Where it fits

Song of Solomon, also called Song of Songs, is the 22nd book of the Bible, with eight chapters. The title, “the song of songs” (1:1), means the best of songs. It is attributed to Solomon, though the Hebrew phrase can mean “by,” “for,” or “about” him, and scholars debate its date. In Jewish tradition it is read at Passover. Read straight through, it takes about 12 minutes.

What it is and how to read it

The Song is poetry, not narrative, and it is mostly a conversation. A woman, a man, and a chorus called the daughters of Jerusalem speak in turn, and it is not always clear who is speaking. The poems move between longing, searching, meeting, and delight, and some are dreamlike (3:1–5; 5:2–8). The language is full of images from nature and the ancient world that sound odd to modern ears, such as hair like a flock of goats or a neck like the tower of David (4:1–4), which were meant as praise. The book is frank about desire, though it speaks through imagery, and it is the Bible's fullest treatment of love and attraction.

A refrain returns three times, urging the daughters of Jerusalem not to stir up or awaken love until it is ready (2:7; 3:5; 8:4). Love is a force to be honored, not toyed with. The poems build toward chapter 8, where the woman asks to be set as a seal over the man's heart, because love is as strong as death, and many waters cannot quench it (8:6–7). The book ends with an invitation to hurry away to the mountains of spices (8:14).

Three ideas to hold on to

1. Love and desire are God's gifts. The Song celebrates what Genesis calls good: a man and a woman delighting in each other (Genesis 2:23–25).
2. Love is exclusive and fierce. I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine (2:16). Love is as strong as death, and jealousy as fierce as the grave (8:6).
3. Love should be honored, not rushed. The refrain asks others not to awaken love before it is ready (2:7; 3:5; 8:4).

Passages people ask about

• Song of Solomon 2:8–17. Spring arrives, and the lover comes bounding over the hills.
• Song of Solomon 4:1–16. The man praises his bride, ending with the image of a locked garden that she opens to him (4:12–16).
• Song of Solomon 5:2–8. A dream of a missed connection.
• Song of Solomon 7:10–13. The woman's invitation.
• Song of Solomon 8:6–7. The seal, and the strength of love.

How it points to Jesus

Jewish and Christian readers have long seen a larger meaning. Rabbi Akiva is reported to have said that all the Writings are holy but the Song of Songs is the holiest, and Jewish tradition read it as God's love for Israel. Many Christians have read it as the love of Christ for the church or for the believing soul, and the New Testament uses the language of bridegroom and bride for Jesus and his people (John 3:29; Ephesians 5:25–32; Revelation 19:7). The starting point, though, is human love, which Paul says points to something greater, calling marriage a profound mystery about Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31–32).

A common misunderstanding

Two mistakes are common. One is to avoid the book as embarrassing, which led much of Christian history to read it entirely as allegory, with no place for the plain meaning. The other is to treat it only as a romance manual and miss the way the Bible's own language of bride and bridegroom points further. Most readers today begin with the plain meaning, that God made desire and marriage is a good place for it, and then find the larger picture of God's love.