Songs of Songs: Part 1
Certainly Unique
As we conclude our study of wisdom literature this month, we are now going to look at the final book and probably the most interesting book of the 5, The Song of Songs. What makes this book so interesting you ask? That would be that this book is written in the form of love poetry. With wisdom being the most dominant feature in the past four books, it is interesting to see love take over in the Song of Songs. And while love is the main topic in this book, it doesn’t mean that wisdom certainly doesn’t have its place here either. Much can be learned through this unique love poetry book, despite it going in a different direction than the previous wisdom literature books. As The Bible Project points out in the Song of Songs, “While there is an introduction and a conclusion, the book doesn’t have a rigid literary design. It’s a collection of poems that are not meant to be dissected but rather read and enjoyed as a flowing whole.” Now this book is only eight chapters long which typically would mean we would look at the first four chapters today, and the next four later in the week. However, with this being such a unique book, we are going to take a different approach to this study. We are going to look at all the different meanings that have been drawn out from this book and see why these points were chosen and whether or not they teach us the true meaning of this book. With this in mind, let’s find out what the true purpose of this book really is.
Different Interpretations
To start, let’s take into consideration what this book is. Yes, this book is love poetry, but it’s also called the ‘Song of Songs’. In Hebrew, this title is like saying the ‘Lord of Lords’ or ‘The King of Kings’. This title is meant to show the reader that this is the greatest thing in its entire subject. This is the greatest song to ever be heard. That is why it is called the ‘Song of Songs’. Now with this book taking us through love poetry between one man and one woman, we see many explanations of this book becoming allegorical. In other words, many interpretations of this book are being translated to mean something else because the love between a man and a woman doesn’t really seem like it should take up space in God’s Word. This allegorical approach is how Jewish tradition reads the Song of Songs. On the idea of this Jewish tradition, The Bible Project tells us, “The woman is Israel, the man is God, and their love is a symbol of the covenant between them and the giving of the Torah.” To see just how much you would have to translate if we take this approach, consider the very opening to the book. Song of Songs 1:1-3 says, “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. THE BRIDE “May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! For your love is sweeter than wine. “Your oils have a pleasing fragrance, Your name is like purified oil; Therefore the young women love you.” Even with an allegorical approach, you have to admit that this seems very descriptive if this is all written just in order to discover some hidden meaning. This theme isn’t just seen in the opening chapters either, it is the theme throughout the entire book. This is a graphic story about the love that two lovers share for each other and if the only reason for this was to find some hidden meaning between God, His people, and His law, it would seem there would be a better way to go about it.
What’s The Point?
Furthermore, we have a more modern-day interpretation of what most Christians believe about the translation of this book. Which ironically, stems exactly from how Jewish tradition interpreted this book. The Bible Project goes on to say, “This view flowed into Christian tradition, but the characters were swapped. It’s about Christ’s love for his people and the Church.” So rather than this book being an allegory about God, His people, and the Torah, a current popular Christian view tells us that this book is about God, Christ, and His Church. Let’s see if any issues pop up with this outlook. You don’t have to read far into this book to see its graphic scenes pop up again which would lead you to believe this isn’t the best interpretation. Just read any part of chapter four and I think you would agree that it is difficult to see the Church of Christ being described in this passage. Let’s use verses 3-5 for example “Your lips are like a scarlet thread, And your mouth is beautiful. Your temples are like a slice of a pomegranate Behind your veil. “Your neck is like the tower of David, Built with layers of stones On which are hung a thousand shields, All the round shields of the warriors. “Your two breasts are like two fawns, Twins of a gazelle That graze among the lilies.”
Doesn’t really scream ‘church’ to you does it? Now I want to make one thing clear, just because it doesn’t seem like a probable answer, doesn’t mean that it’s for sure not the answer. I am not claiming that just because this interpretation seems like a stretch, that this automatically means we should throw it out. I am just simply arguing that we should look further into what other possibilities could be and compare that to what the rest of God’s Word has to say. God, Christ, and His Church are all major themes in the Bible, so starting at this point in our interpretation is by no means a bad guess, but it shouldn’t be our final step. We must continue to take a hermeneutical approach to see what the author was saying, who he was saying it to, and what this means for us today. Once we do that, I believe we can finally see why this book was written, and what it has to offer us today. And that’s what part two will be all about.
Sources
[1] Blue Letter Bible. (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/
[2] BibleProject. (2024, August 8). Guide to the Book of Song of Songs. BibleProject. https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-song-of-songs/#interpretations-of-the-song-of-songs
Comments