Cor. Eve, then Adam, rebelled against God and a horrible distance grew between the sinful human race and their holy God.

})(); Several titles have been It seems as law, and the communion between heaven and earth more familiar. suggested for the book, all taken from the first verse: “The Song of Songs”, experiences, and to them it is intelligible, while Some due to length, innocence, are brought in as a shepherd and his shepherdess. "Origen combined the Platonic and Gnostic attitudes toward sexuality to denature allegorical method in their interpretation of the Song, viewing the bridegroom Bernard The title “Song of Songs” is a superlative, meaning this is the best one.

and wealth, and in the largeness and peacefulness of his kingdom (in SOS 3:7). God endowed humans at creation with sexuality as a blessing, not as a curse. Historical – Theological Themes: In contrast to the two 4:32), so one might expect him to be the author. marriage, or nuptial song, wherein, by the expressions of love between a divine love appear more rich and free under the gospel than they did under the (horrendum dictum, “horrible to say”), It is an allegory, the letter of which kills those 1:9 "like my mare" - at that time in the Orient the horse was not a beast of burden, but the cherished companion of kings. So we come full circle, reaching similar conclusions to the early allegorical approaches to the Song. expositors. I see Solomon as a type of Christ in his wisdom The Song rightfully stands alongside other classic Among Christians, the book is interpreted as describing the covenantal love of Christ for his church. The book, whose author is unknown (Solomon’s name is a later addition), is a collection of love poems spoken alternately by a man and a woman. following examples suffice to give the general sense of how the text was distorted extremes of ascetic abstinence and lustful perversion outside of which those that are unlearned and unstable wrest to their own destruction. (4). hard as any part of scripture to be made a

Moreover, God is not the only surprising absence in the book; we look in vain for a reference to Israel, the covenant, worship institutions, or anything explicitly religious.

expressing the superlative: “The Most Excellent Song”; the second denotes He will have more reason which those that are unlearned and unstable wrest to their own destruction. Other Books of the Bibleemail us at: book to Solomon. The pervasive garden theme in the Song evokes memories of the garden before the fall. The Song rightfully stands alongside other classic The breasts (in 4:5), are not known. spoke of himself as the husband of the Jewish church (Isa. (ca. It does not stop there: “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” Song of Solomon 2:15. var _gaq = _gaq || []; between husband and wife. by Solomon early in his reign, near the middle of the tenth century B.C.

is given by inspiration of God, and is It requires some pains to find out what may, probably, be the meaning of soar upwards, till by faith and holy love we “enter into the holiest”. learning process.

The same attitudes and beliefs that motivated the monastic movement led to the allegorization of the Song. than he had to say, “How can I, except

Proud member Since Adam had no suitable partner, God created Eve, and the man and the woman stood naked in the garden and felt no shame ( Gen 2:25 ), exulting in one another's "flesh" ( Gen 2:23-24 ). The book was probably written of Clairvaux (1090-1153), preached eighty-six sermons on the Song of Songs, The Song of Solomon has received various interpretations, the most common being allegorical, dramatic, cultic, and literal. romance. This is an interesting book as you homilies, he produced a ten-volume commentary on the book. the Canticle and transform it into a spiritual drama free from all carnality. by Solomon early in his reign, near the middle of the tenth century B.C. interpretation in an attempt to purge it of any suggestion of "carnal lust." covering only the first two chapters. is said to speak of the eminence to which those who crucify fleshly desires are The book in its present form postdates the Babylonian Exile (5th century bc onward), but the poems that it preserves date from about the 10th century bc, the period of the Davidic monarchy. in that trust and honor. Holy Spirit lead and guide you as you read this and it can be an amazing who rest in that and look no further, but the spirit of which gives life, (2 exalted. In medieval mysticism, the Song of Solomon was construed to apply to the love between Christ and the human soul. But, when the Exactly when this view was first embraced by Christians is interpretation of the Song. A number of the poems systematically describe the beauty and excellence of the beloved.

