The book of Song of Solomon is a large love poem filled with smaller poems of different kinds. Solomon is the author and he wrote it sometime during his reign. It is a story of a bridegroom who is in love with his bride. Key personalities are King Solomon, the Shulammite girl, and friends.
The story greatly emphasizes the sanctity of marriage and that it is designed, blessed and consecrated in the eyes of the Lord. The purpose of “Song of Songs”, as it is also called, is a picture of God’s love for His people. Although there is explicit sexual content, it is a book in which we can learn the depths of God’s authentic love for us and what should be in the sacredness of marriage.
• In chapters 1-3, Solomon writes of the courtship and engagement of the Beloved (Solomon) and the Lover (Shulammite girl), “My beloved responded and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along” (2:10).
• Chapters 3-4, we read of the marriage ceremony of the bride to the bridegroom, “Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and gaze on King Solomon with the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his wedding” (3:11).
• Chapters 5-8, are the relationship between the husband and wife and the power of their love, “Many waters cannot quench love, nor will rivers overflow it; if a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, it would be utterly despised” (8:7).
The first verse of the Book of the Song of Solomon mentions King Solomon as its author, and this is why it is often called the Song of Solomon. It is also referred to as Canticles (Latin) or the Song of Songs (Hebrew) because it is considered the finest of all songs. It is clear that this poem is a wedding song and it reveals the glories of love. It exalts physical love, erotic love, and everything about love. The time is springtime and two lovers are full of passion and delight. The words in the poem are very descriptive and romantic. When their love is finally consummated the bond is so durable that nothing can destroy it. The poem is clearly describing God's love for his people, he is the bridegroom and his people are his bride. He is deeply in love with them and ultimately there will be a wedding day, and how excited they both are for that day.
Over time it has been difficult for anyone to give a clear interpretation to the Book of the Song of Solomon. There are three primary interpretations that have been accepted. 1 – A literal interpretation, which treats this poem as a historical factual event. There were two actual lovers who were unselfishly devoted to one another and they were finally married. 2 – an allegorical interpretation, which treats this poem as an allegory, a story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral one. Here we see God loves his people, Christ loves his bride, and his bride loves Him. 3 – The final interpretation is that Solomon was a type of God who is deeply in love with his bride who is a type of the church. The wedding is a type of a future wedding that will exist between Christ and his bride the church.
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