King James Version
Song of Solomon
Song of Solomon in the King James Version (1769), public domain in the United States.
Background and History
The chapters above are the King James text. This essay is the setting of Song of Solomon: who is said to have written it, when and where, what happens in it, and how the text has been copied.
At a Glance
| Author | Solomon, in the title. The Talmud says Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote it. Many scholars read the title as dedication rather than authorship. |
|---|---|
| Date | About 960–931 BC in one survey. Critical scholars often date it about 450–250 BC. |
| Place written | Jerusalem and northern Israel, by the places it names. |
| Genre | Love poetry. |
| Chapters | 8 |
| Verses | 117 in the King James Version |
| Key verse | Song of Solomon 8:6Song of Solomon 8:6 · King James VersionSet me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.Song of Solomon 8:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
Who Wrote It
Song of Solomon 1:1Song of Solomon 1:1 · King James VersionThe song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
Song of Solomon 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source (1) reads the song of songs, which is Solomon’s. The Hebrew can mean by, for, or about Solomon. The Talmud says Hezekiah and his colleagues wrote the Song. (2) Critical scholars date it later, citing loanwords, while others defend Solomonic authorship.
Who It Is Not
The beloved woman, often called the Shulamite in Song of Solomon 6:13Song of Solomon 6:13 · King James VersionReturn, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.
Song of Solomon 6:13 · King James VersionOpen the Source, speaks much of the poem but is not named as author.
When and Where
Bible Gateway gives 960–931 BC. (4)
Audience and Setting
Israel, and readers of every age. The purpose is to celebrate love between a man and a woman.
Rulers at the Time
Solomon is named in Song of Solomon 3:11Song of Solomon 3:11 · King James VersionGo forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and 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.
Song of Solomon 3:11 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Reign dates were not checked for this essay and are omitted.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Longing | Song of Solomon 1–2 |
| Wedding | Song of Solomon 3–5 |
| Love tested and affirmed | Song of Solomon 5–8 |
| Composition | 960–931 BC in one survey. (4) |
Places in This Book
| Ancient name | Modern-day location | References |
|---|---|---|
| Jerusalem | Jerusalem. | Song of Solomon 1:5Song of Solomon 1:5 · King James VersionI am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.Song of Solomon 1:5 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
| Lebanon | Lebanon. | Song of Solomon 4:8Song of Solomon 4:8 · King James VersionCome with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.Song of Solomon 4:8 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
| En-gedi | Ein Gedi, on the west shore of the Dead Sea, Israel. | Song of Solomon 1:14Song of Solomon 1:14 · King James VersionMy beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.Song of Solomon 1:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source |
What Is Happening
The poem moves through longing, meeting, separation, and union, ending with love strong as death in Song of Solomon 8:6Song of Solomon 8:6 · King James VersionSet me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
Song of Solomon 8:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Key Themes
Love and desire in Song of Solomon 8:6–7Song of Solomon 8:6–7 · King James Version8:6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
8:7 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.
Song of Solomon 8:6–7 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Faithfulness and timing in Song of Solomon 2:7Song of Solomon 2:7 · King James VersionI charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
Song of Solomon 2:7 · King James VersionOpen the Source.
Apologetics Questions
The book never mentions God by name, apart from a possible short form in Song of Solomon 8:6Song of Solomon 8:6 · King James VersionSet me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
Song of Solomon 8:6 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Jewish and Christian readers long read it as an allegory of God and Israel or Christ and the church. Many modern readers take it first as human love. Both readings have long histories.
How the Book Points to Christ
Christians have read the bride and bridegroom in light of Christ and the church, as in Ephesians 5:25–32Ephesians 5:25–32 · King James Version5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:25–32 · King James VersionOpen the Source. Jesus is God.
Text and Manuscripts
The Song is among the books found at Qumran. (5)
Canon Reception
Rabbis debated it before it was settled. Josephus’s count is generally thought to include it. (3)
Further Reading
References
- Song of Solomon, 1:1; 3:11Song of Solomon 1:1 · King James Version
The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
Song of Solomon 1:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source. King James Version - Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 15a, 15a (The William Davidson English on Sefaria is copyrighted. This page paraphrases it and does not reprint it. The page continues the list of writers and the debate about it.)
- Against Apion, 1.8Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William Whiston
For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from, and contradicting one another: [as the Greeks have:] but only twenty two books: which contain the records of all the past times: which are justly believed to be divine. And of them five belong to Moses: which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind, till his death.
Josephus, Against Apion 1.8 · William WhistonOpen the Source (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion 1.8, translated by William Whiston. Josephus counts twenty-two books: five of Moses, thirteen of the prophets from Moses to Artaxerxes, and four of hymns and precepts.) - When Was Each Book of the Bible Written?, Song of Solomon (Jacob Edson, Bible Gateway, 16 September 2024. The survey gives Song of Solomon as 960–931 BC. It is one editor’s approximation, not a manuscript date.)
- Dead Sea Scrolls, introduction, Biblical manuscriptsDead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities Authority
Among the Scrolls are partial or complete copies of every book in the Hebrew Bible (except the book of Esther).
Dead Sea Scrolls, biblical manuscripts · Israel Antiquities AuthorityOpen the Source (Israel Antiquities Authority. Biblical manuscripts from the Qumran caves date from the third century BC into the first century AD, and every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther is represented.)
The King James Version (1769) is in the public domain in the United States.