Bible Strands
Song of Solomon 1:13
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker, the Shulamite woman, addresses her beloved during a royal banquet where her perfume fills the air. She describes his intimate presence while the king remains at his table.
The words — The Hebrew צְרוֹר (tze.Ror) denotes a tied pouch or sachet, paired with מֹר (Mor) for myrrh. The verb יָלִין (ya.Lin) indicates the pouch lodges or rests between her breasts.
The thread — Myrrh appears elsewhere as a burial spice in John 19:39 and as a fragrant garment ingredient in Psalms 45:8. The concept of intimate indwelling parallels the Pauline prayer in Ephesians 3:17.
Why it lands — The text places the beloved in direct physical proximity to the speaker’s heart center, demanding recognition of tangible closeness. It requires the reader to acknowledge the described union without allegorizing it away.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
Cross-references
- John 19:39 Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
- Psalms 45:8 All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.
- Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,
- Genesis 43:11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and carry them down as a gift for the man—a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds.
- Song of Solomon 2:7 O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
- Song of Solomon 3:5 O daughters of Jerusalem, I adjure you by the gazelles and does of the field: Do not arouse or awaken love until the time is right.
- Song of Solomon 4:6 Before the day breaks and the shadows flee, I will make my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
- Song of Solomon 4:14 with nard and saffron, with calamus and cinnamon, with every kind of frankincense tree, with myrrh and aloes, with all the finest spices.
- Song of Solomon 5:1 I have come to my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, and drink; drink freely, O beloved.
- Song of Solomon 5:5 I rose up to open for my beloved. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt.