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What’s the Song of Solomon really about? Is the Song a literal love poem, an allegory of God’s love, or something in between?
In this episode of What in the Word?, Kirk E. Miller is joined by Fellipe do Vale to explore the interpretive challenges of one of the Bible’s more difficult books. They examine the Song of Song’s character dynamics, imagery, and theological purpose as wisdom literature.
Discover how the Song contributes to a biblical vision of love and redemption.
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Episode guest: Fellipe do Vale
Fellipe do Vale is tutor in doctrine at Trinity College, in Bristol, England. His research is primarily on the connection between moral theology and theological anthropology. He focuses on gender, but also writes and teaches on political theology, theology of race, and other aspects of human identity, especially from an eschatological point of view.
He is the author of Gender as Love: A Theological Account of Human Identity, Embodied Desire, and Our Social Worlds, along with articles in the International Journal of Systematic Theology, Pro Ecclesia, and others.
He is also the winner of the 2023 Emerging Public Intellectual award, given by Redeemer University.
Episode synopsis
A curious book: What is the Song of Songs?
Kirk E. Miller welcomes Fellipe do Vale to explore one of Scripture’s more enigmatic books—the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon). Is this poetic book a romantic reflection on human love or an allegory of divine affection between God and his people?
Kirk and Fellipe’s conversation begins with an overview of the Song, establishing its poetic and theological character, and quickly dives into the interpretive complexities that make the book so hotly debated and richly rewarding.
The superlative song: what the title tells us
The book’s title—Song of Songs—immediately suggests its prominence. Like the biblical phrases “king of kings” or “holy of holies,” this superlative idiom signals something ultimate or unparalleled. It’s not merely a song—it is the song, suggesting both excellence and significance.
And it’s also “of Solomon”—though the meaning of this phrase is debated. Is Solomon the author? A character? Merely a symbolic reference to royal wisdom? Some translations render this phrase as Solomon’s Song, while others suggest it’s a song written “for” or “concerning” Solomon. This ambiguity opens the door to further interpretive layers, especially when paired with the lack of explicit historical or narrative framing within the text.
The preposition לְ prefixing the noun “Solomon” (שְׁלֹמֹה) leaves ambiguity.
Interpreting the Song’s poetry: genre, context & allusions
Fellipe notes that the Song is difficult to interpret precisely because it avoids clean, straightforward discourse. Unlike letters or histories, poetry works through evocative imagery, indirect allusions, and emotional tone rather than clear theological propositions.
The text offers very little in terms of historical setting. Mentions of Solomon, allusions to the temple and Eden, and echoes of other biblical texts are scattered throughout, but the book doesn’t place itself firmly in time. Rather than being defined by an obvious plot (like a narrative), the Song unfolds in poetic vignettes, shaped by repetition, longing, and shifting voices.
Moreover, God is never mentioned in the book—a rarity it shares only with Esther. Yet, as we’ll see, the absence of such explicit theological references doesn’t necessarily mean the absence of theological depth.
Who are the Song’s characters?
Even among those who read the Song as human love poetry, debate continues.
The songs characters include a male lover, a female beloved, and a chorus or group of onlookers. But interpretations vary in their identification of these figures. Is the male figure Solomon himself? A shepherd? Or are there multiple suitors? The answers shift depending on how one interprets the text’s grammatical cues, speech patterns, and poetic structure.
Given these questions, interpretations include the following:
- Solomon-Shulammite interpretation: Views the Song as a unified love poem between King Solomon and the Shulammite woman, depicting their courtship, marriage, and consummation.
- Shepherd hypothesis: Posits a three-character drama where a Shulammite woman and a shepherd boy are in love, but King Solomon attempts to win her for his harem. The woman resists and marries the shepherd.
- Shepherd and shepherdess view: Interprets the Song as a cohesive narrative of romantic love between a shepherd and a shepherdess (the Shulammite), culminating in marriage. Solomon is a distant, idealized figure, not the lover.
What is the book’s relationship to Solomon?
Additionally, if Solomon is the male suitor, how do we square the book with 1 Kings 3:1 as well as his polygamous history in 1 Kings? Can what we know of Solomon fit the Song’s idealized portrayal of monogamous love?
Here many appeal to the grammatical ambiguity of Song 1:1 to suggest that Solomon is not the author or voice of the Song, but its dedicatee (see above).
