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.
