The Song of Songs is a book in the Bible that is often misunderstood. It is a collection of love songs and poems that celebrate the beauty of human love and marriage. The book is not just about romance, but also about the deep mystery of redemption.
The Song of Songs is often attributed to King Solomon, who wrote over 1,000 songs (1 Kings 4:32). However, the perspective of this book contrasts sharply with Solomon’s life experience in many ways. Rather than seeing sex as a conquest and marriage as a political alliance, the Song of Songs views marriage as a romance and sex as the seal of a sacred covenant.
The author of the Song of Songs dedicated his song to Solomon in order to cast a divine vision for marriage that stood against the idolatries of his contemporary culture. This biblical song can do the same thing for us today.
To approach this book, we need to read it poetically. A love song is simply a love poem set to music. Most people encounter love poems every day through listening to popular music. The love songs we listen to are really poems set to music, and they have a way of getting inside us and connecting with our life experience.
If we read the Song of Songs as a short story, we will be frustrated by its lack of clarity. But if we read this book the way it was meant to be read—as a loose collection of love songs from a steamy romance that became a happy marriage—we will enter into its joy.
This article is adapted from “The Love of Love in the Song of Songs” by Philip Graham Ryken. Ryken is the eighth president of Wheaton College and has published over 50 books, including expository commentaries on Exodus, Ecclesiastes, and Jeremiah.
In addition to the article, there are five myths about various topics, including angels and demons, Calvinism, marriage, and depression. These myths highlight common misconceptions and provide a more nuanced understanding of these complex topics.
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