Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word
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⚙ Annotations & References ▾
Passage sections 1 ▾
The Love of the Bride and Bridegroom poetry 1:1–8:14
Themes 4 ▾
Love 3-4 Worship 3 Marriage and Family 4-5 Joy 4
People 2 ▾
Solomon United Monarchy 1, 5 Kedar Patriarchal 5
Places 1 ▾
En-gedi Judah 14
Speakers 1 ▾
Solomon human 1-17
Historic voices 3 ▾
Commentary on the Song of Songs 3× 1-15 City of God 2× 3-4 Catechism of the Catholic Church 1× 7
Manuscript witnesses 4 ▾
Codex Sinaiticus Aleph c. AD 330-360 Codex Vaticanus B c. AD 300-325 Aleppo Codex (Crown of Aleppo) c. AD 930 Leningrad Codex (Codex Leningradensis) AD 1008
Cross-references 151 ▾
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What is Song of Solomon 1 about?

Titled 'the song of songs, which is Solomon's,' the poem opens in the Israel of Solomon's reign, around 950 BC, where a Shulamite bride, sun-darkened from keeping her family's vineyards, voices her longing for her bridegroom. She yearns for his love as 'better than wine,' rejoices to be drawn into the king's chambers, and confesses to the daughters of Jerusalem that she is 'black, but comely.' The exchange gathers as the lovers trade open admiration, he calling her the fairest among women and she likening him to a bundle of myrrh. Setting the tone for all that follows, the chapter presents covenant love as something spoken plainly and without shame, the goodness of marital affection as God designed it, and, as the church has long heard it, a first note of the love between the LORD and those He calls His own.

Historical backdrop

Solomon's Israel sat astride the trade routes that carried spices north from Arabia and India, and the Song is scented with them: myrrh and frankincense, nard and saffron, cinnamon and aloes brought from far countries. It is the world of a kingdom at peace, of walled gardens and the cedars of Lebanon and the vineyards of Engedi, where such wealth of perfume could furnish the very language of love.

Matthew Henry on Song of Solomon 1
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Song of Solomon 1
The Church Fathers on Song of Solomon 1
Cited by the confessions

Song of Solomon 1

Song of Solomon Chapter 1
1
1The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; For thy love is better than wine.
3Thine oils have a goodly fragrance; Thy name is as oil poured forth; Therefore do the virgins love thee.
4Draw me; we will run after thee: The king hath brought me into his chambers; We will be glad and rejoice in thee; We will make mention of thy love more than of wine: Rightly do they love thee.
5I am black, but comely, Oh ye daughters of Jerusalem, As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon.
6Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, Because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard have I not kept.
7Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, Where thou feedest thy flock, Where thou makest it to rest at noon: For why should I be as one that is veiled Beside the flocks of thy companions?
8If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, And feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.
9I have compared thee, O my love, To a steed in Pharaoh’s chariots.
10Thy cheeks are comely with plaits of hair, Thy neck with strings of jewels.
11We will make thee plaits of gold With studs of silver.
12While the king sat at his table, My spikenard sent forth its fragrance.
13My beloved is unto me as a bundle of myrrh, That lieth betwixt my breasts.
14My beloved is unto me as a cluster of henna-flowers In the vineyards of En-gedi.
15Behold, thou art fair, my love; Behold thou art fair; Thine eyes are as doves.
16Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: Also our couch is green.
17The beams of our house are cedars, And our rafters are firs.
Chapter 2 →
What is Song of Solomon 1 about?

Titled 'the song of songs, which is Solomon's,' the poem opens in the Israel of Solomon's reign, around 950 BC, where a Shulamite bride, sun-darkened from keeping her family's vineyards, voices her longing for her bridegroom. She yearns for his love as 'better than wine,' rejoices to be drawn into the king's chambers, and confesses to the daughters of Jerusalem that she is 'black, but comely.' The exchange gathers as the lovers trade open admiration, he calling her the fairest among women and she likening him to a bundle of myrrh. Setting the tone for all that follows, the chapter presents covenant love as something spoken plainly and without shame, the goodness of marital affection as God designed it, and, as the church has long heard it, a first note of the love between the LORD and those He calls His own.