Song of Solomon 4:12 (KJV)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Song of Solomon 4:10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!

Song of Solomon 4:11 Thy lips, O my spouse, 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 inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

Song of Solomon 4:13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard,

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", "inclosed", "sister", "spouse", "spring", "shut", "fountain", and "sealed". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "garden" and "inclosed", 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 spouse drop as..." into verse 13's "Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates...", so "garden" and "inclosed" 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 "inclosed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.