Song of Solomon
Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament · Book 22 of 66- Author
- Solomon
- Written
- c. 965 BC
- Time covered
- The courtship and marriage of a bridegroom and his bride
- Where
- Jerusalem and the countryside of Israel
- Written to
- A people who needed marriage spoken of as a good gift
- Genre
- Poetry — a song in dialogue
- Chapters
- 8
“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.”Song of Solomon 8:7 KJV
Read Song of Solomon in the Bible Reader
Download this book:KJV PDF, 101 KBBSB PDF, 120 KB
Overview
The Song is a love poem, sung back and forth between a bridegroom and his bride, with a chorus of the daughters of Jerusalem. It celebrates desire, delight and faithfulness within marriage, in language that is frank and unembarrassed.
Jewish and Christian readers have long also read it as a picture of God’s love for His people — a reading the prophets invite when they call Israel a bride, and Paul does when he speaks of Christ and the church.
Background
Called the Song of Songs — a Hebrew way of saying the best of songs. It was read at Passover in Jewish tradition, which says something about how seriously it was taken.
The imagery is agricultural and local: vineyards, flocks, spices, the towers and gardens of the land. Much of it describes the beloved by comparing them to that landscape.
Key themes
- Married love is a good gift of God, body and soul.
- Desire is to be awakened in its time, not before — the refrain to the daughters of Jerusalem.
- Love is exclusive, and belonging is mutual: my beloved is mine, and I am his.
- Love is strong as death, and cannot be bought.
- Longing and absence are part of love, not its failure.
Outline
- CourtshipChapters 1–2
The bride’s longing, the bridegroom’s praise, and the rose of Sharon.
- The wedding, and a night of searchingChapters 3–5
A procession from the wilderness, the bridegroom’s delight, and a dream of loss.
- Reunion and praiseChapters 6–7
She is found again, and described from head to foot.
- Love’s sealChapter 8
Set me as a seal upon thine heart — love is strong as death.
Key passages
- Song of Solomon 1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
- Song of Solomon 2:1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
- Song of Solomon 2:4 His banner over me was love.
- Song of Solomon 2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his.
- Song of Solomon 4:7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
- Song of Solomon 8:6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart: for love is strong as death.
- Song of Solomon 8:7 Many waters cannot quench love.
Christ in Song of Solomon
Paul quotes Genesis on marriage and then says he speaks concerning Christ and the church — which is the warrant for reading this Song on two levels. The bridegroom who delights in a bride he calls without spot is language the New Testament uses of Christ presenting the church to Himself.
Reading it
- Track who is speaking; most Bibles mark the bride, the bridegroom and the chorus.
- Let the plain sense stand first — it is a marriage song, and that is not a lesser reading.
- Read 8:6-7 at the end and see what the whole poem has been building toward.