After this, he led them into his garden, where was great variety of flowers. And he said, “Do you see all these?” So Christiana said, “Yes.” Then said he again, “Behold the flowers are diverse in stature, in quality, in color, and smell, and virtue, and some are better than others. Also, where the gardener has set them, there they stand; and quarrel not one with another.”
Notes and Commentary
For the next lesson, the Interpreter leads the pilgrims into his garden. There they see a “great variety of flowers.” This imagery comes from Song of Solomon 4 where the Beloved sings a love song to his bride. In verse 4 he compares her beauty to an “enclosed” (protected and nurtured) garden.
A garden enclosed
Is my sister, my spouse,
A spring shut up,
A fountain sealed.
Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
With pleasant fruits,
Fragrant henna with spikenard,
Spikenard and saffron,
Calamus and cinnamon,
With all trees of frankincense,
Myrrh and aloes,
With all the chief spices—
A fountain of gardens,
A well of living waters,
And streams from Lebanon.
(Song of Solomon 4:12–15)
Many commentators have recognized the parallel in the Song of Solomon between the Beloved’s love for his bride and Christ’s love for His church. Bunyan uses this imagery here in his allegory. The Garden represents the local church. The “great variety of flowers” signifies Christians, individual members of each church. Christ is the Gardener, and it is He who places each flower where He wills.
Continue Reading Notes and Commentary
The text for The Pilgrim’s Progress is public domain.
Notes and Commentary for Part II ©2014, 2023 Ken Puls
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from
the New King James Version (NKJV) ©1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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