Song of Songs

Definition and Meaning

The Korean title Aga (雅歌) means "beautiful song." The Hebrew title, Shir ha-Shirim, means "Song of Songs," that is, the most excellent of songs. English Bibles call it the "Song of Songs" or the "Song of Solomon." It is one of the poetic books of the Old Testament and has eight chapters. It consists of poetic dialogue in which a bride (the Shulamite woman) and a bridegroom long for and praise each other. A distinctive feature of the book is that the name of God hardly appears in it.

Biblical and Historical Background

Song of Solomon 1:1 calls the book "The song of songs, which is Solomon's." For this reason it has traditionally been attributed to Solomon and is grouped with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes as one of the books associated with him. Scholars differ, however, on whether this phrase identifies the author or indicates a song dedicated to Solomon.

Because of its frank expressions of love, there is said to have been debate within ancient Judaism over whether to include it in the canon. Rabbi Akiva is reported to have defended the book by likening it to the "Holy of Holies." In Judaism there is a tradition of reading the Song of Songs at Passover.

Interpretations fall into three broad categories:

• Allegorical interpretation: Judaism read the book as depicting the love between God and Israel, while the ancient and medieval Church read it as depicting the love between Christ and the Church or between Christ and the believer's soul. The commentaries and sermons of Origen and Bernard of Clairvaux are representative examples.
• Literal interpretation: This view became widespread in the modern era. It regards the book as a song celebrating the beauty of love and marriage between a man and a woman as a gift from God.
• Dramatic interpretation: This view reads the book as a story featuring Solomon and the Shulamite woman, or alternatively a shepherd lover.

Today many readings take the literal sense as their foundation and, building on it, view the book in light of the relationship between Christ and the Church.

Use in the Korean Church

Several verses from the New Korean Revised Version are familiar to Korean churchgoers. Representative examples are "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys" (Song of Solomon 2:1), "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away" (Song of Solomon 2:10), and "love is strong as death" (Song of Solomon 8:6). The language of Song of Solomon 2:1 has also been used in hymns that call Jesus the "Rose of Sharon."

In wedding service sermons, Song of Solomon 8:6–7 is frequently used as a text on marital love. At revival meetings and gatherings at prayer retreat centers, the book is often cited as a text for meditating on the love between Christ the Bridegroom and the saints as his bride. Some charismatic gatherings make the Song of Songs their central text when emphasizing so-called "bridal spirituality."

Denominations do not have their own officially defined interpretations of the book. Differences arise less between denominations than among the interpretive traditions of individual preachers and seminaries. In general, Reformed scholars tend to respect the literal sense while also reading the book as a shadow pointing to the relationship between Christ and the Church. In everyday preaching, by contrast, allegorical application remains common.