Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Song of Solomon 5:13 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 13. 13His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse compares cheeks and lips to spice beds, flowers, lilies, and myrrh.
Read It With
- Song of Solomon 5:9-6:3
Read Song of Solomon 5:13 with 5:9-6:3. This verse compares cheeks and lips to spice beds, flowers, lilies, and myrrh. The complete unit establishes this movement: Asked what distinguishes her beloved, the woman answers with an extravagant male wasf, calls him both beloved and friend, and then locates him through garden imagery before affirming mutual belonging.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The daughters' challenge gives the woman space to articulate why this particular beloved matters, and her speech moves from bodily admiration to friendship and restored mutuality. Within that movement, this verse compares cheeks and lips to spice beds, flowers, lilies, and myrrh.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“bed of spices”
In plain language: a fragrant cultivated plot used as facial praise
compares cheeks and lips to spice beds, flowers, lilies, and myrrh. Scent and speech make the man's face part of the garden world.
Why it matters: The wording identifies this verse's distinct contribution to the complete unit.
How certain? strongWhat Remains True
Scent and speech make the man's face part of the garden world.
How It Can Shape Life
- Praise without presuming the right to smell, kiss, or touch.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Song of Solomon 5:9-6:3 — Describing the Absent Beloved Until the Garden ReturnsSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: Song of Solomon 5:9-6:3, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Song of Songs
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, speaker-gender signals, wordplay, poetic clauses, and translation questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Song.xml, 5:9-6:3
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: The Song of Songs with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-level textual, grammatical, literary, historical, and translation alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible Song of Songs PDF, printed pp. 1248-1250, translation and notes on 5:9-6:3
Open source ↗