Song of Solomon 4:12 (LSB)

Passage

A garden locked is my sister, my bride, A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.

Nearby Context

Song of Solomon 4:10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, And the fragrance of your oils Than all kinds of spices!

Song of Solomon 4:11 Your lips, my bride, drip honey from the comb; Honey and milk are under your tongue, And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

Song of Solomon 4:12 A garden locked is my sister, my bride, A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.

Song of Solomon 4:13 Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates With choice fruits, henna with nard plants,

Song of Solomon 4:14 Nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, With all the trees of frankincense, Myrrh and aloes, along with all the finest spices.

Study Lenses

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

The nearby context moves from verse 11's "Your lips my bride drip honey from..." into verse 13's "Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates...", so "garden" and "locked" 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 "locked" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.