The song of songs: The fact that this “greatest of all songs” focuses on romance and marital love shows us what a high regard God has for the institution of marriage. Personally, I believe that both values are here.” (Morgan)Ĭ. There are those who consider its only value is that of its mystical suggestiveness. “There are those who treat this Book as a song of human love. This is clearly a secondary meaning, sublimated to the plain literal meaning, yet nevertheless valid and important. Yet, because God deliberately uses the marriage relationship as an illustration of the relationship that He has with His people, we find that this great song of songs illustrates the love, the intensity, and the beauty of relationship that should exist between God and the believer. Instead, it is a collection of “snapshots” of their courting and married life, with the pictures not necessarily in order. It does not give us a smooth chronological story, beginning with the introduction of the couple to one another and ending with their married life together. The best way to see this book is as a literal, powerful description of the romantic and sensual love between a man and a woman, observing both their courtship and their marriage. Though her resolve wavered, just before she gave in to Solomon’s attention and affection, she fled his palace and went back to her simple shepherd, her true love. Though she was betrothed to the simple shepherd, Solomon brought her back to his palace and tried to win her affection with all lavish gifts and loving words. The idea is that Solomon one day traveled through his kingdom and saw the young maiden and was captivated by her beauty. Others see this book primarily as a drama dealing with three characters Solomon, a simple country shepherd, and the young maiden. One writer in the third century wrote a ten-volume commentary on Song of Solomon, telling how the book describes God’s love for Christians.” (Estes) Trapp expresses this perspective: “The chief speakers are not Solomon and the Shulamite… but Christ and his Church.” Early Christian writers took the same approach, but they replaced Israel with the Church. “The early Jewish rabbis taught that the book pictures God’s love for Israel.
Others embrace this book with great devotion but see it primarily as an allegory describing the love relationship between God and His people, not between a husband and wife. Origen (c.185-c.254), an important teacher in the early church, said of the Song of Solomon: “I advise and counsel everyone who is not yet rid of vexations of the flesh and blood, and has not ceased to feel the passions of this bodily nature, to refrain from reading the book and the things that will be said about it.” Origen apparently felt he was prepared to study Song of Solomon because he castrated himself when he was a young man. The song of songs: Many different interpretive approaches have been used in understanding this great song. Charles Spurgeon preached 59 sermons on this book (in Victorian England) and Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) preached 86 sermons on chapters one and two alone.ī.
All the Scriptures, indeed, are holy… but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies.” (Rabbi Aqiba, an early Jewish commentator on Song of Solomon, cited in Kinlaw) “The entire history of the world from its beginning to this very day does not outshine that day on which this book was given to Israel. No matter what one calls this book it has rightly been highly praised, even by those who have interpreted it in somewhat allegorical and speculative ways. Some call it “Song of Solomon,” some “Song of Songs,” some even use the Latin word for songs, calling it “Canticles.” It seems that Bible translators cannot even agree on a name for the book. The book has no obvious religious content.” (Kinlaw) “If a manuscript of this little book were found alone, detached from the biblical context and tradition, it undoubtedly would be viewed as secular. If the Song of Solomon was not in our Bible and we were to discover it as an ancient document from the time of Solomon, it is unlikely that we would include it in the collection of Old Testament books. The song of songs: This great song, or collection of poetic songs, is unique in the Bible. Introduction to the Maiden, the Beloved, and the daughters of Jerusalem.
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