2025-02-04A
PLEASE READ THIS NOTE BEFORE PROCEEDING.
This study guide (page) has been compiled for those who would like to study the Scriptures in depth, theologically. If you are more looking for food for your spirit, we would advise you to skip this and start immediately with the next guide (page). There the Book is discussed text by text. Click on the following link to take you there: Song of Songs 1 . You can always return to this page at a later stage.
If not, if you would like to read the introductory and overview remarks first, we would like to point out that this Book is certainly not easy to understand and apply to yourself. Therefore, it is essential that you first read the Bible text itself carefully and reflect on it so that you can better evaluate our thoughts.
A. THE TITLE.
1:1 The Song of Solomon.
The “Song of Songs”: This is the author’s title for his book. In English translations it is referred to as, “Song of Songs”, the song of all songs. In other words, the song that is greater, more wonderful, more glorious than any other song. Solomon himself wrote 1005 songs (1 Kings 4:32). Some of them are included in the book of Psalms. When he wrote this Book, a large part of the book of Psalms had already been written and many of those songs, by his father, David. Some of them are especially precious. Here we think, for example, of Ps. 23 which is perhaps the most well-known and beloved Scripture in the entire Word; Psalm 22 which deals with Jesus’ crucifixion; Ps. 103 in which praise is given to God Almighty. Does Solomon mean that the Song of Songs is greater than all these? Perhaps only that it is the greatest, the most glorious of all that he had been inspired by God to record for up to that moment.
B. THE TOPIC.
Let us then ask ourselves the question why this song is so highly regarded by the writer (and by God)? It is because it is the song of love, par excellence – and what could be greater than love? God is love and his love is probably the central theme of the entire Word. Firstly, it is about the Lord’s incomprehensible love for man and secondly, about man’s reciprocal, but imperfect, love for Him and for one another.
There are some Bible students (theologians) who do not take this story as dealing with the God-man relationship. They see it simply as a story about the exotic love relationship between a young man and a girl. We cannot agree with this. The main reason being that the theme of the entire Bible can be summed up in one word, namely: GOD. Before anything was, “IS” He. He was the beginning of all that is. God was there, God created man; man fell into sin; God devised a plan to restore man and is still busy fulfilling it and once He has fulfilled it, He will create a new heaven and earth where God and man can live together: everything is first and foremost about God. So is this precious book in which his Bridegroom-Bride relationship with man is depicted.
Having said that, we cannot but add that the book contains also contains precious lessons applicable to our earthly engagement and marriage relationships. The lessons about the believer’s relationship with his or her heavenly Bridegroom, teach us how our earthly marriage should be, and vice versa – these are two parallel tracks; one benefits the other. A lesson learned and mastered in one, comes in handy in the other. The principles of love are the same. Heaven and earth are not as far apart as we think!
C. THE IMAGE USED.
The message is woven around the romantic story of a king and a simple peasant girl who fall in love with each other and how their relationship progresses.
Note, however, that this is not about the life relationship of a married couple. We will see that the love affair between these two characters never goes as far as the full intimacy of the bedroom. There are many intimate incidents between them, hugs, kissing mouth-to-mouth, etc. but it does not go beyond that. Therefore, the story must be seen as the relationship of an engaged couple. They have already decided; it is a foregone decision that they will get married. They are preparing for the wedding day and therefore allow themselves greater liberties with each other; intimacy from which outsiders are excluded. They eagerly seek contact with one another, their longing is for each other.
So is it with the person who surrenders his life to God and becomes Jesus’s Bride. In this life we are only his betrothed; we are not yet married to him. Our marriage will only be consummated at a much later stage. When the marriage supper of the Lamb, of which we read in Rev 19:19, takes place, the marriage will be held and that is in the distant future, in eternity. We do not want to go into discussing that matter here. Now we are concerned with the betrothal (and the embroidery of our bridal robe and headdress). In summary: the image is that of an engaged couple.
D. A TRUE STORY?
(Do take a glance at 1:1-6 once more.) Is this really the story of a relationship in which Solomon, as king, became involved with a sunburnt, rural, Shulammite girl? Did it really happen? Unlikely, for the following reasons.
