Song of Solomon

About Song of Solomon

The Song of Songs is a collection of love poetry — two voices delighting in each other with honesty, longing, and joy. It celebrates romantic love and marriage as God's good gift, and many readers through the centuries have also heard in it a picture of God's love for His people. In the Bible's big story, it hands beauty and desire back to their Maker.

Written by

The opening line links the Song to Solomon, though the Hebrew phrase can also mean it was written for or about him, so the author question stays open.

When

Tradition places it in Solomon's reign around 950 BC; some scholars date its final form centuries later based on its language, and the evidence allows either view.

Themes

• Love as God's good gift
• Longing and belonging
• Faithfulness and delight
• Love strong as death

Key verses

• Song of Solomon 2:16My beloved is mine and I am his; he pastures his flock among the lilies.
• Song of Solomon 8:6-7Set me as a seal over your heart, as a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol. Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all. Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.