Song of Solomon 4:16

It is doubtful whether this whole verse is spoken by the Shulammite, or the latter clause only, her lover being still the speaker in the first half of the verse. That he is still the speaker in the first clause is suggested by - mygarden" in Song of Solomon 4:16 band - hisgarden" in Song of Solomon 4:16 c. But the change of pronoun is quite compatible with the view that the bride is the speaker throughout. My gardenwould then be -myself," -my person," as in ch. Song of Solomon 1:6, -my vineyard." His gardenagain, in the mouth of the Shulammite indicates, as Oettli well remarks, "a certain shamefast modesty." Probably the view that the bride speaks the whole verse is preferable.

Awake, O north wind The north wind is cool in Palestine, and the south or south-west wind is warm. They are here called upon to bring forth, by their alternation, the perfumes (not the spices) of the garden, that they may flow out, i.e. she desires that the graces of her person and her mind may come to their highest perfection. This would be more appropriate in the mouth of the bride, who like all true lovers would desire to be nobler and more beautiful than she is, that her lover might find her worthy, than in the mouth of her lover, who would naturally think of her as being altogether fair.

Let my beloved come into his garden, &c. This last clause of the verse is spoken, it should be remembered, by a loving woman shut up in a royal dwelling away from her lover, and expresses her longing for the time when she shall be wholly his.

pleasant fruits R.V. precious fruits, as in Song of Solomon 4:13.