1 Song of Solomon
2 This book has been titled several ways: A) The Song of Songs—the Hebrew title from verse 1, which means “the finest, or best, of songs” B) The Song of Solomon—the English title, also from verse 1, which designates the author C) Canticles—meaning simply “songs,” derived from the Latin
3 The book is in the form of dramatic Hebrew poetry.The book has three major characters: the bride (Shulamite), the king (Solomon), and a chorus (daughters of Jerusalem). The “Shulamite” name is the feminine form of Solomon and we would translate it in modern language as "Mrs. Solomon”. The settings are in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel and in the countryside/hometown of the Shulamite The book consists mostly of dialogue between Solomon and the Shulamite, which is occasionally interrupted by certain leading questions from "the daughters of Jerusalem." On three occasions the Shulamite addresses them directly.
4 Theme and Purpose The Song of Solomon is a love song filled with metaphors and imagery designed to portray God’s view of love and marriage The purpose of the book will depend on the viewpoint taken as to the way the book should be interpreted:
5 (1) Purely an Allegory: Some have regarded it only an allegory portraying fictional characters employed teach the truth of God’s love for His people. The allegorical interpretation maintains that the book is primarily about the covenant relationship between God and His people. It identified Solomon with Jehovah (or else, according to the Christians, with Christ) and the Shulamite as Israel (or the Church). This was the prevailing Jewish interpretation for both the Rabbinical tradition and the early church.
6 (2) The Literal View: Others regard the Song as simply a royal—yet temporal—love song. Solomon falls in love with a young peasant girl while she works in the fields. He brings her to the palace and marries her. The literal view interprets the primary purpose as being a model for the proper intimacy between spouses in a covenantal marriage relationship The book portray the joys of love in courtship and marriage and counteract both the extremes of asceticism and of lust. The rightful place of physical love, within marriage only, is clearly established and honored. Part of the evidence used to support this view is the fact that the name of God is not mentioned in the Song.
7 (3) The Literal/Typical View: This view sees a combination a literal historical event portraying the beauties of physical love along with a symbolic portrait of Christ’s love for the church. Thus, the Song of Songs is seen as a picture of the Church as the Bride of Christ. God loves His only Son and has called out, and prepared for him, a beautiful, virgin bride, "without spot or blemish," (Ephesians 5:23-32). One obstacle to this view is that the NT never quotes or alludes to the Song of Solomon
8 It gets even more complicated…There is much debate whether this is actually just a two character royal love story or really a love triangle: King Solomon falls in love with a young peasant girl and marries her. But the girl remains in love with a simple peasant shepherd. In the end, the girl leaves the king and returns to the countryside to return to her true love. Chapter 5 describes the agony of being separated from her beloved while in the palace, which doesn’t make sense if her beloved is indeed the king. Furthermore, in 6:13, the daughters of Jerusalem call to the woman, “come back, come back, O Shulammite.” Thus, some commentators see it as a satire on Solomon’s love life.
9 If taken in a literal context, the book is an erotic love poem that has some very graphic descriptions of intimacy. Thus, many see the Song of Songs as an “R” rated type of book and struggle to see its value in the biblical canon. However, sexual love is never seen as pornographic or obscene in itself, but removed from the protection of marriage it becomes abused and becomes sordid and licentious. In the Song of Solomon we find the subject treated with delicate beauty and reflecting a wholesome delight in the joys of married sex, which is presented not only as a physical act for procreative purposes, but as a deeply spiritual one as well. Marriage and sex were instituted by God before the Fall, and are to be celebrated and enjoyed as part of God’s plan. The Song of Solomon, in harmony with the rest of the Bible, presents marriage as sacred, including its physical aspects.
10 Christ as seen in the Song of SolomonThis couple’s relationship is a foreshadowing of the intense intimacy of Christ’s love for the church, which is seen as the bride of Christ in the New Testament (cf. 2 Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:23-25; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:9). Despite his personal failures, King Solomon is represented elsewhere in the Scripture as a type of Christ as the King of the millennial age sitting upon David’s throne (ref. 2 Sam 7:12-17; 23:1-7; Ps 72)
11 Outline I. Falling in Love: the courtship (1:1-3:5)II. United in Love: The wedding (3:6-5:1) III. Struggling in Love (5:2-7:10) IV. Maturing in Love (7:11-8:14) OR________________________________________________
12 “THE Shulamite 2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— For your love is better than wine. 3 Because of the fragrance of your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth; Therefore the virgins love you Draw me away! The Daughters of Jerusalem We will run after you. The Shulamite The king has brought me into his chambers. Due to the difficulty in determining who is speaking, the translators in the NKJV, NASB, and NIV identified the speakers in the various sections of the book, but these designations are not part of the inspired text.
13 Even assuming a duet plot, there are even more difficulties in determining the flow of the story:The story begins with the Shulammite maiden seeking a more intimate relationship with Solomon who she knows at this point only from afar. Or…. does the story open with the young Shulammite woman in the king’s palace (1:4), reminiscing about how her lover found her in the countryside as the daughter of a vinedresser? (1:6b).
14 Who are the “daughters of Jerusalem” (v. 5; cfThree main possibilities: A) These may have been friends of the woman B) The female inhabitants of Jerusalem C) Women of Solomon's harem (cf. 6:8-9) At this point , it seems that Solomon already had sixty queens and eighty concubines (6:8); but later in his life, he would have seven hundred queens and three thousand concubines (1 Kings 11:3).