The people of Israel were at that time the most glorious and highly regarded of all nations and constantly in the limelight. Solomon’s kingdom and his wisdom were known as far as Ethiopia and from there, their queen came to pay him a visit. But he and his people were also God’s light to the nations; therefore he had to conduct himself worthily, in accordance with the Law of God.
In earlier times, it was a king’s appointed officials (especially young men) who had to select beautiful girls for him from among the people. Such a girl was then prepared for a year or two with all kinds of cosmetics and foods and certainly also, depending on the type of kingdom, ethically and behaviorally prepared to be a worthy bride for the King. (This period would also ensure that she would be free from desease that could be transmitted to the king). Only then did they come together as man and wife. There was no intermediate contact. Nor did the king himself play any role in the preparation of his bride (Esther 2:1-4). Such was the custom of that time.
Although kings of old did not care much about etiquette, it is unlikely for the reasons mentioned that Solomon would have become involved in such an openly unacceptable relationship. (He already had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines with whom he could entertain himself (1 Kings 11:3). He would not have brought such a girl into his inner chambers, embraced her, and intimately courted her with kisses of his mouth. (Just think how the palace maids would have gossiped about this!)
Let’s look at a second reason. (1:7,8). Here it is said that the girl’s beloved was a shepherd and that he tells her to search for him among his flock. Would Solomon, king of such a busy empire, a ruler with so many responsibilities, find time to break away for periods of time and herd his own flock of sheep or goats for days on end? And, would his bodyguards allow him so much freedom, unprotected space?
These are just two reasons why we believe this story should be seen spiritually. This is, from the outset, the story of Jesus, the Heavenly Bridegroom, and the chosen ones of humanity, his Bride.
The story of Solomon and his Shulammite maiden is therefore fictional. It was created to add splendour to the Greater story and to explain facets of it in a way that is familiar to man and with which he can identify himself. It is the story of Jesus, the Heavenly Bridegroom, and his earthly human bride. If we interpret the Book in this way, every verse makes sense; if not, we get stuck in inexplicable stanzas. (By the way, in the earthly story, Solomon is the bridegroom; in the heavenly story he is the bride. He is actually describing to us how he experienced the Lord at that stage of his life.)
E. THE STORY OF JESUS AND HIS BRIDE.
Let us then begin at the beginning and first look at what was the important lead-up to this Heaven-Earth engagement. Way back in eternity, God the Father had no bride for his Son and then decided, from his fullness, to create a human being as a bride for him. This human would be in his image. She had to be a worthy, fulfilling companion for him. With her he would have to be able to talk and exchange thoughts like a man and a woman who are well suited to each other. She would have to be able to express her own opinions and make her own choices. She had to be able to reflect with him about their Kingdom.
The first step was to prepare a dowry for this royal bride, in cooperation with his Son. The richness of the dowry a king gave his daughter when giving her into marriage, reflected his own greatness. So too, the dowry that the Father prepared for his Son and his Bride, humanity, would be a reflection of his glory. He did this by planning the starry kingdom and earth and by creating them by the agency of his Son and Spirit.
Then they created the bride herself, the human being, Adam, and placed her in that Paradise. Jesus inspected it all and concluded that it was good, measured by divine standards. Later They created the woman. Just as the Son had a part in the creation of his bride, Adam also had a part in the creation of his bride, Eve, in that she was created from his rib.
Finally, Christ’s bride was complete. With great joy, Jesus and His bride could take possession of their Kingdom. She (AdamEve) enjoyed her bridal gift, viewed, gathered and ate the fruit; studied the animals and thought up names for them that the Bridegroom wholeheartedly agreed to. She (they) were not only breathtakingly beautiful but very intelligent, brilliant. They also enjoyed him and in the evening twilight just sat and conversed with Him. Everything went so beautifully. He trusted her completely and left the day-to-day management of Paradise to her to cultivate and guard.
There was no conflict between them – in fact, there was no reason for conflict. Jesus didn’t need to correct Adam in the adminisrtration of the garden; they were doning just fine. He and Eve also viewed the Bridegroom as excellent. This initial relationship between Bride and Groom was perfect in every way. It was pure delight. It couldn’t be better. No relationship today is nearly as rich and fulfilling as that one was.
