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Introduction to the Books of the Bible

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Song of Songs

    

  

BOOK : Song of Solomon

Description : A Love Song of King Solomon

Author: Solomon

Date written : assuming it is by Solomon then we would assume somewhere about 960BC

Chapters : 8

 

Brief Synopsis:

    

•  1:1 starts “Solomon's Song of Songs,” suggesting his best song written by him.
•  It is basically a love song.
•  Attempts to spiritualise it are satisfactory (see below) is small instances but difficult overall.
•  Perhaps it is in the canon of Scripture as God's way of declaring, “love and sex were designed by me and are good in the right context.”
•  Note that as poetry (and with the content it has) it is supposed to touch the heart rather than the intellect. To that end, one of our resources is the book put in the form of a stage play (see resources at bottom of page) .

  

Outline :

  

It is notoriously difficult to analyse (because it is poetry) and different people come up with different approaches. Here is one we have come across that is very simple in its approach:

 

1:1 Title
1:2 - 2:7 The First Meeting
2:8 - 3:5 The Second Meeting
3:6 – 5:1 The Third Meeting
5:2 – 6:3 The Fourth Meeting
6:4 – 8:4 The Fifth Meeting
8:5-7 The Literary Climax
8:8-14 The Conclusion

A more detailed layout of what you find is below and is taken from our own Bible Study series:

 

1:1-4a

She  yearns to know his love expressed towards her

1:4b

Chorus:  They share her delight & (implied) tell us more

1:4c-7

She  is aware of her imperfections & wonders where he is

1:8

Chorus:  Go seeking him out

1:9-11

He  imagines showering her with jewellery

1:12-2:2

They  share brief interchanges of appreciation

2:3-13

She  speaks of their early encounters

2::14,15

He  wants to know more of her

2:16-3:5

She  declares their love and yearns for more time with him

3:6-11

She  sees Solomon coming in his splendour

4:1-15

He  speaks for the first time of her beauty in detail

4:16

Chorus:  May the circumstances bring this love out

5:1a

He  declares he has experienced her love

5:1b

Chorus:  Go for it!

5:2-8

She  was slow to rise when he came and missed him

5:9

Chorus:  So how is he better than other men?

5:10-16

She  describes how handsome he is

6:1

Chorus:  So where is he?

6:2,3

She  declares, he's gone to his garden and I am his

6:4-9

He  extols her beauty and declares her unique

6:10

Chorus:  But who is this coming?

6:11-12

He  went to his garden, realises his desire & dashes back

6:13a

Chorus:  we want to gaze on your beauty

7:1-9a

He  : she's not for looking at, she's utterly beautiful

7:9b-13

She  declares her love and desire for more of it

8:1-4

She  reflects on society's inhibitions & he holds her

8:5a

Chorus:  see them returning

8:5b-7

She  declares the strength of their love

8:8,9

Chorus:  What about our young sister's future

8:10-12

She  is a source of contentment and provision for him

8:13,14

They  both call to the other

 

 

Key Verses

 

It is really impossible to pick out individual verses within a poem except perhaps to try to demonstrate how some verses can be used in meditation to reflect on particular spiritual realities. However, even to choose such verses would be personal preference, and therefore we resist the temptation.

 

 

Concluding Comments

 

•  Song of Songs comes as a shock to many at its explicit sexual nature (for it is!) but we should note that it is very different from modern writing which tends towards the erotic; there is none of that here despite its explicit nature.

•  If nothing else, the book should remind us that God has designed us to be sexual beings (unless specifically called otherwise) and that is always in the context of a lifetime committed relationship between one man and one woman. That is the divine design, whatever else modern culture accepts.

•  We should also note that He has designed us with sexual desire (see, for example, Gen 3:16) that in the marriage is to be a normal part of the marriage relationship (1 Cor 7:3-5). Appreciation of beauty – and expressing that appreciation – should also be part of a healthy committed relationship. Indeed absence of it may be one of the key reasons why physical relationships grow stale.

•  Finally we might remind ourselves that we, as Christians, make up the ‘bride of Christ' (Rev 19:7, 21:2,9) and the physical picture of husband and wife is used to teach things about the spiritual relationship between Christ and the church – and vice-versa!
•  Within the Song of Songs there are also physical pictures that convey spiritual truths and as we read the book we may ask the Holy Spirit to convey such truths to us.
     

Additional resources on this site: