The Song of Solomon

The Song of Solomon is known by other names also. In the Catholic Bible, it is called “Canticles.” It calls itself “the song of songs” (Song of Solomon 1:1). 

Song of Solomon 1:1 New Living Translation (NLT)

1 This is Solomon’s song of songs, more wonderful than any other.

Some have doubted that this book should be in the Bible. They do not understand the purpose of the book. They do not like the plain sexual references. They also point out that God’s name is not mentioned.
If we understand the meaning of the book, we will see why God included it in the Bible. The purpose of the Song of Solomon is to show the joys and blessings of love between a husband and wife. The sexual relationship was created by God. It is holy and good when engaged in by a husband and wife who truly love one another. God intended it for man’s happiness (1 Corinthians 7:1-5).

1 Corinthians 7:1-5 New Living Translation (NLT)

Instruction on Marriage

7 Now regarding the questions you asked in your letter. Yes, it is good to abstain from sexual relations. 2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

3 The husband should fulfill his wife’s sexual needs, and the wife should fulfill her husband’s needs. 4 The wife gives authority over her body to her husband, and the husband gives authority over his body to his wife.

5 Do not deprive each other of sexual relations, unless you both agree to refrain from sexual intimacy for a limited time so you can give yourselves more completely to prayer. Afterward, you should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

God uses the love of the husband and wife to illustrate the love that Christ has for His church (Ephesians 5:22-33).

Ephesians 5:22-23 New Living Translation (NLT)

22 For wives, this means submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.

Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon (Song of Solomon 1:1). It is only one of more than one thousand songs he wrote (1 Kings 4:29-34). It was written when Solomon was a young man. Too, it was  written before Solomon had married many wives. It shows the love between him and one wife.

1 Kings 4:29-34 New Living Translation (NLT)

29 God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding, and knowledge as vast as the sands of the seashore. 30 In fact, his wisdom exceeded that of all the wise men of the East and the wise men of Egypt. 31 He was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite and the sons of Mahol—Heman, Calcol, and Darda. His fame spread throughout all the surrounding nations. 32 He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs.33 He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish. 34 And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.

We must understand the Song of Solomon is poetry. The persons who appear in this poem are: King Solomon who is the bridegroom, the Shulamite maid who is his bride, the daughters of Jerusalem, and the brothers of the Shulamite maid.
Two great lessons can be learned from the Song of Solomon. First, it teaches us that monogamy (one husband and one wife) is best. This was God’s original plan for marriage (Genesis 2:21-25). It is still God’s plan for marriage today (Matthew 19:3-9). Second, it teaches that sexual love is right in marriage, but sinful outside of it (Hebrews 13:4).

Hebrews 13:4 New King James Version (NKJV)

4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

The books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon have wonderful teachings in them. They should not be neglected in our study of God’s Word (Romans 15:4). We must remember, however, that when we study them, we must consider the type of writing (proverbs and poetry). We must also consider the context of each statement. If we do these things, we will not draw false conclusions from them as do many false teachers.