Notice
We are still in the Old Testament section of wisdom writings (Ketuvim) and we now turn to the Song of Songs.
This is a book about nothing else but Love. Not love as an abstract idea but love as a practice of life. In this book, I will say all I know about love and intimate relationships. I personally I love, love and appreciate life in a love setting or arrangement. I feel incomplete without a lover and without someone, I practice my love on and with. Love is an inevitable practice of life and vitamin of existence that no one can live for long or right without.
I don’t know who you are, but I can confidently tell you that no matter what your problem what your goal and solutions are; all you need is nothing but love. You need to find the love of your heart, hold them, cherish them and no matter what you have or haven’t, your life will be fulfilled.
The book we are about to read is essentially a love book and we are yet to find out why such a book is in the holy library (Bible).
Title
In most of our translations, the title of the book is Song of Solomon, however that is a title rendered to the book through the Septuagint and the vulgates. The title is rendered for the emphasis of he who sung the love song or him who said the Poem. That is none other than King Solomon as it is indicated in the first verses of the book. However, in the Hebrew Bible, the Title is “song of songs”.
Song of Songs is a Hebrew idiom equivalent to ‘King of Kings’ ‘Lord of Lords’, ‘Holy of Holies’ to signify the greatest. It seems the Hebrew language does not entertain so many adjectives as English and other vernaculars do.
To, therefore, say that this is the song greater than all other songs of the kind or that it is the greatest song ever, the Hebrew says: ‘Song of Songs’.
Authorship
In the syntax of the Hebrew, the phrase “which is Solomon’s” can mean it was either written by Solomon or written for Solomon. By all means Solomon is in the mix and since according to the historical record Solomon wrote many songs – a thousand and five as a matter of fact (I Kings 4:32), we can assume this was not just one of them but the greatest of all those he wrote or actually any other wrote.
In the Hebrew Bible the book is placed first of the ‘five rolls’ and so immediately follows Job and precedes Ruth. Jews insist this is one of the greatest books of their Canon.
The time might be of the golden period of Jewish Literature and that is of the reign of King Solomon when Israel and Judah was still one kingdom.
G.T Manley says,
“Of the many rare words in it some are the names of choice plants or articles of commerce which may have been by the intercourse with foreign nations under the great King.
Others may be northern provincialisms, for the place names show that the author was well acquainted with the northern regions especially the Lebanon district.
The references to the shields in the tower of David (4:4) tot Heshbon (7:4), which later came under the power of Moab (Isaiah 15:4), and Tirzah (6:4), which lost its glory in the time of Omri, all favour an early date.” Solomon, therefore, is justified as the author.
Outline
An outline of the book can only be succeeded at if and only if we understood what is summarised in these 8 chapters.
What is written about is not covered in its entirety but rather a summary that covers key events in the experience of two lovers? When you read the book, however, you discover that there is one beautiful country girl who is in love with a shepherd but again who is pursued by a king.
She is in Love with the shepherd but the King is in Love with her. Now, these are the key characters of the book, however, there are other characters like the other women (1:5-6, 2:8-14, 3:1-5, 5:2-8, 9-6:3, 8:6-7).
A man speaks to his lovely lady (1:9-11, 15-17, 4:1-7, 6:4-9, 7:1-9, 8:13), then his lovely woman speaks to him (Shepherd/King) (1:2-4, 7-8, 12-17, 7:10-8:4,14).
W.O.E Oesterley and Theodore H. Robinson (An Introduction to the Books of the Old Testament, P.218) state that in Song of Songs
“we have short dialogues between them (lovers) in 2:1-7 and 4:8-5:1 and brief descriptions of the lover’s splendour or his beloved’s beauty in 3:6-11, 6:10-12. In 6:13 it is the company of the women who speak, while in 8:8-10 and 11-12 we have two little lyrics; in the first, some brother describe their care of their sister and in the second we have the parable of Solomon’s vineyard.”
With this chapter and verse outline, the reader can allocate content to specific interlocutors in the book, what the reader might struggle in, however, is the inspiration of this script/record.
Biblical Carnal Book
The book of Song Songs is purely a secular book in its literal presentation. That is why I call it a ‘Biblical Carnal Book’. The book doesn’t mention God in all its 8 chapters. The book mentions nothing about salvation, repentance, sin, Satan, church etc.
T.H. Meek in his book
‘The Song of Songs, a symposium; under the song of song and the fertility cult chapter’ argues that “the songs are derived from hymns used in the cult of Ishtar, transplanted to Palestine in the worship of Astarte.”
While this could be true as it is the case with many other mythologies of the Jewish culture being editions of other Mesopotamian cultures and religions, for this Song of Songs is hardly the case since King Solomon is reputed for writing over 1000 songs (1Kings 4:32-34).
Love Story Reconstructed
It is my hypothesis therefore that the reader of the book must start by appreciating the book for what it is. The book is the word of God not just in human language but in personal realities and experiences.
The book is a people love story adopted in the word of God and we do good to approach the book in purely carnal mode than spiritualising what God has presented in a physical form. Hypothetically the love story that inspires the scattered verse of the book can be reconstructed thus:
The greatest love song was inspired by true events in the life of Solomon. What we have in that book is an experience of the love life of King Solomon.
A certain family has a farm next to that of King Solomon, wherein that family the girl takes care of the businesses of her siblings.
She even does what the boys are supposed to do and rears the sheep of the family. Solomon as a hobby outside his political duties, he occasionally undresses and puts aside all his honour including his royal palace special unit guard and comes to his farm as a common man.
He follows the sheep too as a shepherd and on the farm, they meet with the other girl and date.
The lady dates the shepherd but she doesn’t know this shepherd is a king. So to her dismay, this shepherd keeps on disappearing and reappearing. She searches him and finds him, however, the shepherd always determines to be found (on schedule).
The time the shepherds spend together is a courtship period and it is not an easy one due to the distance between the two. When the time of marriage comes, Solomon comes to the home of this girl with his entire entourage as the king.
The Lady insists she has a lover (Shepherd= not knowing she is dating the same person in two different personalities) but the king insists he will do and be who the shepherd is.
Eventually, the king wins the heart of this lady for two reasons, his love is equal to that of the shepherd and secondly, ever since this king showed up, the shepherd vanished. By the time Solomon marries this lady, however, King Solomon had already 140 wives (6:8). So a man with such a number of wives could still be able to love as he has never loved!!
First, this book requires all of us that we dwell a little bit longer on our love life and reflect on how loving we are to each other but especially to our intimate lovers. We are not required to involve God yet, but to be as physical as we can as we address the issue of love in our marriages, courtships, dates and whatever our sexual relations are.
It serves well that we talk about LOVE without any religious or divine biases first. For this is the only way we can even begin to appreciate the vertical love story.
God bless you I invoke TRUTH, REASON and FAITH (2Tim 2:7)
Priest Isaiah White (+256-793 822833 for further inquiries)
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24)
@Think & Become
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 