Song of Solomon

Why does poetry have to be so hard to understand??? With all of the poetic imagery used, it is difficult to know what is actually going on, and that drives me crazy! The reason for the vague imagery is obvious... this is a very explicit book and the verbiage is delicately chosen. All the places where you think there may be a sexual reference, there definitely is. The overall purpose of the book and the most likely reason for it's inclusion in Scripture, is to relate the importance of monogamous, marital love. This message is two-fold, in that it also relates to the importance of monogamy between Israel and the Lord, though it is unclear to scholars whether or not Solomon intended the double meaning. Most think it is simply what it appears to be... a love poem from a man to his new bride. The poem appears to be broken into three sections... the courtship, the wedding night, and the deepening relationship, and includes two dream sequences during which the Shulamite woman goes looking for Solomon.

Where things get murky is in trying to figure out who the main characters are. Solomon is generally credited with authorship, but some dispute whether or not he is the lover of whom the Shulamite woman speaks. Solomon was king, so why would he be tending sheep. Some scholars believe that he met his bride while on vacation at a "country home" and was out in the flocks for leisure. Others believe the shepherd refers to the Shulamite's true love, before being pledged to the king.

And who was the Shulamite woman? Was she Pharoah's daughter, who is mentioned several times as Solomon's wife? Was she one of Solomon's many concubines, but one who truly stole his heart? Verse 6:8 mentions 60 wives, 80 concubines, and virgins beyond number. We know from other portions of Scripture that Solomon had over 700 wives and 300 concubines, most of whom were political arrangements for the purpose of treaties or trade agreements. This woman was special, but evidently not special enough to transform Solomon into a monogamous man. For clearly he added wives and concubines to his harem after his marriage to the Shulamite woman. It wasn't until the end of his life that he realized that he had vainly chased after pleasure at the expense of true happiness. We'll read about that in Ecclesiastes.

Maybe it is not important to know who these people are. Maybe the point is simply to see the beauty of fresh love between a man and his bride. The Shulamite woman is never referred to as Solomon's wife, but instead as his bride, his beloved, his darling, etc. Our spouses are to be adored and that is a healthy tap on the shoulder for me...

Tomorrow's reading: 1 Kings 11:1-43, 2 Chron. 9:29-31, Ecc. 1:1-11