Overview: Song of Songs

The Song of Songs is a well-known but not well understood book of the Bible. There are 8 chapters of love poems. And while there is an introduction and a conclusion, the book does not have any rigorous literary design, and that is because it is a collection of poems. They are not designed to be picked apart or dissected, but to be read as a whole, flowing simply to be enjoyed. The first line of the book tells us that it is the “Song of Songs,” which is a Hebrew idiom, the same as “Holy of Holies” or “King of Kings,” which is the Hebrew way of saying : "the biggest"!

So this is the best

song

of all

song

s. We are then told in the first line that this "Song of Songs" is by Solomon, which may imply that he is the author; after all the book begins with his name. But as you read the poems, you discover that the main voice is that of a woman, called "beloved." And although there is also a male voice, it does not seem to be Solomon. Solomon is mentioned a couple of times in the poem, but he is never the speaker, and we must admit that Solomon is an odd candidate as the author of the book, given the fact that he had seven hundred wives...

The Lovers in the Song of Songs They are the only ones for each other. So "of Solomon" probably means "in the wise tradition of Solomon." He was known for his wisdom, his poetry, his love of learning from all walks of life. Thus, Solomon became the father of wisdom literature in Israel. In this way, his legacy continues through a collection of love poems that explore the human experience of love and sexual desire. The opening poem introduces us to the basic theme of this book: we hear the voice of a young woman who finds satisfaction in her husband, a shepherd.

She's not married to him yet, but it's clear that they are engaged and can't wait to be together. From the beginning, the poems flow into each other, from the woman's voice to the man's, moving from one scene to another, without a clear linear sequence of the story. The poems move in symphonic cycles and key figures and ideas are repeated and developed. Thus, one of the basic themes that unites the poems is the couple's passionate desire for each other, which is expressed through the constant search for and encounter of the other. Thus, after the initial poem, they are separated, but looking for each other.

The woman screams, or wakes up from a dream and goes to look for her lover, and more than once they meet and embrace. And just when things start to get a little interesting, the scene ends abruptly. And a new one begins: they separate, they look for each other, and so it goes. Another recurring theme is the joy of the physical attraction that the couple feels towards each other. Many times they stop and are described with elaborate metaphors. Here it would help us to know that these figures and metaphors in Hebrew poetry are not primarily visual. If you try to paint the picture of these people, based on metaphors, you will end up with something that seems very, very strange.

What you should do is reflect on the meaning of these figures, which are related to men and women. Thus, as the poetic cycle is read, the tension continues to increase, as does the desire, the joy, the attraction between them. And this repeated spiral is a poetic way to elevate and focus on the mystery and power of sexual love. The whole thing is collected in the conclusion, which stops to summarize what is talked about in these poems. Love is strong as death, its passions are hard as the grave, its sparks are burning, a divine flame. Many waters cannot quench love, rivers cannot flood it.

If someone gave all the possessions in his house in exchange for love, he would surely be despised. The poem emphasizes the power and intensity of love: how beautiful it is, but also how dangerous. Like fire, love can destroy people if misused, or it can give life if protected. In short, love expresses the insatiable human thirst to know, to be known, as well as to be desired by the other. Love is one of the most wonderful and mysterious experiences in human life. And as part of the Bible's wisdom tradition, this book says it is a gift from God.

After that comes a strange poem about Solomon, who attempts to do what was said to be impossible in the previous poem: buy love. The woman rejects Salomon's offer and then the book closes with the separated husband and wife searching for each other once again. He calls her to hear her voice, she begs him to run away together. And so the book ends, a completely open ending! But that's love! It never ends because there is always more to discover and pursue the loved one. So, true love has no end. And neither does this book. Throughout the story, the big question posed by the Song of Songs is, "What do love poems have to do with the Bible?" There have been three main interpretations of this book throughout history.

According to Jewish tradition, it is read as an allegory: each character is a symbol. The woman is Israel, the man is God, and her love is the symbol of the alliance between God and Israel, made on Mount Sinai and the giving of the Torah. This point of view flowed into the Christian tradition, but the characters changed. It has to do with Christ's love for his people, the church. And this interpretation was inspired by Paul's words in Ephesians 5: --that the love of a Christian husband for his wife is a symbol of Christ's love for the Church. Interestingly, over the last hundred years, archaeological discoveries among Israel's ancient neighbors, such as Egypt and Babylon, have unearthed all kinds of ancient love poems that are very similar in language and imagery to the Song of Songs.

We see that love poetry was a significant part of Israel's cultural milieu, which has led most scholars today to see the Song of Songs as it is presented to us: a collection of Israelite love poetry, which reflects the divine gift of love. But that doesn't mean it's just old love poetry. There is a key feature of these poems that stands out when you read them as part of the Old Testament. And this is the overwhelming use of the parable of the garden. There are powerful echoes of the Garden of Eden and the happy scene between the married couple in the opening chapters of Genesis.

Thus, the figure of the man and woman naked and vulnerable, but completely united and safe with each other, resonates in the background of the Song of Songs. It is as if in these poems we witness the love of the couple, whose relationship is not contaminated by selfishness and sin. Ultimately, therefore, the Song holds out hope that, although our relationships are often distorted by selfishness, love is an extraordinary gift. And it is intended to point us to something greater, the gift of God's love that will one day penetrate and transform his beloved world. And this is what the Song of Songs is about.

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