But there was one building block missing in the story: The bride, Adam/Eve, was created by the Groom and chosen as his bride, but she still had to have an opportunity to choose for herself whether she wanted him as her Groom or not; whether she wanted to surrender herself to his care and decisions forever? So He planted a tree of choice for her in the garden. She would draw her cross in the “FOR” or “AGAINST” him box by picking and eating a fruit from the tree or, for a sufficient trial period, not picking and eating its fruit. He did not keep watch over her, but left her to herself. She had to be free to choose. Before they could get married, she had to reach the point of accepting him as her Groom by her own choice, conviction and love.
However, the Bridegroom’s enemy, the devil, heard of the test and saw his chance in this. While Eve was looking at the fruit one day, he suddenly appeared, telling her that her bridegroom was deceiving her and that she should listen to him; then he would give her much more than she had by the hand of her Bridegroom.
It was like a complete stranger, an unknown outsider, interfering in an an engagement by telling the girl that he is a much better proposition than the man she has betrothed herself to – deceiving her with all kinds of false promises. She gives him an ear, eventually believes what he says, doubdts her beloved and then comes this terrible break, a break of trust, a break of love between groom and bride.
This is what happened in Paradise; the tragedy that would determine the course of the ages and plunge Bride and Groom into deep misery. The moment Eve bit into the forbidden fruit, she denied her Bridegroom and sold herself to his enemy. Her husband, Adam, followed in her footsteps. Then, suddenly, their eyes were opened and they knew that they had done wrong, but it was too late. They could not retreat.
God the Father could do no other but declare: “My Son, my beloved Son, according to our perfect law, the law of justice, your Bride must die; they must both die”. What a tragedy! But here is the good news: so infinitely, utterly, did the Bridegroom love his Bride that He immediately replied, “Father, I will die in her place and bear her guilt, that she may live. In this way I will pay what the Perfect Law requires, but I will also win back her heart because I love her with an eternal love. By my death on a cross I will prove to her that the accusation against me is false. By sacrificing my life, she will be convinced that I withheld nothing from her because no one has greater love than to lay down his life for another”. This offer was accepted by the Father.
Thus, man was given a second chance to choose Him, the Beloved of heaven, as his bridegroom. From that moment on, day by day, century after century, Jesus has been engaged in proving his love and faithfulness to man and offering himself as bridegroom to everyone on earth. Then, in the fullness of time He died on the cross at Golgotha as He had promised. The book of Song of Songs is therefore the romantic story of the Bride wooed by the Heavenly Bridegroom.
F. GROUPINGS WITHIN THE SEA OF HUMANITY.
The individual within the vast pool of humanity stands in one of several different relationships to God.
First , there is the very small group, the atheists, who say they do not believe in God at all. It is so unfortunate that some highly intelligent scientists find themselves in this group.
The second group is the great mass of people who know and confess that there is a God, but keep him at a distance. Vaguely they fear this God and ponder on him: “There is a God. What shall I do about him?” They however love this present world, so they do not sincerly search after God and consequently never get to know him for all eternity. A small number respond to the Grooms love call by his Spirit and joyfully accept him.
Thus a third group emerges; the group of the born again true children of God. Yes, the Lord compares this event to the birth of a human child. There is a run-up of expectation; then pain; finally, the birth. A baby cries; a new being has been born on earth. From the day of his birth, that child belongs to his natural parents. Spiritually it happens similarly. When I unconditionally surrender my life to the Lord, the Spirit of God comes to dwell in me, takes possession of me. I become His. I am born as God’s spiritual child. He takes me in His arms, gives me a heavenly name and murmurs, “You are mine.” He confirms this in His Word:
See what great love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know him. (1 John 3:1).
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But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the children of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12,1)
G. PHASES IN THE CHILD OF GOD’S RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
A baby is first fed with milk, later with solid food. In the beginning, his mother carries him around in her arms or on her back. During this period, he is not expected to make decisions, take care of himself or do any work. He only has to eat, laugh, make noises and sleep. The most important thing during this period is to get to know the mother, to trust her and, without knowing it, to love her. As small as he is, he knows exactly who his mother is and will not easily be satisfied in someone else’s arms. He also recognizes her voice amongst hundreds of others. This is the bonding period. So it is with a spiritually born baby of God. He must first meet his spiritual parent, the Lord, face to face; learn to know, trust and learn love him.
