What is the meaning of Song of Solomon 7:13? The mandrakes send forth a fragrance • Mandrakes were known for their sweet scent and their association with love and fertility (Genesis 30:14-16). • The bride pictures their aroma wafting through the garden, signaling that love is alive and fruitful. • Earlier she said, “Your name is like perfume poured out” (Songs 1:3), reminding us that true love overflows in a way that others can notice, much like the believer’s witness “to God among the living” (Psalm 116:9). • In a wider biblical frame, the fragrance evokes Christ Himself—“The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” when Mary anointed Jesus (John 12:3). Just as that aroma filled the room, covenant love fills the marriage and testifies to God’s goodness. At our door is every delicacy • The doorway marks the couple’s shared home—love enjoyed within the boundaries God designed (Songs 8:6-7). • “Every delicacy” paints a table heaped with delights, echoing, “He brought me to the banqueting house” (Songs 2:4) and, spiritually, “They feast on the abundance of Your house” (Psalm 36:8). • The placement “at our door” stresses readiness. Like the Good Shepherd who promises, “He will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9), the groom ensures constant provision and safety. New as well as old • Love in marriage is both familiar and fresh. Yesterday’s joys are remembered; today’s mercies are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). • Jesus applied the same picture to discipleship: “every scribe…brings out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:52), combining past revelation with present insight. • God promised Israel, “You will eat the old harvest and clear out the old to make room for the new” (Leviticus 26:10). The bride echoes that abundance: there is always more to savor. That I have treasured up for you, my beloved • The bride has intentionally stored these delights; nothing is accidental. The language mirrors Songs 4:12: “a garden locked…a spring sealed,” prepared for one man alone. • The verb “treasured up” recalls, “Store up my commands within you” (Proverbs 7:1), underlining commitment and foresight. • Spiritually, it reflects Christ’s promise, “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2) and the reality that “eye has not seen…what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). • In marriage, each spouse safeguards body, heart, and time for the other. In faith, believers guard the gospel and their devotion for Christ alone (2 Timothy 1:14). summary Song of Solomon 7:13 presents a vivid snapshot of covenant love: fragrant, abundant, ever-renewed, and intentionally reserved. The mandrakes’ scent signals life and fruitfulness; the doorway laden with delicacies pictures secure provision; the mix of “new and old” celebrates both memory and freshness; and the treasured store underscores exclusive devotion. Together these images call spouses—and, by extension, every believer in relationship with Christ—to cultivate love that is aromatic, generous, continually refreshed, and faithfully guarded. |
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