Song of Solomon 4 · Verse 16

Song of Solomon 4:16

Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

Song of Solomon 4:16, King James Version

Song of Solomon 4:16 in other translations

BSB	Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choicest fruits.
WEB	Awake, north wind, and come, you south! Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and taste his precious fruits.
ASV	Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat his precious fruits.
YLT	Awake, O north wind, and come, O south, Cause my garden to breathe forth, its spices let flow, Let my beloved come to his garden, And eat its pleasant fruits!
DARBY	Awake, north wind, and come, thou south; Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow forth. Let my beloved come into his garden, And eat its precious fruits.
BBE	Be awake, O north wind; and come, O south, blowing on my garden, so that its spices may come out. Let my loved one come into his garden, and take of his good fruits.
Webster	Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

What does Song of Solomon 4:16 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

16. Awake--literally, "arise." All besides is ready; one thing alone is wanted--the breath of God. This follows rightly after His death (So 6:12; Ac 2:1-4). It is His call to the Spirit to come (Joh 14:16); in Joh 3:8, compared to "the wind"; quickening (Joh 6:63; Eze 27:9). Saints offer the same prayer (Psa 85:6; Ha 3:2). The north wind "awakes," or arises strongly, namely, the Holy Ghost as a reprover (Joh 16:8-11); the south wind "comes" gently, namely, the Holy Ghost as the comforter (Joh 14:16). The west wind brings rain from the sea (1Ki 18:44, 45; Lu 12:54). The east wind is tempestuous (Job 27:21; Is 27:8) and withering (Ge 41:23). These, therefore, are not wanted; but first the north wind clearing the air (Job 37:22; Pr 25:23), and then the warm south wind (Job 37:17); so the Holy Ghost first clearing away mists of gloom, error, unbelief, sin, which intercept the light of Jesus Christ, then infusing spiritual warmth (2Co 4:6), causing the graces to exhale their odor. Let my beloved, &c.--the bride's reply. The fruit was now at length ripe; the last passover, which He had so desired, is come (Lu 22:7, 15, 16, 18), the only occasion in which He took charge of the preparations. his--answering to Jesus Christ's "My." She owns that the garden is His, and the fruits in her, which she does not in false humility deny (Psa 66:16; Ac 21:19; 1Co 15:10) are His (Joh 15:8; Php 1:11).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 16 A fountain of gardens - Perhaps גנים gannim, "gardens," was originally ציים chaiyim, "lives," a living fountain, a continual spring. See Houbigant. But this is expressed afterwards; though there would be nothing improper in saying, "a living fountain, a well of living waters, and streams from Mount Lebanon." A fountain of gardens may mean one so abundant as to be sufficient to supply nany gardens, to water many plots of ground, an exuberant fountain. This is the allusion; the reference is plain enough. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south - It is granted that the south wind in Palestine, in the summer, is extremely hot and troublesome; therefore, another interpretation of this passage has been proposed by Mr. Harmer; who thinks בואי boi, which we render come, signifies enter into thy repositories; and, therefore, supposes the true interpretation of the words to be as follows: "Arise, thou north wind, (and retire, thou south), blow upon my garden; let the spices thereof flow forth, that my beloved may come into his garden, invited by the coolness and fragrancy of the air, and may eat his pleasant fruits; for, if the south wind blow, the excessive heat will forbid his taking the air, and oblige him to shut close the doors and windows of his apartments." Others think that he wishes the winds from all directions to carry throughout the land the fume of his spices, virtue, and perfections. Let my beloved come into his garden - This is the invitation of the bride: and if we look not for far-fetched meanings, the sense is sufficiently evident. But commentators on this song sometimes take a literal sense where the metaphor is evident; at other times they build an allegory upon a metaphor. The Gitagovinda has an elegant passage similar to this. See the place, Part VII, beginning with Enter, sweet Radha. The whole of this chapter is considered to be unconnected with any particular time of the marriage ceremonies.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

The church prays for the influences of the blessed Spirit, to make this garden fruitful. Graces in the soul are as spices in these gardens, that in them which is valuable and useful. The blessed Spirit, in his work upon the soul, is as the wind. There is the north wind of conviction, and the south wind of comfort. He stirs up good affections, and works in us both to will and to do that which is good. The church invites Christ. Let him have the honour of all the garden produces, and let us have the comfort of his acceptance of it. We can invite him to nothing but what is his own already. The believer can have no joy of the fruits, unless they redound some way or other to the glory of Christ. Let us then seek to keep separate from the world, as a garden enclosed, and to avoid conformity thereto.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Song of Solomon 4:16 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ע֤וּרִי'U.riawakeH5782

צָפוֹן֙tza.fOnO north windH6828

וּב֣וֹאִיu.Vo.'iand comeH935

תֵימָ֔ןtei.ManO south windH8486

הָפִ֥יחִיha.Fi.chimake breatheH6315

גַנִּ֖יga.Nigarden myH1588

יִזְּל֣וּyi.ze.Lulet them flowH5140

בְשָׂמָ֑יוve.sa.Mavspices itsH1314

יָבֹ֤אya.Vo'let him comeH935

דוֹדִי֙do.Dilover myH1730

לְגַנּ֔וֹle.ga.Noto garden hisH1588

וְיֹאכַ֖לve.yo.Khalso he may eatH398

פְּרִ֥יpe.Ri[the] fruit ofH6529

מְגָדָֽיו\׃me.ga.Davchoice<s> itsH4022

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Song of Solomon 4:16

Song of Solomon 6:2
My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
Song of Solomon 5:1
I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
Ezekiel 37:9
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
Song of Solomon 4:13-14
Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
1 Peter 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Acts 2:1-2
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
Song of Solomon 7:12-13
Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
Colossians 1:9-12
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
John 5:8
Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
Song of Solomon 8:12
My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
John 3:8
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Matthew 26:12
For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Awake.
1:4; Ec 1:6; Isa 51:9-11; 64:1; Eze 37:9; Joh 3:8; Ac 2:1,2; 4:31
the spices.
13,14; 7:12,13; 2Co 9:10-15; Php 1:9-11; Col 1:9-12; 1Th 2:12,13
Heb 13:20,21; 2Pe 3:18
Let.
5:1; 8:12; Mt 26:10,12; Joh 5:8; Ro 15:16,28; 1Pe 2:5,9,10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Song of Solomon 4:15
A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
Song of Solomon 4:16
Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.

Read all of Song of Solomon 4

Song of Solomon 4:16 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Levántate, Aquilón, y ven, Austro: sopla mi huerto, despréndanse sus aromas. Venga mi amado á su huerto, y coma de su dulce fruta.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Réveille-toi, nord, et viens, midi; souffle dans mon jardin, pour que ses aromates s’exhalent! Que mon bien-aimé vienne dans son jardin, et qu’il mange ses fruits exquis.
German Elberfelder 1871	Wache auf, Nordwind, und komm, Südwind: durchwehe meinen Garten, laß träufeln seine Wohlgerüche! Mein Geliebter komme in seinen Garten und esse die ihm köstliche Frucht. -
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Surge, aquilo, et veni, auster: perfla hortum meum, et fluant aromata illius.