1The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
Beloved
2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth;
for your love is better than wine.
3Your oils have a pleasing fragrance.
Your name is oil poured out,
therefore the virgins love you.
4Take me away with you.
Let’s hurry.
The king has brought me into his rooms.
Friends
We will be glad and rejoice in you.
We will praise your love more than wine!
Beloved
They are right to love you.
5I am dark, but lovely,
you daughters of Jerusalem,
like Kedar’s tents,
like Solomon’s curtains.
6Don’t stare at me because I am dark,
because the sun has scorched me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me.
They made me keeper of the vineyards.
I haven’t kept my own vineyard.
7Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
where you graze your flock,
where you rest them at noon;
for why should I be as one who is veiled
beside the flocks of your companions?
Lover
8If you don’t know, most beautiful among women,
follow the tracks of the sheep.
Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
9I have compared you, my love,
to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.
Friends
11We will make you earrings of gold,
with studs of silver.
Beloved
12While the king sat at his table,
my perfume spread its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh,
that lies between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
from the vineyards of En Gedi.
Lover
15Behold, you are beautiful, my love.
Behold, you are beautiful.
Your eyes are like doves.
Beloved
16Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant;
and our couch is verdant.
Lover
17The beams of our house are cedars.
Our rafters are firs.
Beloved
1I am a rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
Lover
2As a lily among thorns,
so is my love among the daughters.
Beloved
3As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
so is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight,
his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4He brought me to the banquet hall.
His banner over me is love.
5Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples;
for I am faint with love.
6His left hand is under my head.
His right hand embraces me.
7I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the roes, or by the hinds of the field,
that you not stir up, nor awaken love,
until it so desires.
The Song of Songs, or the Song of Solomon, is a book many have questioned. Timothy Mackie, in a recent podcast from the Bible Project, asked the question, “What is semi-erotic love poetry doing in the Bible?” This collection of love songs and poems is both simple and complex, straightforward and intricate, easy to read and yet full of depth. There are statements that will make you blush and others that seem to be more of an insult than a pickup line. This book is full of a lot of Jewish imagery, idioms, and symbols that our 21st century eyes will not fully comprehend upon their first reading, and yet it remains a very important piece of our Bible. The Song of Songs is attributed to King Solomon and is the last book of the wisdom literature in the Christian arrangement of the Old Testament.
There are three primary interpretations of this book throughout its history. The first is the literal reading which sees this book as a collection of love poems between Solomon and a woman he is about to marry. This interpretation claims that wisdom is found not only in academics and observation, but also in relationship and love. The book becomes a testament to the power and passion of love between two people.
The second interpretation is an allegorical reading, whereby the love of Solomon and the woman represent the love of God and Israel, later picked up by Christians to represent the love of Christ and the Church. Faith is likened to the pursuit of knowing and being known by another, and the passion and intimacy of the woman and Solomon represent the passion and intimacy God longs to have with us.
The third interpretation is also an allegorical reading but instead pictures the woman as lady wisdom, the embodiment of wisdom from the book of Proverbs, and Solomon as representative of humanity. This reading compares the pursuit of love to the pursuit of wisdom. The interesting aspect of this interpretation is that the book becomes not a story about humanity pursuing lady wisdom (Christ), but about lady wisdom (Christ) pursuing mankind.
These very different readings provide a wealth of insight and depth into a book of the Bible that is often overlooked. May we be open to exploring this depth and experiencing the passion and intimacy it presents.