Song of Solomon 1:12

THE SHULAMITE'S NEGATIVE RESPONSE

"While the king sat at his table,

My spikenard sent forth its fragrance.

My beloved is to me as a bundle of myrrh,

That lieth betwixt my breasts.

My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna-flowers in the vineyards of Engedi."

"While the king sat at his table" (Song of Solomon 1:12). This means, "in the king's absence." He was either eating "at his table" or conducting the affairs of state. In the meanwhile, the Shulamite maiden possessed a small box of a very precious ointment which she carried between her breasts, reminding her continually of her real lover. Her imagination was not stirred at all by Solomon's promise of gold jewelry; instead her mind went back to a bouquet of henna-flowers from the vineyards of Engedi, which had most likely come to her from her shepherd lover. The origin of that gift of flowers points to the true lover, not to Solomon. Scholars dispute it; but we see these as wild flowers.