What is an erotic
poem doing
in the middle of the Bible? The
Song of Solomon, or Song of Songs, is a beautiful poem, but some find it hard
to reconcile with the more solemn books on either side of it (in most editions,
it is between Ecclesiastes and Isaiah).
The poem celebrates the
courtship, marriage and continuing union of a couple. This couple is the King, referred to as the
Beloved (Solomon),
and the Shulamite, one of his favorite wives. In much of the poem, the Beloved
and the Shulamite express their love for each other
and the delight they experience in being loved by each other.
Though it is masked in metaphor, there is clearly physical attraction
and pleasure in the relationship. The Shulamite compares her husband to a
feast, and she is deeply satisfied (maybe pleasantly drunk) from enjoying him.
The Beloved compares his wife to a beautiful garden, and he wants to smell
every flower and taste every fruit.
Some have taken the entire book to be a metaphor for something else. It
has been read at Passover
by Jews, who
see it as a reference to the God (the King)
initiation relationship (marriage) to Israel (the
humble and lowly Shulamite). Christian
scholars have often taken it as a metaphor of the relationship between Christ and the church, which is
often referred to as the bride of Christ in the New Testament.
These ideas no doubt have merit, but I would not want to lose the more
straightforward story of the song. Marriage can be full of passion and
pleasure. A committed couple can find ways to make that passion last and
continue to enjoy each other. God created marriage, and I think He wants
husbands and wives to enjoy each other in many way, including sex.
The poem has multiple narrators and take place in multiple settings. In
addition to the Beloved and the Shulamite, we here from the ladies of the
court, the Shulamites’ brothers, and other possible guests of a wedding feast
or similar event. The original text does not readily identify shifts in speaker
or setting except through internal clues, such as changes in pronouns. Many
editions of the Bible including notes or headers to make understanding the poem
easier, but these are the addition of editors.
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