Song of Solomon
Ok - now what I'm really thinking about. Within our ministry, we have a "Book of the month club". That is, every month, we read through one book of the Bible, for the entire month. At that rate, it takes 5 years to read through the entire Bible. I really like this method .. it helps keep books in context and gives me time to really dig into a book.
So, this month is Song of Solomon .. or Song of Songs, as I prefer. I just want to put a thought out there on the authorship. I know it's commonly believed that Solomon wrote the book. However, when I was in Bible school, one of my teachers presented a different idea on the authorship.
Consider the end of Solomon's life in 1 Kings 11:1-8, "Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded."
I propose that it was not Solomon who wrote this book, as he turned his heart from the Lord because of all of his wives and concubines.
What if this book was writen by a farm girl and a shepherd boy ... living during the time of Solomon ... looking on one of his many weddings, contrasting their love for only each other to that of Solomon's.
Song of Songs 6:8-9, "There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, pure to her who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her."
It's a view that's not often presented, but one I really like. It makes this book come alive when I think of it being about 2 people who are truly in love and devoted to each other ONLY. Solomon was indeed a great man but he, like Samson, couldn't control himself when it came to women!
Just food for thought.
So, this month is Song of Solomon .. or Song of Songs, as I prefer. I just want to put a thought out there on the authorship. I know it's commonly believed that Solomon wrote the book. However, when I was in Bible school, one of my teachers presented a different idea on the authorship.
Consider the end of Solomon's life in 1 Kings 11:1-8, "Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods. And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded."
I propose that it was not Solomon who wrote this book, as he turned his heart from the Lord because of all of his wives and concubines.
What if this book was writen by a farm girl and a shepherd boy ... living during the time of Solomon ... looking on one of his many weddings, contrasting their love for only each other to that of Solomon's.
Song of Songs 6:8-9, "There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, pure to her who bore her. The young women saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines also, and they praised her."
It's a view that's not often presented, but one I really like. It makes this book come alive when I think of it being about 2 people who are truly in love and devoted to each other ONLY. Solomon was indeed a great man but he, like Samson, couldn't control himself when it came to women!
Just food for thought.
posted by Lisa Stucky at 8:01 AM
4 Comments:
that makes more sense to me too--I like it.
I've never heard that perspective before. thanks for the insight. So glad to have my horizons broadened.
I like it - it makes me like the book more! ... can I say that?
I think that's a great perspective for the book. Hooray!
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