Song of Solomon 5:13

as a bed of spices Rather, as a bed of balsam shrubs. Probably we should read the plur. bedsas in Song of Solomon 6:2, to correspond with the plur. cheeks. The Heb. for -bed" is -arûghâhderived from -âragh, -to mount up," and signifying a raised flower-bed. Cp. Driver on Joel, Camb. Bible, p. 47. The points of comparison are the rounded form and the variegated colour.

as sweet flowers This is rather a paraphrase than a translation. As they stand, the Heb. words mighdĕlôth merqâchîmmean -towers of perfume herbs." -Towers" is taken to be a synonym of -arûghôth, but if these are only raised garden-beds, this can hardly be. Probably we should read with the LXX, Targ. Vulg. meghaddĕlôthfor mighdĕlôth, i.e. rearing or producing perfumes. The point of the comparison is the growth of a perfumed beard on the cheeks.

like lilies The redness of the shôshannâhis the point here. Tristram thinks it is the Anemone coronaria. Cp. note on Song of Solomon 2:1.

sweet smelling myrrh or liquid myrrh (R.V.), i.e. the finest myrrh, that oozes from the bark of itself. Cp. note on Song of Solomon 5:5. The reference is to the perfume of the breath (cp. Song of Solomon 7:8).