The lover continues that the garden contains spikenard and saffron, cane and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes, with all chief spices, establishing an exhaustive list of the most valuable materials in the ancient world. The exclusive focus on aromatic and precious substances establishes that the beloved's interior is composed of only the finest materials, and that every element contributes to her value and beauty. The reference to 'all chief spices' suggests that the beloved contains within herself not merely one or two sources of pleasure but the entire spectrum of sensory and aromatic delight. This verse theologically suggests that the beloved is inexhaustibly abundant and that her erotic interiority contains every source of pleasure imaginable.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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