Bible Strands
Song of Solomon 4:16
Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind. Breathe on my garden and spread the fragrance of its spices. Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choicest fruits.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses the north and south winds, then invites the beloved to enter the garden. This exchange follows the direct description of the garden as a spring of fresh water in the preceding line.
The words — ע֤וּרִי ('U.ri) literally means "awake" and functions as a command for the wind to stir, while הָפִ֥יחִי (ha.Fi.chi) means "make breathe" and directs the wind to release the garden's fragrance.
The thread — The garden imagery and the beloved's entry appear in Song of Solomon 4:13, which lists pomegranates and spices, Song of Solomon 5:1, where the speaker enters the garden to gather spices, and Song of Solomon 6:2, which places the beloved in the garden among spice beds.
Why it lands — The text presents a literal invitation for wind to disperse fragrance and for the beloved to access cultivated fruit, establishing the garden as a defined space of exchange rather than an abstract metaphor.
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
Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
Cross-references
- Song of Solomon 6:2 My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.
- 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 4:13 Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,
- Song of Solomon 7:12 Let us go early to the vineyards to see if the vine has budded, if the blossom has opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom—there I will give you my love.
- Ezekiel 37:9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live!”
- Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
- 1 Peter 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- Ecclesiastes 1:6 The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
- Song of Solomon 1:4 Take me away with you—let us hurry! May the king bring me to his chambers. We will rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. It is only right that they adore you.
- Song of Solomon 2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.