15 “I am dark, but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, Like the tents of Kedar, Like the curtains of Solomon. Do not look upon me, because I am dark, Because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; They made me the keeper of the vineyards, But my own vineyard I have not kept. (1:5-6) The young lady felt embarrassed because she had very dark skin as a result of having to tend her family's grapevines. Her skin was dark because of the sun's rays, not primarily because of her race. Furthermore, since “vineyard“ is a frequent metaphor for the physical body in this poem (Ref. 1:14; 2:15; 7:12; 8:11, 12), due to her physical labor duties, there had been no opportunity for her to take care of her hair, skin, or hands according to the sophisticated courtly style.
16 “(To Her Beloved) 7 Tell me, O you whom I love, Where you feed your flock, Where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself[g] By the flocks of your companions? THE Beloved 8 If you do not know, O fairest among women, Follow in the footsteps of the flock, And feed your little goats Beside the shepherds’ tents I have compared you, my love, To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots. 10 Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, Your neck with chains of gold. Solomon reassured her of his love and gives her several endearing compliments. They continue to dialogue giving praise of one another in 1:12—2:6
17 “THE Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love. Sustain me with cakes of raisins, Refresh me with apples, For I am lovesick. (2:4-5) The bride is overwhelmed by the love of her beloved. She longs for his embrace (2:6). But she must wait patiently for the wedding before she can realize the consummation of her desire (2:7).
18 “THE Shulamite By night on my bed I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him. “ I will rise now,” I said, “ And go about the city; In the streets and in the squares I will seek the one I love.” I sought him, but I did not find him.” The watchmen who go about the city found me; I said, “ Have you seen the one I love?” Scarcely had I passed by them, When I found the one I love. I held him and would not let him go, Until I had brought him to the house of my mother, And into the chamber of her who conceived me. (3:1-4) The Shulammite shares a dream (actually a nightmare!) in which she could not find Solomon even though she searched everywhere for him.
19 “THE Shulamite Who is this coming out of the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all the merchant’s fragrant powders? Behold, it is Solomon’s couch, With sixty valiant men around it, Of the valiant of Israel.” (3:6-7) This is the wedding day (v.11) and she describes the wedding processional coming to get her. On the wedding day the groom proceeded to the bride's house accompanied by a group of his friends. He then escorted her to the site of the wedding ceremony
20 “Behold, you are fair, my love. Behold, you are fair“Behold, you are fair, my love! Behold, you are fair! You have dove’s eyes behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats, Going down from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep Which have come up from the washing, Every one of which bears twins, And none is barren among them.” (4:1-2) When Solomon describes his lover as having teeth “like a flock of shorn sheep,” it doesn’t exactly sound romantic in our eyes. When reading this imagery, we must keep a couple of points in mind: 1) We must trust that as the “song of songs,” the original readers found these as beautiful compliments. 2) We should look for the characteristics of the analogy that would make sense in their context. For example, “a flock of shorn sheep which have come up from washing” would be very white. Therefore to say a woman has teeth like this would be to say, “you teeth are white,” or more romantically, “you have an amazing smile.”
21 “You have ravished my heart, My sister, my spouse; You have ravished my heart With one look of your eyes, With one link of your necklace. 10 How fair is your love, My sister, my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, And the scent of your perfumes Than all spices! Your lips, O my spouse, Drip as the honeycomb; Honey and milk are under your tongue; And the fragrance of your garments Is like the fragrance of Lebanon.” (4:9-11) "Sister" was an affectionate term for wife (cf. vv. 10, 12; 5:1-2) Using many metaphors, 4:9-5:1 graphically describe the consummation of the marriage with a highlight on the bride’s virginity and purity before the marriage.
22 THE Shulamite “I sleep, but my heart is awake;… It is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, “ Open for me, my sister, my love, My dove, my perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.” I have taken off my robe; How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; How can I defile them?” (5:2-3) Sometime after the wedding the Shulammite failed to respond encouragingly to Solomon's demonstration of affection. She gave a weak excuse: she had already gotten ready for bed. When he tried to open her door but found it locked, he gave up and went away. She now relives these events in a dream, with the same theme as her first fearful nightmare before the wedding: that her lover has given up on her and left her.
23 “THE Beloved O my love, you are as beautiful as Tirzah, Lovely as Jerusalem, Awesome as an army with banners! Turn your eyes away from me, For they have overcome me. Your hair is like a flock of goats Going down from Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep Which have come up from the washing; Every one bears twins, And none is barren among them. (6:4-6) Solomon still loves the Shulammite very much. Thus, the song narrates the restoration of intimacy.
24 After a series of expressions of affection by both spouses, she declares, “I am my beloved’s, And his desire is toward me.” (7:10) The Shulammite exalted in her complete abandonment to her husband and in his complete satisfaction with her This section (5:2—8:4) that began with estrangement ends with the lovers entwined in each other's arms, “His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me.” (8:3)
25 “Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame.” (8:6) The bride was asking Solomon that he treasure her above everything and everyone else. The story ends with a flash back to the Shulammite's life before meeting Solomon and their first encounter.
26 Just so we don’t miss the main point…The Song of Solomon celebrates the virtuous love between a man and a woman in a martial relationship. The key concepts are communion and commitment. Physical intimacy is to be cherished and celebrated in the context of marriage and is an important barometer of the marriage’s strength and durability Finally, the Song portrays males and females as equals in the love relationship, who treat each other with respect and tenderness while maintaining the traditional God-ordained gender roles