Okay, what is Solomon doing here? Last time we talked about how this is the Song of Songs – and we talked a little about how this fits into the three Solomonic books (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs) – but as some of you noted afterwards, Solomon is something of an odd character when it comes to marriage!
After all, according to 1 Kings 11:3 Solomon had seven hundred wives of royal birth, and three hundred concubines. I’m willing to grant that there may be some hyperbole here! In order to marry 700 wives of royal birth, he would have had to marry every princess on the planet! But the point is obvious: Solomon married a lot of foreign women – and so if you think of Song of Songs as Solomon’s love song to his wife, then it sounds really hollow! And if the bride is a common Israelite, then she would be one of the concubines – in which case the Song of Songs would be rather painful!
But Solomon is probably not the poet. If he is, then it would make the most sense to say that this is Solomon at the end of his life, using himself somewhat ironically – as a bad example.
But when it says the “Song of Songs which is of Solomon” – that does not mean “by” Solomon. It could just as easily mean “to” Solomon or “for” Solomon – or even “about” Solomon.
The point is that when you sing this Song, you should be thinking about Solomon – but not thinking about his thousand wives – rather, thinking about his splendor and glory. |
