Song of Songs: Love cherished, guarded and freely given

Where Song of Songs sits

In the story

Act IV, Israel · The Kingdom, c. 1050–930 BC

In the Bible

Old Testament · Wisdom & Poetry · book 22 of 66

Within Scripture's wisdom books, the Song celebrates the goodness of embodied love after creation and amid the vulnerabilities of a fallen world.

Song of Songs summary

The lovers seek one another, exchange praise and celebrate intimacy through the language of gardens, animals, fragrance and the land. Repeated warnings guard the timing of love, while night searches show its vulnerability. The final seal image gathers the poem's concern for lasting commitment. The song honors married love as God's good gift without supplying a complete courtship biography.

Song of Songs in context

Written by

Traditionally Solomon; 1:1 connects the song with him, while the precise authorship and relation of the lovers to Solomon are debated.

Written to

Israel receiving wisdom about love, especially the young women addressed within the song.

Setting

A poetic world of vineyards, gardens, city streets, shepherding and royal imagery in the land of Israel.

When

Traditionally placed in Solomon's tenth-century BC setting; the date of composition is debated.

Why

To celebrate exclusive married love and teach delight, patience and faithfulness without reducing love to power or possession.

Themes of Song of Songs

• Mutual delight
• Patience
• Lasting commitment

Song of Songs chapter by chapter

Part 1 · Desire, praise and proper timing 1–2

1. 1
   Song of Songs 1: Love speaks with desire and delight

   The lovers express desire, answer insecurity with praise and delight in being together.

2. 2
   Song of Songs 2: Love has its proper time

   The lovers rejoice in mutual belonging while guarding love from haste and harm.

Part 2 · Searching and wedding joy 3

1. 3
   Song of Songs 3: Searching love and wedding joy

   A night search gives way to reunion, restraint and a scene of royal wedding splendor.

Part 3 · Garden delight and painful absence 4–5

1. 4
   Song of Songs 4: The bride is cherished

   The beloved praises his bride and she freely welcomes him into the garden of their love.

2. 5
   Song of Songs 5: Love seeks after separation

   After shared delight, the woman seeks her absent beloved and praises him as her friend.

Part 4 · Belonging and reciprocal invitation 6–7

1. 6
   Song of Songs 6: Belonging renewed

   Mutual belonging and renewed praise answer the previous scene of absence and longing.

2. 7
   Song of Songs 7: Desire freely returned

   The lovers celebrate one another and the woman invites her beloved to share her love.

Part 5 · Commitment beyond purchase 8

1. 8
   Song of Songs 8: Love cannot be bought

   Love calls for lasting commitment, resists purchase and ends with the lovers still calling to each other.

See the outline of Song of Songs