Author: Possibly Solomon
Date: ca. 10th century BC
Contents
This book is one of those great surprises you find in the Bible. Because most people see the Bible as a book about religion and spirituality, they cannot imagine that it contains a book about human love. The book of Songs tells us of a bride and groom’s mutual admiration for each other. In beautiful and moving images they describe the desire for each other’s bodies. Numerous interpretations of this book have been given over time.
1. Some saw in it a picture of the love of God for His people Israel or the love of Christ Jesus for His church. In this way the sensual images were brought to a spiritualized level. The book gives no indication that it deals with the love of God.
2. Others saw in it ancient rituals, a kind of stage presentation or liturgical rites.
All these interpretations seem rather forced. It is best to take the book of Songs for what it is. It’s about the beauty of human love. When God created man, he made a man and a woman (Genesis 1:27). The fact that two people love each other and that that love is also expressed physically should not be an embarrassment to anyone. The book of Songs celebrates that love is what you call a collection of love poetry.
Theological Themes
The truth that the book of Songs teaches us is that all the attributes of man (spiritual, physical, emotional, etc.) are created and blessed by GOD. Our only response to that is:
- Accepting ourselves as we are,
- Happy and thankful for the way GOD made us.
Main features
- The Bride’s Dream (1:1-3:5),
- The Arrival of the Bridegroom (3:6-11),
- The Beauty of the Bride (4:1-5:1),
- Bride’s Love Desire (5:2-6:3),
- The Bridegroom praises his bride (6:4-7:9),
- Love surrender (7:10-8:14).
