What Does Song of Solomon 1:3 Mean in the King James?

Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

Song of Solomon 1:3 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

A name becomes fragrance when the nature it carries is poured into the open.

THE MEANING

A name carries the nature of the one named, and that nature becomes perceptible as it is poured out, like oil releasing fragrance. The young women’s love answers what they can sense in the beloved, not a label alone.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

A name is only a label, unrelated to the nature of the person who bears it.

THE ROOT

תּוּרַק

turak

GROWS FROM

ריק

riq

to empty; to pour out

The Hebrew verb for “poured forth” grows from the root for emptying, so the image carries both release and disclosure: the oil leaves its containment and its fragrance becomes present. The beloved’s name follows that movement; what it carries becomes perceptible.

ALSO GROWS

req: empty, vacant

רֵיק

This branch names the emptied state behind the pouring, linking release with what had been contained.

hēriq: to empty out, pour out

הֵרִיק

This active form makes the movement plain: what is held is poured into the open.

שֶׁמֶן

shemen

GROWS FROM

שמן

shāman

to grow fat, become rich

“ointment” in this verse is shemen. Oil belongs to a word family of richness and fullness, giving the image more depth than a pleasant smell alone. ⁨שֵׁם⁩ (shem, name) and ⁨שֶׁמֶן⁩ (shemen, oil) share the consonants ⁨ש–מ⁩ but are distinct words; their sound echo lets the name and the fragrance illuminate one another without making them the same root.

ALSO GROWS

shāmen: fat, rich

שָׁמֵן

This adjective shows the fullness carried by the oil word-family and colors the fragrance as something substantial.

vayyishman: and he grew fat

וַיִּשְׁמַן

This verb form keeps the root’s sense of becoming full, connecting the oil’s richness to an inner quality that can be sensed.

THE PATTERN

What a person carries within becomes perceptible through the qualities their presence releases.

A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

Ecclesiastes 7:1 · KJVA good name and precious ointment meet in the same comparison, linking a person’s nature with a fragrance others can recognize.

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

2 Corinthians 2:14 · KJVWhat is carried within becomes manifest as a savour that can be sensed wherever it spreads.

And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Ephesians 5:2 · KJVLove becomes perceptible through what the beloved gives, as an offering releases its fragrance.

THE THREAD

A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one’s birth.

Ecclesiastes 7:1 · KJV

The same Hebrew words return together: ⁨שֵׁם⁩ (shem, name) and ⁨שֶׁמֶן⁩ (shemen, oil or ointment). Song pictures the name as oil poured into fragrance; Ecclesiastes places a good name beside precious ointment, bringing the link between character and fragrance into focus.

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