I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, with aloes, and with cinnamon.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
- KJV I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
- NKJV I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
- NASB “I have sprinkled my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
- NLT I’ve perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
She has perfumed her bed with costly, fragrant spices. Sin appeals to the senses to weaken resolve.
Overview
Myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon evoke a rich, alluring atmosphere meant to entice. The sensual imagery continues her calculated campaign to seduce the naive youth. The verse exposes how temptation carefully crafts an appeal to every sense.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Ps 45:8All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces of ivory the harps make you glad.
- Isa 57:7–9On a high and lofty hill you have made your bed, and there you went up to offer sacrifices.
- Song 4:13–14Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,
- Song 3:6Who is this coming up from the wilderness like a column of smoke, scented with myrrh and frankincense from all the spices of the merchant?
- Exod 30:23“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 7:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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