Search The Scriptures —Study 0 — Introduction to the Book of Song of Solomon

Study 0 From the Book of Song of Solomon is:  Song of Solomon 

The song of Solomon is unique not only for its exquisite literary charm, but also for its rich appreciation of human love and the beauty of nature, and its deep insight into the human heart. It has also appealed to Christians as a picture of the love of Christ for His church, and gives to them words in which to utter their hearts’ devotion to Him.

             It is uncertain who wrote it. The phrase ‘which is Solomon’s in 1:1 may equally mean ‘which is for Solomon’ (as in the title of Ps. 72) or ‘which is about Solomon’; and there is no other clue to its authorship.

            According to the earlier and more traditional interpretation, there are two main characters—Solomon and his bride. Many commentaries of great devotional beauty and insight have made this interpretation familiar, in which the bride is regarded as a ‘type’ of the church, and Solomon of Christ.

            Others, however, discern in the background of the story another figure, that of a shepherd, who is the girl’s true lover. It is he whom she calls ‘my beloved’.  A girl from the village of Shulem, she had gone one day to visit her garden, when she fell in unexpectedly with some of Solomon’s retinue, who took her captive to the palace (6:11-13). There the king visits her, and struck by her great beauty seeks to win her for himself. But she has a shepherd lover to whom her heart is pledged, and to whom she remain faithful. Three times the king visits her, wooing her with growing ardour, until at last, finding all his efforts of no avail, he sets her free.  At the close of the book she is seen leaning on the arm of her beloved, returning to her village home, where she is received by her family and friends, as the shepherd lover’s acknowledged bride. In this view, much of the book consists of reveries in which the girl communes in thought with her beloved, and of incidents and dreams connected with him, which with artless simplicity she tells to the ladies of the court.

            With these different interpretations to choose from, we must obviously form our own view from a study of the book itself. If we take the Song as it stands it is clear that we must look at it first of all as a poem, or collection of poems, about human love between man and woman. The study questions are therefore designed primarily to discover the meaning of the Son of Solomon at this level.