AUTHOR

Although Song of Songs (otherwise known as Song of Solomon or Canticles) is one of the shortest books in the Old Testament, no biblical text has produced more controversy throughout the history of interpretation. The majority of scholars agree that the Song, comprised of several love poems woven together to form a unit, describes conjugal love between a bridegroom and a bride. The underlying marriage metaphor plays an important role in various interpretive models of the text.

Traditional scholars affirm Solomon as the author of the Song based on 1 Kings 4:29-34, dating the text to approximately 900 BC. In the Old Testament, Solomon is commonly associated with poetry, wisdom, and horticulture, further supporting the traditional view of authorship. Yet, although Solomon’s name occurs six times in the book, the question of the authorship of the Song remains uncertain.

INTERPRETATION OF SONG OF SONGS

Three interpretive strategies stand out from the wide and often eclectic variety of approaches to the Song: the allegorical, typological, and literal approaches.

Allegorical approach. Throughout the first half of the first millennium AD, religious leaders in Judaism and the early church questioned the religious value of the book, noting the absence of theological themes or references to the Lord in the Song. Furthermore, the extensive use of figurative language, often erotic, prompted both early Jewish scholars and the church fathers to adopt an allegorical approach to the interpretation of the Song.

In order to compensate for the explicit, often sensual language of the text, the Talmud, Targums, and Midrashim (Jewish rabbinical writings) responded by claiming that the bride represents Israel, while the groom represents God. In this view, the context of the Song describes the love of God for Israel, using imagery normally reserved for the intimate conversations between marriage partners.

Similarly, Christian scholars such as Hippolytus, Origen, and Jerome argued that the Song of Songs depicts the love of Christ for his church. The church thus sought to interpret the text in a way that would deflect or eliminate the focus on natural desires, transforming the message through allegory to extol celibacy as the ultimate expression of holiness and purity. Origen argued that the Song illustrates the union of the earthly and physical with the divine and spiritual. The allegorical interpretation helped to give rise to the mysticism of monks and celibate scholars of the twelfth century. Later, Luther attempted to revise this view somewhat by proposing that the Song figuratively describes Solomon’s monarchical rule over Israel. Other early attempts to correct an allegorical approach met with resistance in Jewish and Christian circles.

What are we to make of this interpretive approach? Allegory relies on extensive symbolism, and only those privy to the code language of the book can understand the theological meaning of the imagery. Yet the book itself reveals no deliberate attempt by the author to create an allegory, and the terminology contained in the text is not specific enough to warrant allegorical interpretation. The often inscrutable figures of speech open many sections of the book to the uncontrolled imagination of the reader, who may be unfamiliar with euphemistic phrases and the culture of ancient Palestine.

Typological approach. The second approach finds correspondence between The Lord’s intimate relationship with Israel (as in the book of Hosea) and the marriage analogy. It also finds affinities with New Testament texts that portray the church as the bride of Christ (Eph 5). This approach recognizes the legitimate interpretation of the work in its original context as a series of love poems celebrating matrimony while maintaining the propriety of the marriage metaphor and the application of conjugal imagery in describing the relationship between God and his people

Literal approach. A strictly literal interpretation to the Song became prominent under historical criticism in the late nineteenth century and remains the predominant view in contemporary times. A number of literary studies produced on the Song understand the book as a celebration of a blissful, healthy marriage, adopting a positive attitude toward human sexuality within the confines of the nuptial relationship blessed by God. Robert Lowth, Bishop of London and Oxford professor, proposed that the Song describes an actual wedding feast of Solomon. A comparison with ancient Near Eastern documents reveals several wedding compositions, which compel some commentators to suggest the Song belongs to a well-established genre of matrimonial poems.

The apologist who seeks to interpret the Song in light of its theological significance and contributions to the biblical text must address the problem of conflicting interpretation strategies as the reader encounters unusual imagery and distinctive language. The writer frequently used rare words that occur only once in the Song. Furthermore, almost all scholars disagree concerning the structural divisions of the Song. Any accurate interpretation of the text must take into consideration stylistic features common in biblical Hebrew poetry, such as parallelism, brevity, and wordplay.