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Song of Songs 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.
Song of Songs 4:16 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Awake, north wind; and come, you south! Blow on my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and taste his precious fruits.
  • KJV 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.
  • NKJV Awake, O north wind, And come, O south! Blow upon my garden, That its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come to his garden And eat its pleasant fruits.
  • NASB ¶“Awake, north wind, And come, wind of the south; Make my garden breathe out fragrance, May its balsam oils flow. May my beloved come into his garden And eat its delicious fruits!”
  • NLT Awake, north wind! Rise up, south wind! Blow on my garden and spread its fragrance all around. Come into your garden, my love; taste its finest fruits.

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

The bride invites the winds to spread her garden's fragrance and welcomes her beloved to come and enjoy its fruits. It is a glad invitation to shared delight.

Overview

She calls the north and south winds to make her garden's spices flow and bids her beloved come into his garden to taste its fruits. Her self-giving welcome answers his praise with loving invitation. The mutual delight pictures the welcome the Lord receives from His people and the communion He shares with them (Rev. 3:20).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • Song 6:2My beloved has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flock in the gardens and to gather lilies.
  • Song 5:1I 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 7:12–13Let 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.
  • Acts 2:1–2When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
  • Ezek 37:9Then 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!”
  • Song 4:13–14Your branches are an orchard of pomegranates with the choicest of fruits, with henna and nard,
  • 1 Pet 2:5you 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.
  • Acts 4:31After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
  • Phil 1:9–11And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
  • Col 1:9–12For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
  • 1 Th 2:12–13encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
  • Heb 13:20–21Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
  • Matt 26:10Aware of this, Jesus asked, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful deed to Me.
  • Matt 26:12By pouring this perfume on Me, she has prepared My body for burial.
  • John 3:8The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
  • John 5:8Then Jesus told him, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”
  • Rom 15:16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
  • Rom 15:28So after I have completed this service and have safely delivered this bounty to them, I will set off to Spain by way of you.
  • 2 Cor 9:10–15Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your store of seed and will increase the harvest of your righteousness.
  • Song 8:12But my own vineyard is mine to give; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred are for those who tend its fruit.
  • Song 2:3Like 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.
  • Song 1:4Take 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.
  • Isa 64:1If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
  • Isa 51:9–11Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
  • Eccl 1:6The wind blows southward, then turns northward; round and round it swirls, ever returning on its course.
  • 2 Pet 3:18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
  • 1 Pet 2:9–10But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

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Christ at the center

The poetry of covenant love between bride and bridegroom pictures, at its highest, the love of Christ for his church — the Bridegroom who gave himself for his bride.

How Song of Songs 4:16 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.