What does the chapter actually say?
Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.
SONG OF SOLOMON • CHAPTER 1
Song of Solomon 1
Erotic love poetry, desire, beauty, longing, mutual attraction, separation, and reunion.
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Song of Solomon 1
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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1
The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
2
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth;
for your love is better than wine.
for your love is better than wine.
3
Your oils have a pleasing fragrance.
Your name is oil poured out,
therefore the virgins love you.
Your name is oil poured out,
therefore the virgins love you.
4
Take 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.
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.
5
I am dark, but lovely,
you daughters of Jerusalem,
like Kedar’s tents,
like Solomon’s curtains.
you daughters of Jerusalem,
like Kedar’s tents,
like Solomon’s curtains.
6
Don’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.
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.
7
Tell 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?
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?
8
If you don’t know, most beautiful among women,
follow the tracks of the sheep.
Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
follow the tracks of the sheep.
Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
9
I have compared you, my love,
to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
to a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10
Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings,
your neck with strings of jewels.
your neck with strings of jewels.
11
We will make you earrings of gold,
with studs of silver.
with studs of silver.
12
While the king sat at his table,
my perfume spread its fragrance.
my perfume spread its fragrance.
13
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh,
that lies between my breasts.
that lies between my breasts.
14
My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms
from the vineyards of En Gedi.
from the vineyards of En Gedi.
15
Behold, you are beautiful, my love.
Behold, you are beautiful.
Your eyes are like doves.
Behold, you are beautiful.
Your eyes are like doves.
16
Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant;
and our couch is verdant.
and our couch is verdant.
17
The beams of our house are cedars.
Our rafters are firs.
Our rafters are firs.
POETRY
Where this chapter fits
Song of Solomon belongs to Israel's wisdom/poetic tradition, where literary form matters as much as historical setting.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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