Song Of Solomon / Question
The beloved announces that he has entered his garden and enjoyed its spices, honey, and wine (Song of Solomon 5:1). The verse ends with a call to others: “Eat, friends; drink, and be drunk with love” (Song of Solomon 5:1).
In Song of Solomon 5:1, the male lover announces that he has entered the woman’s “garden,” speaking as if he is harvesting and enjoying its rich products: myrrh, spices, honeycomb, honey, wine, and milk. The repeated “my” language stresses mutual belonging and delight rather than distance. This line follows the woman’s invitation at the end of the previous scene for her beloved to come into his garden and enjoy its fruits (Song of Solomon 4:16). The “garden” image continues the Song’s pattern of using vivid, sensory pictures to speak about desire, attraction, and shared enjoyment.
Song of Solomon 5:1 completes a call-and-response moment. The woman has invited her beloved to come into “his garden” (4:16), and the man now says he has come into “my garden,” addressing her as “my sister, my bride” (Song 5:1). Whatever the “garden” stands for, the text presents it as a protected place of delight that he is welcomed into.
A common mistake is to turn the wording into a slogan. The better reading keeps the phrase tied to the passage, the speaker, and the problem the book is addressing.
Start with Song of Solomon 5:1, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
1I have come into 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. Friends Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved. Beloved