Soon, however, the point of wanting to be somewhat independent, is reached. Johny begins to crawl, stand up, walk, talk, be sweet and naughty. Off to school. Reading and writing, teeth braces, sports, high school, teenage years, matriculation, university and/or career, finding a partner, being a bride or groom. This is the path of a healthy child.
The spiritual child of God also grows to maturity. Notice how the following verse speaks of three stages of spiritual development, namely children, young men, and fathers :
I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you have known the Father. (1 John 2:13)
Spiritual growth, however, does not come naturally like natural growth. The child of God must desire it and strive for it day by day. Some do not do this and when they die at 70 or 90, they do go to heaven, but as spiritual toddlers. Others grow. For them, their Father’s Kingdom takes on special meaning. Regardless of what earthly profession they are in, they also recruit citizens, i.e. make disciples. They are also often involved in spiritual warfare as soldiers. In the verse read, we also see that these young warriors women achieved victories over the forces of evil. This is phase two, three, four or five in the life of the born-again child of God.
Perhaps we could dare to say that, in this phase, the child of God’s relationship is more with God the Father.
H. THE GROOM-BRIDE PHASE/EXPERIENCES.
But, in every girl’s life, there comes a time when she desires a groom. When she reaches that point of maturity, let’s say at 21, she begins to yearn for a soulmate, a spouse with whom she can become one. Nothing but a groom can then satisfy that burning inner desire anymore.
Song of Songs depicts this much later phase in the life of the child of God. The spiritual baby stage is over, as are the toddler, youth, and early adult stages. Now comes a burning desire to experience Jesus as Bridegroom – to be a bride to Him as we were originally destined to be; as Adam and Eve were to Him in Paradise and much more. Even the world-famous evangelist who has led tens of thousands of souls to Jesus, longs for this deep, deep, calmly flowing river of God’s love, for the embrace of God the Son.
The child of God is no longer at the point where he is frightened when the pastor preaches brimstone and fire, if I may put it that way. He is past that. After all, he cannot be saved again. I have given myself to the Lord, I long to be changed into the image of my Bridegroom. We must look alike. A boy of twelve might do with a few good blows on the buttocks (Heb 12:6,7) but for an engaged young lady it is unthinkable to be laid across the groom’s lap and corrected with a couple of smacks with the flat of the hand! Now I long for a love relationship with my Bridegroom. I do my best in toeing theline and adorn myself with spiritual jewels that He can delight in me, not because I am afraid that He will punish me if I make a mistake. Oh yes, sometimes I fail, but I repent immediately. As a girl draws her betrothed to her by the beauty of her body, so I draw Him by my spiritual beauty, the product of His love in me. In the same way, He draws me to Himself, not by reproof, but by the glow of His love, the fragrance of His glory, and the beauty of His holiness.
We see all this in the Bridegroom and Bride of this book. For them it is the time of love. That is why it is called the Song of Songs, the Book of Songs, perhaps the greatest, the most glorious book of the Bible because it portrays love so clearly and in such depth. It speaks of the pinnacle of your fellowship with God. It is preeminently the description of the Bride who is being prepared to enter into eternity, to enter into the full presence of the King. She is to stand “before the pulpit” with Him, before the heavenly hosts of angels. She wants to make Him proud; her headdress, makeup, necklace, tabard, train, shoes and bouquet must be of the very best.
We also note that this Bride does not once ask the Bridegroom for something; a beautiful dress or shoes or a house or a trip abroad or health or a herd of goats or a vineyard, but just to be with her. She seeks HIM, not his property or gifts and Solomon was very, very rich; he could have given whatever the Shulammite peasant girl would desire. But no, she seeks more, she seeks HIM. Also note that the Bridegroom does not ask his bride to do all sorts of tasks for him, to tend his sheep or to weed and prune his vineyard in order to earn his favour, no, he uses his labourers for that; He seeks HER as a person, her love, her presence, the beauty of her flowing hair, the curves of her body, the softness of her lips. She must just be with him constantly, accompany him wherever he travels. We are not saying that the works we do for Jesus do not please him, but that the motive, the reason for it, must be our river of love for Him. He looks more into his bride’s sparkling eyes than at the cup of coffee in her hand.
I. COULD THIS BE TRUE?
A question that surely comes to your mind is this: “I can understand that the Bride is fascinated by the beauty of the Son of God, but how can He fall so passionately in love and say so many beautiful things about His earthly Bride; so imperfect, often so stained with sin, every now and then in the valley of discouragement? Alas, the story is not realistic!”