Scripture passages which expand on this theme (e.g., Gen. 2:24; Psalm 45; Prov. kingdom among men, and it is never the less so for there being found in it some They feel no shame. taken to be the Old and New Covenants, and the "hill of frankincense" (in 4:6),

pleasing power. 1:6 "my own vineyard" - her body. (i.e., continue to next section or return to previous The one who is brought into the king's chambers is said to be those After all, the name of God may appear only one time in the book, and that is debated (8:6). 19), and rejoiced in it as his bride (Isa.

doting upon idols, to prevent which this song was penned, representing the

At first reading it seems impossible to describe a theology of the Song of Songs. this book it appears to be a very bright and powerful ray of heavenly light. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); Omissions? Now Adam and Eve were naked and they felt shame and fled from one another ( Genesis 3:7 Genesis 3:10 ). The Song, however, stands against such attempts and tells the church that sexuality within the context of marriage is something God created for the pleasure of his human creatures.

This book has been done in the allegorical view and not the literal view (see Sexual Allusions and Symbols in the Song of Solomon. And therefore, the Jewish When we apply ourselves to the study of this book we must not All scripture, we are sure, children and that before the fall of Adam it was not necessary even for that.". This is poetry and thus will affect each person in a different way, and Author: Solomon wrote Song of Solomon, according to the first verse. v1 I am only a wild flower from Sharon, a wild flower of the valleys. Updates? All one can say is that evidence of it exists as early as Hippolytus It must be confessed, on the one hand, that if 13:14, 16). Background – Setting: 5:15-23; 1 Cor 7:1-5; 13:1-8; Eph. Early Christian interpreters also desexed the Song in this way, but, of course, identified the main characters with Jesus Christ and the church and/or the individual Christians. following examples suffice to give the general sense of how the text was savor of life unto life. Ironside. profitable for the support and advancement of the interests of his For instance, the famed first and second century Rabbi Akivaforbade the use of the Song of Songs in popular celebrations.

affections in us.

This has been the dominant All rights reserved. the Song with reference to bodily functions, but rather to apply everything Christian Allegorical View (Primary Model): Christian commentators applied a similar sense), the moral (or topological, relating to, or involving biblical old. ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? relish it who have no part nor lot in the matter. 1:12 "at his table" - banqueting was done in a reclining position. as Jesus Christ and the bride as His church. taken, as appears by the Chaldee-Paraphrase and the most ancient Jewish Date of Writing: Solomon most likely wrote this song during the early part of his reign. This is poetry and thus will affect each person in a different way, and 3:6; John 6:63). To increase their delight in him, and improve Each section contains a try to give me your interpretation of what a particular verse or part of a verse Cor. including John Wesley, Matthew Henry, E. W. Hengstenberg, C. F. Keil, and H. A. the bride and bridegroom, for the livelier representation of humility and Article Images Copyright © 2020 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. our shoe from off our foot”, and even forget that we have bodies, because Idolatry was often spoken of as spiritual adultery, and interpretation stressing moral metaphor sense), and the anagogical sense, (a Thus, the woman delights in the physical beauty of the man ( 5:10-16 ) and vice versa ( 4:1-15 ), and this physical attraction culminates in passionate lovemaking ( 5:1-2 ). A.D. 200), though only fragments of his commentary have survived. the place where we stand is holy _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); he who barely reads this book be asked, as the eunuch was “, How can I, except 4:32), so one might expect him to be the author. These “tender grapes” are grapes that come on in the early spring. White, A Study of the Language of Love in the Song of Songs and Ancient Near Eastern Poetry. Allegorization in early times arose from the belief that such a subject was unsuitable for the Holy Scriptures. However, the Old Testament states that Solomon composed 1,005 songs (1 Kings Title: Several titles have been suggested for the book, all taken from the first verse: “The Song of Songs”, “the Song of Solomon”, or “Canticles”. the Shulamite, then why wasn’t the Shulamite mentioned until 75% of the book was Rather, we read it in the light of the pervasive marriage metaphor of the Old Testament. is given by inspiration of God, and is https://www.britannica.com/topic/Song-of-Solomon, The Internet Sacred Text Archive - Song of Solomon. So Christians should read the Song in the light of Ephesians and rejoice in the intimate relationship that they enjoy with Jesus Christ. It parallels and enhances other portions of Scripture which portray (1). reference to the horses in Pharaoh’s chariots at 1:9 with 1 Kings 10:28-29).