What Does Song of Solomon 4:16 Mean in the King James?
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.
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
The same Hebrew verb invites both the southern wind and the beloved to come, making the breeze’s release of fragrance the opening of intimacy.
THE MEANING
Desire here is spoken directly: the speaker calls the winds through the garden, and its fragrance flows outward. The beloved is invited to enter and taste what has ripened; intimacy is both an opening of what is within and a receiving of its fruit.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that desire must remain concealed to remain intimate: the speaker names the invitation, and the garden’s abundance opens to be received.
THE ROOT
וּבֹאִי
uḇoʾi
GROWS FROM
בוא
Come, enter, arrive
The line uses בוא twice: the southern wind is invited to come, then the beloved comes. Hebrew keeps their arrivals in one verbal family, so the wind is not mere backdrop; its movement opens the garden into the encounter.
ALSO GROWS
bo: To come or enter
בּוֹא
This is the verb repeated for the south wind and the beloved.
mavo: An entrance or way in
מָבוֹא
This related noun echoes the garden as a space the beloved is welcomed into.
יִזְּלוּ
yizzelu
GROWS FROM
נזל
Flow, run, trickle
“flow out” in this verse is yizzelu. The verb describes movement like a stream or drip, so the spices do not merely become noticeable; their fragrance pours from the garden. The verse makes release part of the garden’s abundance.
ALSO GROWS
nazal: To flow or drip
נָזַל
This is the verb family behind the spices’ flowing outward.
nozel: Something liquid or flowing
נוֹזֵל
This related form preserves the root’s sense of movement rather than stillness.
פְּרִי
perī
GROWS FROM
פרה
Bear fruit, become fruitful
The noun for fruit belongs to a word family of fruiting. What the beloved eats is the garden’s ripened yield: appetite meets something that has grown to fullness.
ALSO GROWS
parah: To bear fruit or become fruitful
פָּרָה
This verb names the growth that produces the garden’s yield.
perī: Fruit or produce
פְּרִי
This is the verse’s word for what the beloved enters to enjoy.
THE PATTERN
When abundance opens, its fragrance moves beyond its source and makes presence perceptible.
Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.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.THE THREAD
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.Song 4:16 uses בוא (bo, “come, enter”) for both the south wind and the beloved; Song 5:1 answers with בָּאתִי (baʾti, “I have come”), from that same root. The invitation becomes an arrival: the beloved enters the garden and receives its fruit.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us