The song of songs, which is Solomon's.
Song of Solomon 1:1
"This is poetry.
All scripture, we are sure,
is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for the support and advancement of the interests of his
kingdom among men, and it is never the less so for there being found in it some
things dark and hard to be understood,
which those that are unlearned and unstable wrest to their own destruction.
---The best key to this book is the 45th Psalm, which
we find applied to Christ in the New Testament, and therefore this ought to be
so too.
Title: Several titles have been
suggested for the book, all taken from the first verse: “The Song of Songs”,
“the Song of Solomon”, or “Canticles”.
--The first title is a Hebrew way of
expressing the superlative: “The Most Excellent Song”;
--the second denotes
authorship;
--and the third means “Songs”, being taken from the Latin translation.
However, the Old Testament states that Solomon composed 1,005 songs (1 Kings
4:32), so one might expect him to be the author. Also, internal evidence points
to Solomonic authorship: the geographical locations mentioned in the book imply
a unified monarchy, and some details fit well with Solomon’s reign (compare the
reference to the horses in Pharaoh’s chariots at 1:9 with 1 Kings 10:28-29).
--Christian commentators, in their interpretation of the Song, viewing the bridegroom
as Jesus Christ and the bride as His church.
This has been the dominant
Christian view for most of church history.
Exactly when this view was first embraced by Christians is
not known.
All one can say is that evidence of it exists as early as Hippolytus
(ca. A.D. 200), though only fragments of his commentary have survived.
Interpretations of the details of the Song have been quite varied.
The one who is brought into the king's chambers is said to be those
whom Christ had wedded and brought into His church."
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