloes, all the best spices.
Berean Standard Bible
with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
American Standard Version
Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.
World English Bible Messianic
spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of incense tree; myrrh and aloes, with all the best spices,
Geneva Bible (1599)
Euen spikenarde, and saffran, calamus, and cynamon with all the trees of incense, myrrhe and aloes, with all the chiefe spices.
Young's Literal Translation
Cypresses with nard--nard and saffron, Cane and cinnamon, With all trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices.
See also
In the KJVVerse 17,597 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers . Public domain.
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CyprianAD 258
Epistle LXXV:2
But that the Church is one, the Holy Spirit declares in the Song of Songs, saying, in the person of Christ, "My dove, my undefiled, is one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her." Concerning which also He says again, "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring sealed up, a well of living water." But if the spouse of Christ, which is the Church, is a garden enclosed; a thing that is closed up cannot lie open to strangers and profane persons. And if it is a fountain sealed, he who, being placed without has no access to the spring, can neither drink thence nor be sealed. And the well also of living water, if it is one and the same within, he who is placed without cannot be quickened and sanctified from that water of which it is only granted to those who are within to make any use, or to drink.
Cyril of JerusalemAD 386
Catechetical Lecture 14:5
Now who is the “fountain sealed,” or who is signified by the “wellspring of living water”? It is the Savior himself, of whom it is written: “For with you is the fountain of life.”
Cyril of JerusalemAD 386
Catechetical Lecture 14:11
The place of his burial was a garden.… What is he going to say who was buried in the garden? “I gather my myrrh, and my spices”; and again, “Myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.” These were the tokens of his burial, and in the Gospels it is said, “The women came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared,” and “there also came Nicodemus, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes.”
Gregory of NyssaAD 395
HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 9
When the Word raises his bride to such a point through her ascents, he leads her even further, saying that her garments have the scent of frankincense. Scripture testifies that Christ is clothed with this frankincense. The end of a virtuous life is participation in God, for frankincense manifests the divinity. The soul is not always led by the Word to what is higher by means of honey and milk, but after having been compared with the scent of frankincense, the garden becomes an image of paradise. It is not loosely guarded as with our first parents, but protected from every side by recollection of the bridegroom’s command.
Gregory of NyssaAD 395
HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 9
In order that we may know the plants that the Word cultivates in believers, the Song calls the trees he planted “pomegranates.” These issue from the bride’s mouth. The pomegranate is difficult for a thief to grasp because of its thorny branches, and its fruit is surrounded and protected by a rind bitter and harsh to the taste. Once the pomegranate ripens in its own good time, and once the rind is peeled off and the inside revealed, it is sweet and appealing to the sight much like honey to the taste; its juice tastes like wine and affords much pleasure to the palate. I think that the issues from the bride’s mouth [are] a “garden of pomegranates” present in the souls of those listening to her. We must heed her words and not become soft by indulgence and enjoyment of this present life. Rather we should choose a life that has become toughened by continence. Thus virtue’s fruit is inaccessible to thieves and is protected by the bitter covering of self-control. Surrounded by a solemn, austere way of life, it wards off as though by spiny thorns those who approach the fruit with evil intent.
Ambrose of MilanAD 397
On Isaac and the Soul 4.26
And about mystical wells it remains for us, which we also find in the Song of Songs, as Scripture says: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and flowing down from Lebanon. For if you pursue the depth of mysteries, the well appears to you as if the mystical wisdom is located in the profound: but if you desire to draw from the abundance of charity, which is greater and richer than faith and hope, then the fountain is for you. For charity is overflowing, so that you can both draw it near and water your garden with its abundant spiritual fruits.
Theodoret of CyrusAD 458
COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 4
“Pomegranate” is to be taken figuratively as love, since countless seeds are contained together within the one skin, pressed together without squeezing or ruining one another, remaining fresh unless one of the seeds in the middle goes bad. You can also gain a different insight from the sections in the middle: we see many ranks also among the saved, one of virgins, one of ascetics, one of those drawing the yoke of marriage, and of the affluent, one of those living a life of poverty, one of slaves in love with godliness, one of masters exercising lordship lawfully. The pomegranate, too, then, has walled off compartments, as it were, separating its seeds into certain divisions. This is the reason he compares the presents of the bride to “an orchard of pomegranates.”
