A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

SONG OF SOLOMON 4:15KJV
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Song of Solomon 4:15 (KJV)

What does Song of Solomon 4:15 mean?

Song of Solomon 4:15 is a lover’s praise of the woman he loves. He compares her to sources of fresh water, using images that suggest beauty, vitality, and abundance in a garden setting.

After calling her an enclosed garden in verse 12, the man now describes her as its source of water. The streams from Lebanon bring to mind water flowing down from distant mountains into a well-watered landscape.

The Hebrew behind Song of Solomon 4:15

  • “living” — חַי (ḥay): The word means “alive.” In the phrase “living waters,” it often describes fresh, flowing water rather than water standing still.
  • “streams” — נֹזְלִים (nozelim): The word refers to flowing waters. It adds movement to the picture of water coming from Lebanon.

Why Song of Solomon 4:15 matters

  • The garden image is personal praise. In verse 12, the man calls the woman “my sister, my spouse,” and verse 15 continues his description of her.
  • The water imagery adds to the picture of a flourishing garden. Alongside the plants and spices named in verses 13–14, the fountain and well suggest the water that keeps a garden fruitful.
  • The mention of Lebanon gives the comparison a sense of freshness and distance. Its mountains were known for forests and flowing water, making them a fitting source for the verse’s streams.

Where else these words appear

“streams” Hebrew H5140 · used in 16 verses

  • Exodus 15:8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
  • Psalms 78:16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
  • Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:

“fountain” Hebrew H4599 · used in 23 verses

  • Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
  • 2 Kings 3:25 And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kirharaseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.
  • Proverbs 5:16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

“well” Hebrew H875 · used in 33 verses

  • Genesis 14:10 And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
  • Genesis 26:20 And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well Esek; because they strove with him.
  • Numbers 21:16 And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.

“gardens” Hebrew H1588 · used in 37 verses

  • Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
  • Genesis 13:10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
  • Song of Solomon 8:13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.