Song of Solomon study section

Song of Solomon themes

The Song develops covenant love, mutual delight, faithful exclusivity, and the power of love strong as death.

1. The Goodness of Covenant Love

The Song celebrates romantic and marital love as a good and beautiful gift of God, affirming that the mutual delight of husband and wife belongs to the goodness of creation and is worthy of joyful praise.

2. Mutual Delight and Desire

The lovers rejoice in and admire one another with equal ardor, modeling a love marked by tenderness, longing, and wholehearted devotion, in which each belongs fully to the other.

3. The Exclusivity and Faithfulness of Love

The Song portrays love as exclusive and faithful — “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” — a garden locked, a fountain sealed, celebrating the covenant commitment in which true love is safe and free.

4. The Power and Worth of Love

Its climactic affirmation, “love is strong as death... many waters cannot quench love,” exalts love as a mighty, unquenchable, priceless force, more valuable than all one’s wealth, and a flame of the LORD Himself.

5. The Goodness of the Body and Marriage

By celebrating the beauty of the beloved and the joy of marriage, the Song affirms the goodness of the body and of marital intimacy as God’s design, against both prudery and license.

6. Human Love as an Image of Christ and His Church

In the sweep of Scripture, the covenant love of bridegroom and bride images the greater love between God and His people, and supremely between Christ and His church, His radiant Bride.

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