Song of Songs

What makes Song of Songs special?

The title of this book means “the most beautiful of songs,” and in some translations it is called “The Song of Solomon” (see 1.1). In the Jewish Scriptures, this book is found in the section known as “The Writings” (see the article called “What Books Belong in the Bible,” XXB 2.0). Why it was included in the Bible at all is a question that has prompted many debates among Jewish and Christian teachers for over two thousand years. Answers to this question have often been based on how the book is interpreted.

Why was Song of Songs written?

On the surface, Song of Songs is love poetry that celebrates the love between a man and a woman. Some consider the book to be a unified poem written by one author, while others think it is a collection of love songs or poems put together by an editor. Some people think Song of Songs is a drama, while some scholars point out that parts of the book are very much like ancient Mesopotamian marriage songs or old Egyptian love poems. God is not mentioned in the book, and the poems seem only to provide a description of human love.

If Song of Songs is simply a collection of poems that express the powerful love that a woman and a man can have for each other, why is it included in the Bible? Even as late as the second century a.d. Jewish rabbis debated whether or not Song of Songs should be considered Holy Scripture. Early Christian writings reveal similar debates. Eventually, however, many Jewish teachers said the book symbolized God's love for the people of Israel. This interpretation may be based on passages from Hosea (1–3) and Jeremiah (2.20—3.5), which describe the relationship between God and Israel in terms of a marriage. Many Christian interpreters came to a similar conclusion, saying that the book symbolizes the kind of relationship that Jesus Christ (the bridegroom) has with the church (his bride). These interpretations helped the book gain acceptance as part of Scripture.

What's the story behind the scene?

Scholars do not agree on who wrote this book or when. The first verse of the book (1.1) connects the book with King Solomon, who ruled Israel from 970 to 931 b.c. But the Hebrew in this verse can be translated various ways. The book may be “by,” “according to,” or “for” Solomon; or it may “belong to,” or be “dedicated to” him. All that is clear is that the book was in some way owned by (or connected to) Solomon, who was known in ancient Israel as the author of many wise sayings and poems (1 Kgs 4.32). As in the case of Ecclesiastes (see ECC 1.0), having Solomon's name connected with the book added to its authority as true Israelite Wisdom.

How is Song of Songs constructed?

If the book is a collection of poems, an editor probably arranged them so that they would relate to each other as a whole. The romance between two lovers is the focus of the poem and provides a kind of connection between its various scenes or sections. But at some points it is hard to know who exactly is speaking, and it is not always easy to see how the sections of the poem relate to one another. When a new poem or speech begins, the CEV inserts a phrase in italics (such as “She speaks” or “He speaks”) as a way of indicating who might be the speaker in the section that follows. The following outline suggests just one of many ways the book's sections may be grouped: