Bible Strands
Song of Solomon 5:13
His cheeks are like beds of spice, towers of perfume. His lips are like lilies, dripping with flowing myrrh.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The woman addresses her beloved, continuing her sequential description of his physical features that began in the preceding verse.
The words — `שֽׁוֹשַׁנִּ֔ים` (sho.sha.Nim) means lilies, and `נֹטְפ֖וֹת` (no.te.Fot) means dripping.
The thread — The botanical and cultivated imagery recurs in Song of Solomon 2:1 and Song of Solomon 6:2, which similarly mention lilies and spice beds.
Why it lands — The text maps the beloved’s anatomy to specific agricultural and architectural forms, requiring the reader to note how each physical detail is equated with a cultivated or constructed object.
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
His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
Cross-references
- Song of Solomon 1:10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments, your neck with strings of jewels.
- Song of Solomon 2:1 I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley.
- 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.
- Psalms 4:6 Many ask, “Who can show us the good?” Shine the light of Your face upon us, O LORD.
- Psalms 27:4 One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.
- Psalms 45:2 You are the most handsome of men; grace has anointed your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.
- Psalms 89:15 Blessed are those who know the joyful sound, who walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence.
- 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 4:11 Your lips, my bride, drip sweetness like the honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the fragrance of your garments is like the aroma of Lebanon.
- 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.