Song of Solomon 4:12
What does Song of Solomon 4:12 mean?
A plain-English look at Song of Solomon 4:12 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Song of Solomon 4:12 means
Calling the bride “a garden shut up… a spring shut up, a fountain sealed” celebrates her chastity and exclusivity. She is a paradise enclosed, a source of life reserved for her husband alone. The language honors boundaries: what is precious is protected, not exposed to common traffic. This is not possession in a harsh sense, but the mutual security of covenant love. A sealed spring implies purity and reliability; the waters are untainted. The verse frames intimacy as sacred space—delights exist, but within faithful commitment. In this imagery the husband recognizes that access is by invitation, not entitlement, and that love’s treasures are best enjoyed when kept for one another.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000A garden shut up is my sister, my bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
KJV
King James Version · 1611A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901A garden shut up is my sister, my bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949A garden walled-in is my sister, my bride; a garden shut up, a spring of water stopped.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862A garden shut up <FI>is<Fi> my sister-spouse, A spring shut up--a fountain sealed.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890A garden enclosed is my sister, [my] spouse; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
Context
After extolling the bride’s sweetness and fragrance (verses 10–11), the song defines the setting of such delights: an enclosed garden and sealed fountain. This marks a thematic turn from sensation to sanctity—pleasure in its protected place. Verses 13–14 will unfold the richness found within this garden, while verse 15 will describe its waters as life-giving. The structure is important: first exclusivity (verse 12), then abundance (verses 13–14), then vitality (verse 15), shaping the reader’s understanding of covenant intimacy.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Genesis 29:3
And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in its place.
- Ephesians 1:13
in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,—in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
- Isaiah 58:11
and Jehovah will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
- 1 Corinthians 6:13
Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall bring to nought both it and them. But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body:
- Song of Solomon 6:2
My beloved is gone down to his garden, To the beds of spices, To feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
- Isaiah 61:10
I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with a garland, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
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