The answer is twofold: Firstly, it lies in the wonder of the nature of love that sees everything in the best possible light – read, for example, 1 Cor 13:7:
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things .
Read it carefully a few times and ask your Bridegroom to enlarge your spiritual understanding by his Spirit so that you may believe it with all your heart. Meditate and pray until the light of understanding shines upon you regarding this precious truth; until it is constantly written in bright capital letters on your bedroom wall.
Secondly, the story is true because He already sees her as she will one day be in heaven – without spot or wrinkle! He sees her as she is in Him because of the perfect work he did for Her on the cross. Oh, please believe that you are truly beautiful, perfect in His eyes – as you were when you stood before Him in Paradise in Adam and Eve. Pray even more urgently that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to this truth and your spiritual walk with Jesus will never be the same. You will only want to become more and more as He already sees you – hallelujah.
J. THE EROTIC DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BRIDE.
There are people who are frightened by the explicit descriptions of the bride in this book and believe that it is so graphic that it should not be read in public, for example in church – that you should first look around to make sure that others do not see you open this Book.
But let us, for a moment, return to Paradise and take a look at how Eve was when Jesus led her to Adam by his hand – she wasn’t wearing a single piece of clothing, not even a fig leaf; nothing to cover herself with. It was meant to be so, Adam had to see her like that so that he would desire her. She was breathtakingly beautiful from head to toe. He couldn’t get enough of looking at her. The only difference was that both were sinless. No lust had ignited in them. The unification of their flesh would spring from their love, not from loveless carnal desire. That is why the Bride in Song of Songs is depicted at least partially naked. Before Jesus we stand totally naked.
When our spirit then overcomes the flesh in us, our unholy lust melts away and we stand on holy ground while reading these passages. We look at everything around us through the lens of pure love and we are refreshed within. Can you imagine that it is possible that He longs to spend time with you? Can you imagine that it is pleasant for Him to have spiritual fellowship with you, even if it is not as deep as it will be on the other side of the earthly boundary? Here we experience only in part. Here our relationship sometimes fades when I, as a Bride, stray from Him, yet, even here there are also times of passionate abundance.
Oh, brother and sister in the Lord, there are many great men and women of God who have spoken and written about the wonder of such communion with God, such spiritual union with the Bridegroom. However, this betrothal experience cannot be adequately described in words; it can only be experienced.
K. FOR EVERYONE WHO IS INVOLVED.
This Bridegroom-Bride relationship with God the Son is not destined for only a few special men and women of God. Although it will probably only come to full development later in the life of the born-again person, we often experience something of the glory of his presence right from the start. He himself works it within us, giving us a foretaste of what our relationship with him can and should be. He lets us taste the glow of his love and draws us to a fuller and ever fuller surrender until it becomes a daily experience; until in time, we succeed, even in the course of our busy lives, in drinking deeply from the cup of his love.
This delightful fellowship does not replace the hard work of disciple-making, but rather stimulates it. The work and the relationship go hand in hand, just as Jesus, while hour after hour busy healing the sick, casting out demons, and explaining the principles of the Kingdom, maintained an unbroken perfect bond with his Father. That is why, when his Father spoke of him from heaven, he did not refer to him as, “My mighty Son,” but as, “My beloved Son.” Their loving relationship was more important to them than the work of redemption the Son was to accomplish.
In the believer’s life, his relationship with God must also take precedence over everything else. Then comes the man-woman marriage relationship, then the parent-child relationship. Then comes the professional and other relationships. This also applies to the Presidents of States and other leaders of nations. The Lord must be more important to the leader of a country than his people and the affairs of his country (Joshua 1:8) – however impossible and impractical it may sound. If every head of state practiced his profession in this way, this world would be transformed into a paradise of peace and prosperity.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matt 6:33).
L. THE IMAGINATIVE IMAGES OF THE GROOM AND BRIDE.
Here we think of descriptions such as:
2:8 Hear, my beloved, behold, he cometh: he leapeth upon the mountains, he skippeth upon the hills. 9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: he standeth behind our wall: he looketh in at the windows, he peepeth through the bars.
4:2 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes that have just been shorn, coming up from the watering place, all of which bear twins, and not one among them is without a lamb.
