Song of Solomon 4:12 (ASV)

Passage

A garden shut up is my sister, [my] bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Nearby Context

Song of Solomon 4:10 How fair is thy love, my sister, [my] bride! How much better is thy love than wine! And the fragrance of thine oils than all manner of spices!

Song of Solomon 4:11 Thy lips, O [my] bride, drop [as] the honeycomb: Honey and milk are under thy tongue; And the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.

Song of Solomon 4:12 A garden shut up is my sister, [my] bride; A spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Song of Solomon 4:13 Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with precious fruits; Henna with spikenard plants,

Song of Solomon 4:14 Spikenard and saffron, Calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; Myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "garden", "shut", "sister", "bride", "spring", "fountain", and "sealed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "garden" and "shut", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Thy lips O my bride drop as..." into verse 13's "Thy shoots are an orchard of pomegranates...", so "garden" and "shut" belong inside that flow. In Song of Solomon context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "garden" and "shut" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.