Theodoret of CyrusAD 458
COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 4
[This garden] also contains “a spring” and “a well of water alive and babbling from Lebanon.” It contains not only the gospel teaching that flows openly but also the “well” of the law, which is “a well of water alive” that also holds hidden streams that babble, emit a sound and flow from Lebanon. The way of life according to the law blossomed in Jerusalem, which is figuratively called Lebanon, but this well changed direction toward the Lord’s bride, the church, and though hidden, it flows with a babble and irrigates the orchard of the church.
BedeAD 735
Commentary on the Song of Songs
Pipe and cinnamon, etc. The pipe, which is also called cassia, is counted among aromatic trees. It has a robust and purple bark, which is said to be very beneficial for curing internal ailments. Due to its brevity, some consider it among fragrant herbs; these rightly signify those humble in spirit, for whom is the kingdom of heaven; who, as if clothed in purple, always remember the passion of the Lord, always prepared to suffer for the Lord, like the one who said: "For your sake we are killed all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (Psalm 43). For this virtue, which more than any other, has the habit of subduing and removing internal troubles and lusts when we recall what God suffered for us, recognizing that we suffer less than we deserve. Cinnamon holds the same significance: for this tree is short in trunk but strong and fragrant, and very useful in medicine, excelling double the pipe. Hence it may aptly be understood that Scripture intended to express the progress of humility, placing cinnamon after the pipe: for since it is said to be of a dark or ashen color, it suits the minds of the humble, who, conscious of their own frailty, know to say to God in daily prayers: "I speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18). And again: "I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42). And well does it place cinnamon, an ash-colored tree, after the purple-colored pipe, because our thoughts of the Lord's wound give rise to contempt for our own virtue. The bark of it is valued, and since it is round like a reed and slender, it takes the name cinnamon. For in Greek, ammomum is said to mean ‘spotless.’ He says, "Pipe and cinnamon with all the trees of Lebanon." Just as the pipe and cinnamon signify the humble thoughts of the just, so do the trees of Lebanon show their lofty actions, because these not only excel in fragrance and healing like the pipe and cinnamon, and boast the glory of their bark, but also rise to great height and strength. Hence, they are suitable for larger buildings, as also attested by this song, in which it is said: "The beams of our houses are cedar.” And again: "King Solomon made himself a carriage of the wood of Lebanon." Therefore, the pipe and cinnamon come forth in the garden of the Lord with all the trees of Lebanon, because those who are admirable in humility and patience in the holy Church, together with those who firmly support the Church by preaching or performing virtues, await the palm of heavenly reward. Myrrh and aloe express the restraint of the flesh, because it is the nature of these aromatics that bodies anointed with them after death do not decay, as evidenced by the burial of the Lord. For just as the corruption of dead flesh indicates the rottenness of luxury, so the preservation of it, where it is typically received in a good sense, aptly demonstrates the virtue of continence and chastity, which restrain our members from vices. Indeed, the first of those ointments are those about which the Apostle says: "But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Cor. 12), and the rest he wonderfully discusses regarding those great virtues in which charity holds the summit, the great master of eloquence. A truly beautiful conjunction, that myrrh and aloes with all the chief ointments may arise in the Lord's garden, for as we restrain the flesh from lasciviousness, it follows that we may receive the greater gifts of the Spirit. It has been contradicted, for wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins (Wisdom 1). For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit (Ibid.). Now myrrh is a tree of Arabia, reaching a height of five cubits, similar to a thorn, which the Greeks call acanthus, whose gum is green and bitter, whence it also took the name myrrh. All this aptly relates to the mortification of the flesh, which feels bitter for a time but is most willingly accepted in the hope of an ever-blooming homeland, of which Peter says: "He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven" (1 Peter 1). It is rightly compared to thorns because, to save the mind perpetually, it temporarily afflicts the body with the pricks of labors. But that its spontaneously flowing gum is more precious, while that obtained by wounding the bark is cheaper, who would not see that it is a greater virtue before God when someone with a healthy and vigorous body, even with an abundance of external things smiling upon them, strives to discipline and subject it to servitude rather than when, pressed by illness or other adversities of the world, they unwillingly restrain the flesh from lasciviousness and are coerced into the remedy of abstinence? Although this too should rightly be numbered among great virtues, when someone, patiently, humbly, and gladly accepting the lashes of paternal correction, reaches the gifts of the promised inheritance through these means. Aloe too, if considered more closely, is aptly likened to the continent: for it is a tree of very pleasant and superior odor, whose wood the ancients used as a substitute for incense on altars. Yet its juice is extremely bitter, but suitable for many medicines. Thus indeed the restraint of bodily pleasures through continence is bitter in the act itself but glorious by the merit of virtue and most pleasing to the inner judge.
