Scholars have long had difficulty interpreting Song of Songs (also called Song of Solomon). Perhaps uncomfortable with its theme of intimate love, many have attempted to turn the book’s storyline into allegory. Most scholars today, however, view the song as a description of physical love between a man and a woman. In today’s reading (8:5–7), the woman initiates the intimacy. Her reference to the “seal over your heart” (v. 6) represents her desire to claim mutual ownership of her beloved. She has exclusive rights to him and all that he has, as he also has those rights with her.
The book can also be viewed as symbolic in representing genuine marital love as a complete commitment to each other. This comprises an apt representation of the church as the bride of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 11:2).
Tim Gustafson
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