The Song of Solomon is a book unlike any other in the Bible. It’s place among scripture has never seriously been disputed, neither by Israel nor the church, and so it has a purpose,
“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10-11
What then is the purpose for which it has been sent, and what may we learn from it? There is no overt doctrinal teaching in it, no warnings of repentance; simply put, it is but a song of love between a king and his bride. What then does it teach us?
The Jews used to forbid a man from studying this book until he was 30 years of age, that he might have the necessary maturity required to study it. For any who have read it, it is self-evident why this was the case. It is a book unlike any other in the scriptures, and one must approach it with the sobriety of mind necessary to the understanding of it.
During the time of the Jews, it was understood as a picture of God’s love for Israel, and for most of the time after the cross as Christ’s love for the church. In the last 200 or so years, different interpretations have sprung up regarding it, in the main among those who have approached the Bible as a literary work. As the prevalent view among academia has turned to a lack of belief in the inspiration of the scriptures, and even the historicity of it, and instead basically believes that almost any claim it makes for itself is untrue, it is not surprising that other interpretations should appear, and take hold. This may be a little unfair, as there are those even in the church who hold different views of it (and I used to be among them), but it is interesting to note that in this age in which the Bible has been largely discredited in the eyes of the wisdom of the world, so the long-held belief that this book is an expression of God’s love for his people should be challenged by other views.
Many believe that it deals with Solomon and pharaoh’s daughter, and that we may glean what we may glean from it. Some believe that the beloved and the king are two different people, that she is caught between “wicked” Solomon as a representation of worldliness, and her beloved as the pure love which she yearns for. Others believe that it is an expression of the goodness and validity of the marriage relationship (the view I used to hold).
The view that we are taking here is the traditional one, that it is the expression of the love and relationship between Christ and the church. The rest of this introduction will cover the keys to understanding the book.
Marriage as a type
"’For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church,” Eph 5:31-32.
“To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,” Psalm 136:5, cf. Proverbs 8:30.
“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,” Romans 1:20.
God has created the world in such a way as we may see him, and understand him. We may see and understand his goodness by the world he has made. He created us with the need to eat, and has supplied us with a wide variety of foods to meet this end, most of which are enjoyable to partake of. He freely and abundantly supplies the air we must constantly breathe, and has left water in no short supply.
Likewise, we understand his love for us as a father because we are fathers. By seeing the love we have for our children, and that even when they do wrong our heart yearns for them, and the love and protection we possess towards them, we can then understand how he looks at us, Jeremiah 31:20, Isaiah 49:13-16, Lam 3:33. We can grow in confidence towards Him, in spite of our weaknesses, knowing His love for us.
But there is a closer yet relationship that He desires with us, an intimacy which He shows in the type of the marriage relationship. For the relationship between a parent and child is not on equal footing, the child of necessity being the lesser, and looking to the parent for its needs and comfort. The relationship between man and wife is more on level ground; they have by agreement entered into the relationship, and regard each other as one to give their heart to.
The intimacy between a man and wife is greater than that between two friends, no matter how close those friends may be; for “the two shall become one flesh.” This brings about a closer intimacy of heart, and this is the intimacy the Lord desires with us; an intimacy of heart, for, “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him,” 1Cor 6:17.
Thus Israel was adulterous when she sought other gods and the world, and thus the Lord’s fury, 1Kings 14:22-24, Ps 78:58, Song 8:6, Pr 6:34, Pr 27:4, Deut 6:14-15, Matthew 12:39.
What did Sarah gain by calling Abraham lord, 1Peter 3:6? First, she gained the approval of God, for she is held up as an example to all Christian woman until the end of the age. But second, she did her part in creating a living type of Christ and the church; for if the woman is submissive to her husband as she ought to be, and if he for his part loves and gives honor to her as he ought, Eph 5:25 and 1Pet 3:7, then they have a living example both before them and between them of Christ and the church.
Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the sons of Korah
There are a few passages which we need to study in order to see that God uses the type of the marriage relationship throughout Scripture to illustrate the relationship between Himself and man, and to illustrate how He views the church. He uses marriage, adultery and divorce in this fashion.
Of marriage - Psalm 45, Isaiah 62:1-5, Jeremiah 31:31-34
Of adultery – Ezekiel 23
Of divorce – Jeremiah 3:8, Isaiah 50:1
Next, we need to look at Ezekiel chapter 16, which is a highly figurative, and very frank, description of Israel’s beginnings, glory, and sin. Very similar to the Song in some ways, it will help us to faithfully interpret it.
Christ as bridegroom, the church as bride
The Bridegroom – John 3:28-30; Matthew 9:15; 2Cor 11:2-3
The bride – 2Cor 11:2-3; Rev 21:2, 9; 22:17
Virgins as a type
In the Old Testament, the word virgin is not used of a man, but only of an unmarried woman, Amos 8:13, Zechariah 9:17. That she is one who has not had relations with a man is implied, but it was also more of a general term, as may be seen from Judges 21:12, “And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan,” thus implying that it was used as a general description, otherwise it would not have been necessary to add “who had not known a man.”
Both Israel and the church are referred to as virgins, Amos 5:2, Jeremiah 31:4, 2Cor 11:2.
Solomon and the Shulamite
The two main characters in the book are Solomon, the king and shepherd, and the Shulamite, his love and bride. These two are representative of Christ and the church, respectively.
Solomon means “peaceful”, Christ is the “Prince of Peace”, Isaiah 9:6
Solomon is represented as both king and shepherd, both of which Christ is, king, Matthew 21:5, shepherd, John 10:11
Shulamite means “the peaceful”, see John 14:27; 2Thess 3:16; Philippians 4:7
God’s heart is with His people
There are a few passages to look at, to show that God’s heart goes out to His people, Isaiah 63:9, Judges 10:13-16, Lamentations 3:31-33, and Isaiah 49:14-16.
In addition, if we love God and keep his commandments, 1Cor 8:3 and 1John 2:3, we will come to be known by him, Galatians 4:9 (cf. Psalm 50:11).
Prose and poetry
Prose is of the mind, but poetry is of the heart. The following three verses express the love that God has for us,
John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,”
John 15:13 - “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends,”
Ephesians 5:25 - “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,”
but none of them is as expressive as the emotion of Song 1:15,
“Behold, you are fair, my love!
Behold, you are fair!”
Prose cannot express the heart as poetry can; by the poetry of the Song we may see the true expression of the love between the Lord and his church, the King and his bride.
“For this reason…”
"’For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church,” Eph 5:31-32.
Christ left heaven to be joined to his wife, even to die for her, and what then is enjoined upon us?
“Listen, O daughter,
Consider and incline your ear;
Forget your own people also, and your father's house;
So the King will greatly desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, worship Him,” Ps 45:10-11,
for as Christ gave all for us, so we are to leave all (that is, the world) behind for him. See Luke 9:59-62.
Draw close
James 4:8 - “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
John 14:23 - “Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”
Galatians 4:9 - “But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God…”
The joy of the Bridegroom - Hebrews 12:2, “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
"How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!
Your dwellings, O Israel!
Like valleys that stretch out,
Like gardens by the riverside,
Like aloes planted by the Lord,
Like cedars beside the waters,” Numbers 24:5-6