nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all choice spices —
The King is still describing His bride. Here He names the spices that grow in her, one after another. Two questions press on any reader: what do these fragrances stand for, and how does anyone come to carry them?
Where the spices come from
One writer traces where else the Bible uses the word for cinnamon, and how the bride came to have such perfumes:
Samuel RidoutSweet cinnamon. Scripture uses this word in only two other places. One is the sad passage we have just referred to (Proverbs 7:17). The other stands in blessed contrast: there the true bride has all these fragrant perfumes put upon her — surely, by grace alone.
Variety in one garden
One writer takes the long, mixed list of spices as a picture of what God's people should be:
Andrew MillerThe spouse of the Lord is here likened to a "garden," an "orchard," "a fountain." She is so filled with everything pleasant and fruitful to Him, and the graces of the Holy Spirit in her are so varied, that there is abundance for the heart of her Lord... What a breadth and depth of thought this should give us about what the people of God ought to be for Him in this world! Set the choicest of gardens beside the barren, howling wilderness. That is how the people of the Lord should look beside the people of the world.
Another writer looks at the individual plants in that garden:
Hamilton SmithThe plants may vary in size and beauty, in fragrance and fruitfulness, but all are for the delight of the King. And so in the garden of the Lord; no two saints are alike, but all minister to His delight.
Fruit and fragrance
Fruit and spices are not the same thing. One writer marks the difference, and points to a woman who poured out costly nard on Jesus:
Hamilton SmithIn Scripture, fruit speaks of the excellencies of Christ, but the spices, with their fragrance, speak of worship that has Christ for its object. In worship there is no thought of receiving blessing from Christ. The thought is of bringing the homage of our hearts to Christ. When the wise men from the East found themselves in the presence of the young Child, they fell down and worshiped Him, and offered Him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11). When Mary anointed the feet of Jesus with "a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly," she was not at His feet as a receiver, as on other occasions, to get instruction or to find sympathy in her sorrow. She was there as a giver, to render the worship of a heart filled with the sense of His blessedness.
"All the chief spices" — the whole range, not a favourite few
The verse ends by sweeping in everything else: all the choice spices. One writer turns that phrase into a question for the reader. (Older translations read "all the chief spices" where the ESV has "all choice spices.")
The Song of SolomonThen follow various spices, "all the chief spices." How is it with us? Is there a fragrance about us of not just one or two kinds of spice, but of "all the chief spices"? These spices speak to us of many virtues, or graces of the Spirit. Together they make up the sweet and varied fragrance of a well-balanced character.
The same writer gives two examples:
The Song of SolomonSome Christians are loving, but they are inclined to be over-indulgent and lack firmness for what is right. Others are strict and exacting, firm in their stand for the right, but sadly lacking in love and grace. Such have only one or two of the sweet spices in their Christian life, not "all the chief spices."
Who the bride is
One writer reads the bride first as Christ's earthly people, and then applies the picture to the Church as well:
Hamilton SmithThe strict interpretation of the bride has Christ's earthly people in view. Even so, we may rightly make an application to the Church, the heavenly bride of Christ.
Summary
- Garden. These spices grow in a garden, not a wilderness. The Lord's people should stand out from the world as the choicest garden stands out from barren ground.
- Given. The bride did not grow these perfumes herself. Grace put them upon her — the varied work of the Holy Spirit.
- Varied. Plants differ in size, scent and fruitfulness. No two believers are alike, yet each one adds to the King's delight.
- Worship. Fruit speaks of Christ's excellencies. The fragrance speaks of worship. It comes as a giver, like Mary with her ointment, not as a receiver.
- Complete. He names "all the chief spices," not a favourite two. A character strong on love but weak on firmness, or firm but graceless, is a garden with most of its beds empty.