4:4 Your neck is like the tower of David, built with battlements, on which hang a thousand shields, all of them shields of warriors.
We must be spiritually agile, quick and flexible to be able to follow the imaginative depiction of the author/Writer and to be able to understand, enjoy and apply his thoughts – in this the Holy Spirit is so willing to assist us, but – the Song of Songs is not for sleepy readers.
M. THE WRITERS.
We would all agree that, since this is one of the 66 books of the Bible, every word was inspired by God. Solomon is really just the amanuensis , the man through whom the divine thoughts flowed. We can rightly wonder how much he understood of it. The Old Testament prophets prophesied much about Jesus’ coming, life and death for a sinful world, but probably understood little of it in depth. Jesus’ disciples even enquired at his ascension whether his coming was for the liberation of Israel. If even the Holy Spirit-filled modern theologian finds it difficult to interpret this Book verse by verse, how much more so an Old Testament king like Solomon. He would though have experienced much of it, because even a man like Enoch had, had an incredibly intimate walk with God.
N. THE PROFILES OF THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS.
There is actually only one character in the story, namely Solomon. He SYMBOLIZES the Heavenly Bridegroom and IS also the earthly bride.
- Solomon the coveted Bridegroom.
That King Solomon is the main character is clear, for he is referred to by name seven times. The Father could not have chosen a better symbol for his Son.
Solomon loved the Lord (1Ki 3:3) and was king over God’s people, the most prominent people on earth; yet he was a humble man who did not strive for high things but rather desired that which would best serve the Lord’s cause as expressed in I Ki 3:5 ff:
Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at Gibeon by night; and God said, “Ask what I shall give you. … 7. Now therefore, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in the place of my father David; and I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give therefore to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad; for who is able to govern this great people of yours?
10. And it pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked long life for thyself, nor riches for thyself, nor the life of thine enemies, but hast asked understanding to discern judgment: 12 I will do according to thy word: Behold, I will give thee a wise and an understanding heart: so that there hath not been any like thee before thee, neither shall there arise after thee any like unto thee. 13 Yea, that which thou hast not asked, I will give thee both riches and honour; so that there shall not be any among the kings like thee all thy days.
What a blessed man; what a worthy person to play the role of the Prince of the universe. The greatness with which God then blessed him was as follows:
1Ki 4:20 Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate and drank and were happy.
21 And Solomon reigned over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt: they brought tribute, and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty cors of fine flour and sixty cors of meal; 23 ten fattened oxen and twenty oxen of the field, and an hundred sheep, besides harts and roebucks and deers and fattened geese.
24 For he reigned over all west of the Euphrates, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings west of the Euphrates, and had peace on all sides round about: 25 So Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba , all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls for his stall horses, and twelve thousand for his chariot horses. 27 And these officers provided for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every one in his month: they lacked nothing. 28 And the barley and straw for the horses and for the steeds they brought unto their place, every one according to his charge.
1Ki 4:29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceeding greatness of heart, and breadth of understanding, as the sand that is on the seashore. 30 So that Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the children of the east, and than all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 And he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol: so that his fame was in all the nations round about.
32 And he spake three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five. 33 And he spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of cattle, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
34 And they came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
Solomon would therefore have been a sought-after groom for any girl.
(As we may know, he wandered away from the Lord in later years, but that is beyond the scope of this book.)
- The Shulammite bride.
The second character in the story, the Shulammite bride, is not named. In her spiritual role, she is one of millions of others who collectively make up the Bride of Christ. Every child of God can read his/her name where the tanned little girl and her doings are described. She is not the glorious Solomon, just an ordinary, everyday, country, farm girl who single-handedly tends her garden. Yet she is unique to Solomon. There is no one else like her. He is madly in love with her. That is how it is with you and me in relation to the Heavenly Bridegroom. Take courage, all of his attention is centered on you!
And yes, let us not forget, the great Solomon was also just a fellow Shulammite bride and it is from that perspective that he writes this glorious song. His highest joy in life was not his kingship over Israel, but his relationship with Jesus, the Bridegroom of the Greater Kingdom.
AFTER THIS LENGTHY INTRODUCTION, WE CAN NOW FINALLY MOVE ON TO A VERSE-BY-VERSE ANALYSIS OF THE SONG.
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