BedeAD 735
Commentary on the Song of Songs
Cyprus with nard, nard and saffron. Cyprus in Egypt is an aromatic tree, with leaves like those of the jujube, and a seed whiter than coriander. This is cooked in oil and then pressed; this called Cyprus, a royal ointment is prepared from it. The best is in Egypt, the second in Ascalon of Judea, the third on the island of Cyprus. Some say this is the tree called privet in Italy. We read about manna, which was like white coriander seed; and since the seed of Cyprus is claimed to be of the same quality, rightly by the same as itself, it designates heavenly blessing. This seed is sent into oil and cooked, which is the gift of heavenly grace received by hearts illuminated with the fat of charity, and when the flames of temptations are brought, its power is shown to all more clearly. Nard, however, which holds the type of the Lord's burial, testifies the work of Mary, who anointed Him with this aroma at the impending passion; as He Himself explained, saying: For in pouring this ointment on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial (Matt. XXVI). And the garden, or the fountain of the Lord, buys cyprus, when the Church teaches its children to seek above all the grace of heavenly refreshment, to hold the light and anointing of love in the heart, to not be overcome by the fire of tribulations, but with these very opportunities, to show how much and what kind of divine grace seed they have received. He joins cyprus and nard, when he instructs them with the faith of the Lord’s passion more eagerly in time or he teaches them to imitate this to be suffered by themselves, with saffron, having almost a gold-colored flower; he shows them those who shine with greater grace of love; which, as gold to other metals, so it surpasses all virtues. Now, he says, faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love (I Cor. XIII). Against this, Jeremiah lamenting the destruction of his people says: Those brought up in scarlet embrace dung (Lam. IV). Indeed, they embrace dung who are brought up in scarlet, when those, who once seemed to shine brightly with the flowers of most pleasing charity, afterwards begin to immerse themselves in the foul wallows of vices. But also the fact that saffron is said to confer the relief of refreshment to the burning limbs of the languid fits the acts of the highest virtue, which are accustomed to temper minds from the heat of carnal pleasures, and to kindle towards the joy of desiring the heavenly fatherland. Indeed, that nard is said to scatter the cold of the faint-hearted and warm the limbs, it is evident that the memory of the Lord's passion drives away the sluggish fear of dying from the hearts of the faithful, and inflames and makes them eager, not only by mortifying their vices, but also by laying down their lives for Him.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Song of Solomon 4:14 is a vibrant poetic declaration within the lover's ardent praise of his beloved, portraying her as an exquisite, flourishing garden brimming with the most precious and aromatic spices. This verse, continuing the detailed description of her beauty and purity from the preceding verses, employs a lavish catalog of highly valued botanicals to symbolize her comprehensive allure, intrinsic worth, and delightful essence, presenting her as a source of profound joy and captivating fragrance.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Song of Solomon 4:14 is exceptionally rich with Imagery, particularly vivid sensory imagery that appeals directly to the sense of smell with its exhaustive catalog of fragrant spices. The beloved is presented as a Metaphorical Garden (a concept beautifully established in previous verses), a lush and fertile space that spontaneously yields the most precious and delightful aromatics. The extensive list of specific spices constitutes Enumeration or Cataloging, a literary technique that builds a powerful sense of overwhelming abundance and comprehensive beauty, creating a cumulative effect of her perfection. This detailed listing also employs Hyperbole, as the idea of "all the chief spices" flourishing within one "garden" exaggerates for poetic effect, emphasizing the beloved's supreme and all-encompassing attractiveness beyond literal possibility. Finally, each spice carries profound Symbolism: spikenard for luxury, devotion, and extravagance; frankincense for purity, sacredness, and worship; myrrh and aloes for perfume, but also subtly hinting at suffering, death, or enduring love; collectively creating a multifaceted portrait of the beloved's immense worth, her intrinsic character, and her captivating essence.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
