Reading the Song of Songs
Love poetry, allegory (Israel and Yahweh; Christ and the church), or drama — from the Targum and Origen to modern literal readings.
Song of Solomon 1:1-2:7
1The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine.
3Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is oil poured out, therefore the virgins love you.
4Take me away with you. Let’s hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! They are right to love you.
5I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar’s tents, like Solomon’s curtains.
6Don’t stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother’s sons were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards. I haven’t kept my own vineyard.
7Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest them at noon; for why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions?
8If you don’t know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
9I have compared you, my love, to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.
11We will make you earrings of gold, with studs of silver.
12While the king sat at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
13My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh, that lies between my breasts.
14My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
15Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are like doves.
16Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; and our couch is verdant.
17The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs.
1I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.
2As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
3As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4He brought me to the banquet hall. His banner over me is love.
5Strengthen me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love.
6His left hand is under my head. His right hand embraces me.
7I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, or by the hinds of the field, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires.
What each tradition says
Rabbinic / Midrashic
Hirsch and Toy state the oldest known interpretation of the Song is allegorical, prompted by a demand for ethical and religious content. The Midrash and Targum depict relations between God and Israel. This reading passed into the Christian Church, elaborated from Origen onward as God or Jesus relating to the Church or individual soul.
Emil G. Hirsch (1851-1923) and Crawford Howell Toy (1836-1919), The Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 11, s.v. 'Song of Songs, The' (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1901-1906) — section 'Interpretation: Solomon as Bridegroom'
Patristic
Methodius reads Song 2:2, "As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters." He understands the lily as an image of the grace of chastity. Chastity is like the lily because of its purity, fragrance, sweetness, and joyousness.
Methodius of Olympus (d. c. 311), The Banquet of the Ten Virgins (Symposium), Discourse VII (Procilla), ch. 1 (trans. William R. Clark), in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 6 (Buffalo: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886) — Discourse VII ('Virginity the Lily; Faithful Souls and Virgins, the One Bride of the One Christ'), on Song 2:2
Catholic
Majority viewThe Catholic Encyclopedia states that most Catholics accept the allegorical interpretation of the Canticle of Canticles, while most non-Catholics at the present day are strongly opposed to it. It says the reasons for this interpretation are found not only in tradition and the Church's decision but also in the song itself.
The Catholic Encyclopedia (ed. Charles G. Herbermann et al., New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908), The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3, s.v. 'Canticle of Canticles' — section on the history of interpretation, on the allegorical exposition
Orthodox
Cyril of Jerusalem applies Song of Songs 3:1 to Mary. The verse says, "By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loved," and Mary came while it was yet dark.
Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 313-386), Catechetical Lectures, Lecture XIV (On the Words, And Rose Again from the Dead...) (trans. Edwin Hamilton Gifford), in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, ser. 2, vol. 7 (Oxford: Parker; New York: Christian Literature Co., 1894) — Lecture XIV, §12 (the myrrh-bearers at the tomb, on Song 3:1)
Reformed / Protestant
Matthew Henry says the Song is an allegory: the letter kills those who rest in it and look no further, but the spirit gives life. It is a parable that makes divine things more difficult to those who do not love them, but more plain and pleasant to those who do.
Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 3: Job to Song of Solomon (1706-1721) — Introduction to the Song of Solomon
Evangelical
Adam Clarke did not understand the Song of Solomon as a spiritual allegory representing the loves of Christ and his Church. He says he sees no indubitable ground for that opinion.
Adam Clarke (1760-1832), The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes (1810-1826), Introduction to the Song of Solomon — Introduction to the Song of Solomon, after the survey of interpreters