Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens. Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. (Song of Songs 2:2­3)
Without doubt more songs have been written about romantic love than any other subject. If you question that, just tune your radio to any popular station and listen for fifteen minutes. You'll hear songs about new love, failed love, wild and crazy love, every kind of love. And, to many people's surprise, the Bible itself contains an explicit love song—complete with erotic lyrics.
Solomon, with all his wives and mistresses, was a devoted student of romance. Ultimately, he fell victim to an obsession with it that caused him much grief. But the Song of Songs (also known as the Song of Solomon) celebrates a high form of beautiful love. It shows no embarrassment about lovers enjoying each other's bodies and openly expressing that enjoyment.
Not everyone has felt comfortable with the frankness of this book. In medieval Spain, Saint Teresa of Avila led a campaign to remove all copies of Song of Songs from the Bible and burn them in public bonfires. Priests and teachers who refused were removed from their jobs, and even imprisoned.
Over the centuries, many others have tried to read the song as though it had nothing to do with physical lovers, seeing it instead as an allegory of love between God and his people. But nowadays most scholars believe that the poem was intended to be taken at face value, as a celebration of love between a newly-married couple.
These lovers look without shame on one another, and tell each other what they feel. They revel in the sensuous: the beauty of nature, the scent of perfumes and spices. They are explicit and erotic. Yet, Song of Songs creates a very different atmosphere than most modern love songs. It harks back to the original love in the Garden of Eden, when man and woman were naked and unashamed. You sense no shame or guilt; you feel that God himself smiles upon their love.
Life Question: What similarities do you see between this chapter and modern love songs? What differences?
