Song of Songs
A poem of love between a man and a woman, celebrated in Jewish and Christian tradition.
What the sources say, and how sure we are
- The text says
The title reads “The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.” The book is a poem of love and longing between a woman and a man, with a chorus of friends.Song 1:1; Song 8:6–7
- Debated
The title can mean by, for, or about Solomon. Tradition holds that he wrote it. Some scholars date the poem to his time, others to the Persian or Greek period, and the presence of Persian-origin words is debated as evidence.Song 4:13
- Debated
The book has been read as love poetry about human marriage, as a picture of God’s love for Israel, and as a picture of Christ and the church. Jewish and Christian readers have long combined these readings, and many modern readers stress the plain reading first.
- Christian conclusion
Christians who read the book as pointing beyond marriage see it as a picture of Christ’s love for the church, as Paul describes marriage in Ephesians 5. Others hold that the book is a celebration of marital love and does not need further meaning.Eph 5:31–32