Tucked between Ecclesiastes and Isaiah is a book that is entirely a love song. It has no laws, no battles and no prophecies – only a bride and her beloved speaking to each other, with a group called the daughters of Jerusalem looking on.
It calls itself The song of songs, which is Solomon’s, meaning the finest of songs. Its best-known lines are about love that will not give up: love is strong as death, and Many waters cannot quench love.
The Story of the Song of Solomon
The book opens with its title, The song of songs, which is Solomon’s, and goes straight into the bride’s voice. She speaks of her beloved’s love as better than wine, and she asks, Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon. The poem moves back and forth between her voice and his, with the daughters of Jerusalem sometimes addressed along the way.
In chapter 2 she calls herself the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys, and he answers that she is as the lily among thorns. She says he brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Three times in the book (2:7, 3:5 and 8:4) she gives the daughters of Jerusalem nearly the same charge, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please – love is not to be rushed.
Then comes a picture of spring. My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. A request follows to take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines, and verse 16 declares: My beloved is mine, and I am his.
In chapter 3 the bride searches the city by night for him whom my soul loveth and finds him. The chapter then turns to a royal procession and calls the daughters of Zion to behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart – his wedding day.
The middle chapters continue the back-and-forth of the two lovers, praising each other in the picture language of the ancient world – gardens, vineyards, flocks, spices and springs of water – with times of searching and times of finding.
The last chapter gives the book’s great statement about love. Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. True love cannot be bought. The song ends with the bride calling, Make haste, my beloved.
Key Verses
“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love” Song of Solomon 2:4
“For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone” Song of Solomon 2:11-12
“My beloved is mine, and I am his” Song of Solomon 2:16
“Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death” Song of Solomon 8:6
“Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” Song of Solomon 8:7
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), a public-domain translation.
What the Story of the Song of Solomon Teaches Us
The Song of Solomon shows that love between a husband and wife is a good gift that belongs in the Bible. It is celebrated with joy and tenderness, in a song set around a wedding day, and with a repeated charge not to awaken love before its time.
The book describes love as faithful and lasting. My beloved is mine, and I am his is a promise of belonging to each other, and the closing chapter says love is strong as death and that many waters cannot quench it. It cannot be bought with all the substance of a house.
Jews and Christians have also long read the Song as a picture of God’s love for his people – Jewish readers often of the LORD’s love for Israel, and many Christians of Christ’s love for his church. Read that way, his banner over me was love becomes a picture of being covered and claimed by the love of God.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Song of Solomon about?
It is a love poem between a bride and her beloved, celebrating their love and faithfulness to each other. Song of Solomon 8:7 sums it up: Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.
Who wrote the Song of Solomon?
Song of Solomon 1:1 calls it The song of songs, which is Solomon’s, and the book names king Solomon several times, including at his wedding in 3:11.
What does his banner over me was love mean?
In Song of Solomon 2:4 the bride says he brought her to the banqueting house and his banner over me was love. A banner marked who a person or group belonged to, so she is saying his love openly covered and claimed her.
Where is My beloved is mine, and I am his in the Bible?
It is Song of Solomon 2:16: My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
Is the Song of Solomon about God’s love?
On its surface it is a love song between a bride and her beloved. Jews and Christians have also long read it as a picture of God’s love for his people, Israel or the church.