a garden fountain, a well of living water, and flowing streams from Lebanon.
The Bridegroom ends His long description of His bride with water — a fountain, a well, and streams from Lebanon. The question the verse raises is where that water comes from, and where it is meant to go.
The land and the people in view
The Song is a love poem, but commentators read its garden as a picture of a real people in a real place. One writer reads verses 12-15 as Israel planted in her land again, and names what the water pictures:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIn verses 12-15 we have a beautiful description of the garden, the land of Israel in which His beloved is now planted once more. Here we find the precious fruits, as well as the spikenard and all the trees of frankincense. There is the fountain, the well of living waters. This, as well as the north wind and the south wind, is a picture of the Holy Spirit.
Alongside this, writers apply the same picture to believers now.
Garden, orchard, fountain
These verses stack three images, and each does a different job. The fountain is not one feature among many — it is what keeps the other two alive:
Andrew MillerThe spouse of the Lord is here likened to a "garden," an "orchard," "a fountain." She is so filled with all that is 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… The "garden" may be known for its choice collection of flowers, aromatic shrubs, and all pleasant plants. The "orchard" is known for all kinds of trees bearing precious fruit. The "fountain" is what waters the whole scene. Every leaf is wet and refreshed from the living fountain of waters.
A fountain of gardens
Older translations read the phrase as "a fountain of gardens" — one fountain, many gardens. One writer links it to En-gannim, a name with that same meaning, and draws the point from what a garden is:
Numerical Bible NotesEn-gannim, a "fountain of gardens," speaks of the Spirit's work in the world. A garden is a special enclosure, and implies the need of separation, protection, and a nurturing hand. So the Spirit's work is to separate and nourish the people of God, as foreign plants in a strange country. The world around remains a wilderness.
Sealed water that still flows out
Three verses earlier the same bride was a spring shut up and a fountain sealed. Now the water is running. Commentators read this as an order, not a contradiction. A garden kept for the King is a garden with something to give:
Hamilton SmithAnd last of all, the King's garden not only ministers to His delight; it is also a source of blessing to the regions beyond. It is like "a well of living waters, which stream from Lebanon." And so if the garden of the Lord is "enclosed," if "a spring shut up, a fountain sealed" waters it, if it yields its precious fruit for the Lord, then indeed it will be a source of blessing to the world around, a channel for "rivers of living water" to flow to dying men.
The same writer ties this last feature of the garden to a promise the Lord made about anyone who believes:
Hamilton SmithA refreshing garden. Last of all, the Lord would have His garden be a source of refreshment to the world around — a garden from which the "living waters" flow. So the Lord can speak of the believer, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, as a source of blessing to a needy world. He says, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38-39).
The Bridegroom's estimate
Every word in this verse is His about her, not hers about herself. That changes where the believer's eye rests:
W. T. P. WolstonBut the Bridegroom enlarges on what the bride is to Him… This is Christ's appreciation of "His own." We should have the sense of all this in our souls — of what He sees His people to be. If we carried in our souls more of the thought of what we are to Christ, He would be more to us. The eye would then be more off ourselves, and off one another. Then our gaze on Him would be steadier, and the joy of our souls more calm and holy.
Summary
- Watered, not self-made. The fountain keeps the garden green. Every leaf draws its freshness from the living fountain of waters, not from itself.
- Watered by the Spirit. Commentators see the well of living waters as a picture of the Holy Spirit. His work separates and nourishes God's people, like foreign plants in a strange country.
- Watered behind walls. The same bride is a sealed fountain and a flowing one. What she keeps for the King is what she later pours out.
- Watered, then overflowing. The garden that yields fruit for the Lord becomes a channel of living water to dying men. John 7:38 makes that promise to the believer.
- Watered for His delight. These words are His estimate of His own. Carrying that thought makes Him more to us and takes our eyes off ourselves.