You have probably never read Song of Songs, and that’s okay because Song of Songs is one of the most difficult books in scripture to understand. That is because at a solely literal level, it reads more like a tawdry romance novel than a theological text. The text itself is a series of love poems between a bridegroom (referred to as a king and a shepherd) and his bride. The book is associated with King Solomon, and it is written in three voices. That of the man, the woman, and a chorus of women denoted as “Daughters of Jerusalem”. Sometimes the text will include the letters M, W, and D to denote who is speaking within a given verse. 

A Warning to Readers

From the very opening, Song of Songs if filled with evocative language like

“Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth: for thy breasts are better than wine”

Song of Songs 1: 2 (Douay-Rheims translation)

In fact, the language is so provocative that many translations choose less suggestive language like that used by the New American Bible which presents the same verse as 

“Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine”

Song of Songs 1: 2 (NAB translation)

The language throughout is so erotic that two early Christian commentators, Origen and St. Gregory of Nyssa, begin their commentaries on the Song of Songs with a warning to readers. Ordinarytheology.com cites Origen’s warning in the following manner,

“But if any man who lives only after the flesh should approach [the Song of Songs], to such a one the reading of this Scripture will be the occasion of no small hazard and danger.

For he, not knowing how to hear love’s language in purity and with chaste ears will twist the whole manner of his hearing of it away from the inner spiritual man and on to the outward and carnal; …and it will seem to be the Divine Scriptures that are thus urging and egging him on to fleshly lust!

For this reason, therefore, I advise and counsel everyone who is not yet rid of the vexations of flesh and blood and has not ceased to feel the passion of his bodily nature, to refrain completely from reading this little book and the things that will be said about it.”

(Origen Commentary on the Song of Songs: Prologue)

In other words, spiritual maturity is required in reading the Song of Songs. We should not attempt to approach the text until we have developed the level of self-control necessary to rise above the literal sense. 

It reminds me of a story I once heard. Two bishops were walking down a busy city street when an immodestly dressed prostitute passed by them. The first bishop averts his eyes while the second watches her walk down the street. The first bishop quickly corrects his brother exclaiming, “brother avert your eyes.” When the second bishop turns his head, his eyes are filled with tears, for he sees only the pain and brokenness of the woman. 

Both bishops are to be commended. However, it is only the second bishop which has obtained the spiritual freedom to see God’s beauty in the woman without being drawn toward the carnal. This is the freedom Origen and St. Gregory of Nyssa proclaim is necessary to profit from the Song of Songs. 

How Should We Read and Understand the Song of Songs

If the literal sense of the Song of Songs places us in danger, how then should we read the Song of Songs? Both Origen and St. Gregory of Nyssa point us toward a spiritual and allegorical reading of Song of Songs. 

 “Indeed, human understanding left to its own resources could neither discover nor absorb the Song’s mystery. The most acute physical pleasure (I mean erotic passion) is used as a symbol in the exposition of this doctrine on love. It teaches us of the need for the soul to reach out to the divine nature’s invisible beauty and to love it as much as the body is inclined to love what is akin to itself. The soul must transform passion into passionlessness so that when every corporeal affection has been quenched, our mind may seethe with passion for the spirit alone and be warmed by that fire which the Lord came to cast upon the earth [Lk 12.49].”

(St. Gregory of Nyssa The First Homily Song of Songs 1: 1-4)

Origen and St. Gregory of Nyssa see the Song of Songs as pointing to the divine love. The acts between lovers take on symbolic meaning. For example, the expression “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth” (Song of Songs 1: 2) becomes a metaphor for the hunger for God’s word. Taken this way, the carnal nature of the text takes on divine significance. 

Others have noted that Song of Songs is the third book of the Wisdom literature attributed to King Solomon. The books being Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. These three books have also been allegorically compared to the three classical stages of the spiritual life: the purgative stage (Proverbs), illuminative stage (Ecclesiastes), and unitive stage (Song of Songs). 

According to this reading, the Song of Songs again points us toward the divine love. A love where man and woman can be naked without shame (Genesis 2:25) as in the garden. In this original state, man walked freely with God. God and man were fully united. There were no impediments. It is this original state which God calls us back to through the Song of Songs. A perfect union of lovers.