Bible Strands
Song of Solomon 4:10
How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! Your love is much better than wine, and the fragrance of your perfume than all spices.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The male lover addresses the female beloved as "my sister, my bride" immediately after noting that she has captured his heart with a single glance.
The words — The verse employs דֹדַיִךְ (do.Da.yi/kh), meaning "your love," and מַה־ (mah-), an exclamatory "how!" to introduce the comparison.
The thread — The text parallels Song 1:2, which states love is more delightful than wine, and Song 7:6, which exclaims the beloved's fairness. It also appears alongside Galatians 5:22, which lists love as a fruit of the Spirit without drawing a comparison to wine or spices.
Why it lands — The text states that love surpasses wine and spices in delight, requiring the reader to acknowledge this explicit valuation before considering its broader application.
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
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!
Cross-references
- Song of Solomon 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is more delightful than wine.
- Song of Solomon 7:6 How fair and pleasant you are, O love, with your delights!
- Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
- Song of Solomon 1:12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
- Song of Solomon 3:6 Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?
- 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.
- Philippians 4:18 I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
- 2 Corinthians 1:21 Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us,
- Revelation 5:8 When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.