Jensens survey of the old testament adam 180

A. TITLE

The opening verse gives the title “The
Song of Songs.” This is the Hebrew way of
expressing the superlative. Of Solomon’s
1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32), this one was his
best or most important. The more common
title assigned to the book is “Song of
Solomon,” also based on 1:1. Sometimes the
book is referred to as Canticles (“series of
songs”).
B. AUTHOR

The traditional view is that Solomon was
the author. This is strongly supported by
internal characteristics of the book. (Refer to
outside sources for a discussion of this.) The
name Solomon appears at these places in the
book: 1:1,5; 3:7,9,11; 8:11,12. The reference
at 1:1 may be translated either “of Solomon”
or “about Solomon.”
C. DATE WRITTEN


Solomon probably wrote this book while
he was still young, before being drawn away
from Jehovah by his seven hundred wives (1
Kings 11:3-4). A suggested date is 965 B.C.
D. RELATION TO OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

In our English Bibles the Song of Solomon

is the fth of the poetical books: Job,
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of
Solomon. In the Hebrew Bible it is the rst
of the “Five Rolls” (Megilloth): Song of
Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes,
Esther. Portions of it were sung on the
eighth day of the Passover feast, which was
the Jews’ rst and greatest of the annual
feasts. In ancient times the Jews revered
Canticles as uniquely sublime. They likened
Proverbs to the outer court of the Temple;
Ecclesiastes to the holy place; and Song of
Solomon to the most holy place. The New
Testament book that has the same type of


purpose as the Song of Solomon—re ection
about a Bridegroom and His Bride—is the
epistle to the Ephesians.
E. FORM

The book is a uni ed lyrical poem. It is a
series of stanzas or songs of varied lengths.2
Our later survey study will reveal that there
is a topical unity of the various songs, even
though there is no de ned dramatical
progression, as in the book of Job. Because
of its poetical form, we may expect to nd
the usual gures of speech found in poetry
(e.g., simile: “Thy hair is as a ock of goats,”

4:1, KJV). Also, the phraseology of the
poetry is strictly Oriental, and must be read
in that light (e.g., chap. 4).


F. SETTING OF STORY

The main characters of the Song of
Solomon are Solomon, a Shulamite woman,
and a group called “daughters of
Jerusalem”:
1. Solomon. The king of Israel (1 Kings
1:32-37), Solomon was the son of David and