Song of Solomon 4:12

A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

A garden enclosed. Here she is distinct from the garden (), yet identified with it (), as being one with Him in His sufferings. Historically, the Paradise into which the soul of Jesus Christ entered at death; and the tomb of Joseph, in which His body was laid amidst "myrrh," etc. (), situated in a nicely kept garden (cf. "gardener," ); "sealed" with a stone (); in which it resembles 'wells' in the East. It was in a garden of light Adam fell; in a garden of darkness, Gethsemane, and chiefly that of the tomb, the second Adam retrieved us. Spiritually, the garden is the Gospel kingdom of heaven. Here all is ripe: previously () it was "the tender grape." The garden is His, though he calls the plants her's (), by his gift (, end).

Spring ... fountain - Jesus Christ () sealed, while He was in the sealed tomb: it poured forth its full tide on Pentecost. Still He is a sealed fountain, until the Holy Spirit open it to one (). The Church also is "a garden enclosed," (; , etc.) Contrast Psalms 80:9. So "a spring" (); 'sealed' (). As wives in the East are secluded from public gaze, so believers (). Contrast the oven streams which "pass away" (Job 6:15; ).