This verse, while celebrating the profound beauty of human love, also offers rich theological insights into the nature of divine design, value, and consecrated beauty. It speaks to God's inherent delight in the richness and diversity of His creation, particularly in the plant kingdom, which provides such exquisite fragrances and valuable resources. The beloved's comprehensive beauty, depicted through these costly and often sacred spices, can be seen as a reflection of the multifaceted glory and intrinsic worth that God bestows upon His creation, especially humanity. The imagery of a "garden enclosed" filled with the "chief spices" points to the idea of a consecrated life, set apart for God and yielding a pleasing aroma, not just to a human lover, but ultimately to the Divine. It highlights that true beauty, whether in a person or in a spiritual life, is not superficial but emanates from a depth of character, purity, and cultivated virtues, offering a delightful and impactful presence in the world, a spiritual fragrance that honors God.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Song of Solomon 4:14 serves as a powerful reminder of the profound beauty and richness that can exist within deep, committed relationships, and by extension, within our spiritual lives with God. In human love, it calls us to cultivate an appreciative eye and a grateful heart, recognizing and affirming the diverse "spices"—the unique virtues, strengths, and delightful qualities—that make our beloved truly precious and irreplaceable. It encourages us to speak words of affirmation that are as rich and varied as the spices listed, celebrating the comprehensive beauty of the one we cherish, thereby nurturing and strengthening the bond. Spiritually, this verse inspires believers to live lives that produce a "pleasing aroma" to God. Our character, nurtured and transformed by the Holy Spirit, can yield virtues like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (the "fruit of the Spirit" from Galatians 5:22-23), becoming like these precious spices—valuable, fragrant, and delightful in the sight of our Creator. It challenges us to consider what "fragrance" our lives are emitting to the world and to God, urging us to cultivate a spiritual garden that brings Him glory and draws others to His beauty.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why are so many specific spices listed in this verse?
Answer: The listing of numerous specific and highly valued spices in Song of Solomon 4:14 serves a crucial poetic and thematic purpose: to emphasize the beloved's comprehensive, multifaceted, and unparalleled beauty and worth. Each spice, with its unique aroma, exotic origin, and cultural significance (often associated with luxury, sacredness, or medicinal properties), contributes to a cumulative impression of perfection and delight. It is a literary device, a form of hyperbole and enumeration, designed to convey that the beloved embodies all desirable qualities, making her a "garden" of supreme excellence and captivating fragrance, far beyond any single attribute.
What is the allegorical meaning of these spices in a spiritual interpretation of Song of Solomon?
Answer: In allegorical interpretations, where the lover represents Christ and the beloved represents the Church or the individual believer, the spices symbolize the spiritual graces, virtues, and spiritual gifts that emanate from a life lived in devotion to God. They represent the "fragrance of Christ" that believers are called to embody (2 Corinthians 2:15), the pleasing aroma of faith, love, good works, and obedience offered to God. Each spice can signify a different aspect of spiritual beauty—purity and worship (frankincense), costly devotion and sacrifice (spikenard), or even the beauty found in enduring suffering (myrrh). Together, they form a composite picture of a sanctified life, delightful to the divine Lover, yielding spiritual fruit that glorifies Him.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Song of Solomon 4:14 celebrates the profound beauty of human love and the beloved's captivating essence, its rich imagery of unparalleled fragrance and comprehensive perfection finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the true "garden" from whom all "chief spices"—every virtue, grace, and divine attribute—emanate in their absolute fullness and purity. The frankincense speaks of His perfect deity and the worship due to Him, echoing the Magi's prophetic gift to the infant King (Matthew 2:11). The myrrh and aloes, often associated with embalming and costly burial preparations, powerfully foreshadow His sacrificial death and burial, through which He conquered sin and death, as seen when Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes for Jesus' burial. The costly spikenard, a symbol of extravagant devotion and immeasurable value, points to the infinite worth of His life and work, and the lavish love shown to Him by those who truly understand His identity (John 12:3). In Christ, we find not merely some precious spices, but "all the chief spices"—the fullness of grace and truth embodied in His person (John 1:14). As His Church, His beloved Bride, we are made fragrant in Him and through Him, becoming a "fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" in Ephesians 5:2. Our spiritual beauty and the "aroma of Christ" we bear are derived from His infinite perfections, making us a garden cultivated by His grace and for His glory.