The Song of Songs

Illustration of The Song of Songs

Attributed to Solomon, the Song of Songs is Scripture's great poem of love, celebrating the beauty and delight of love between a bride and her beloved. Read on one level as a celebration of marital love as God's good gift, it has also long been read as an allegory of God's love for his people and Christ's love for the church. Its imagery of gardens, spices, and the beloved's beauty is among the most tender in the Bible.

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Strongest connections in Scripture
Song of Solomon 2

Key Passages

The Rose of Sharon

Song of Solomon 2:1-4

The lovers exchange praise - 'his banner over me was love' - in Scripture's great poem of delight.

I1 am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. 4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.

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Characters

Solomon Solomon, the son of King David and Bathsheba, succeeded his father as ruler of Israel around 970 BCE andโ€ฆ

Did You Know?

1

Its Hebrew title, 'Song of Songs,' means the greatest of all songs.

2

It never once mentions God by name.

3

It has been read both as a celebration of married love and as an allegory of God's love.

4

Jewish tradition reads it every year at Passover.