An anthology or chronology?
Beyond character identification, questions also arise about the book’s progression: Some interpreters see the poem as presenting a unified “narrative” (chronological sequence), while others understand it as an anthology of separate poems or love songs loosely connected by theme and tone.
Does the book present a romantic journey toward consummation? A cycle of intimacy and estrangement? Or merely varied celebrations of romantic desire?
When does sexual consummation occur?
Among those who see chronology, the question arises: When does sexual consummation occur in the Song, and how does this align with the Bible’s teaching elsewhere on sexual ethics?
Namely, how do you interpret the middle section (3:1–6:3) of the Song? Is it a dream sequence anticipating marriage, as some propose, or a literal narrative? In other words, should we understand Solomon 4:16–5:1 as depicting consummation, or does that wait until 8:5?
Traditional readings place sexual consummation after marriage (8:5), supported by refrains urging restraint (2:7; 3:5; 8:4).
The role of marriage in canonical context
Kirk draws attention to how the broader biblical context shapes how we think about marriage. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture presents marriage as a theological signpost. Marriage begins in Eden (Gen 2), is celebrated in wisdom literature, prophetically describes God’s covenantal love for his Israel (e.g., Hosea), and culminates in Revelation with the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19).
Use Logos’s Smart Search in Bible to locate passages on marriage as a type of God’s relationship to his people.
This theological throughline supports the possibility that the Song of Songs, while grounded in human romance, also speaks to divine love.
Figural interpretation: human love pointing to divine love
For most of Jewish and Christian history, the Song of Songs was interpreted allegorically—as a depiction of God’s love for his people. Jewish readings saw the book as a poetic portrayal of God’s covenant with Israel and was read liturgically during Passover. Christian commentators—most famously, Origen in the early period and Bernard of Clairvaux in the medieval period—interpreted it as expressing Christ’s love for the church.
These allegorical readings reigned until the rise of historical–critical scholarship, which emphasized the Song’s parallels with ancient Near Eastern love poetry and focused on its human themes.
However, Fellipe and other contemporary scholars advocate a figural or typological reading—a third way (something of a hybrid). Rather than choosing between allegory (divine love only) and literalism (human love only), the figural approach embraces both: the Song celebrates human romantic love, namely in marriage, as something inherently typological and figurative of God’s covenantal love.
Temple & garden imagery: echoing Eden & God’s presence
This reading is supported exegetically by the abundance of edenic garden imagery and the allusions to the temple and the promised land, which evoke the theme of God’s loving presence among his people. As Kirk and Fellipe observe, these connections are not imposed onto the text from outside (allegory) but emerge organically through its imagery.
The Song is filled with symbols that resonate deeply with Israel’s sacred traditions. Consider Song of Songs 5:1 (ESV), where the lover says,
I came to my garden, my sister, my bride,
I gathered my myrrh with my spice,
I ate my honeycomb with my honey,
I drank my wine with my milk.
This verse echoes Eden (the garden), the Promised Land (milk and honey), and temple worship (myrrh, incense).
The female figure is adorned with pomegranates and lilies, which appear in temple descriptions (e.g., 1 Kgs 7). She is called a vineyard, echoing Isaiah 5’s imagery of Israel as God’s vineyard, but here the vineyard is fruitful, not desolate.
The male figure, too, is described in elevated, even divine, terms. He is a shepherd and a king—images that point to David and ultimately to the Messiah. He appears in clouds of smoke (Song 3:6), echoing the theophanic imagery of the Exodus.
Taken together, these layers of symbolism suggest that this is no ordinary love story. It’s a poetic portrayal of divine communion in the idiom of romantic intimacy.
“Already, not yet”: Eden, exile & restoration
Much of the Song can be read as an echo of Eden. The lovers walk in gardens, delight in one another’s bodies, and express harmony and joy. Yet this harmony is not unbroken. There are moments of absence, longing, and missed connection. In Song 5:6, the woman says, “I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had left; he was gone.”
As Fellipe notes, this tension—between presence and absence, desire and delay—reflects the lived experience of believers who long for God but often feel his absence. It also reflects the eschatological tension of life between Eden and new creation. In this way, the Song locates us in the “already, but not yet”—enjoying glimpses of intimacy with God while still yearning for final restoration.
However, the language of desire in Song 7:10—“His desire is for me”—reverses the curse of Genesis 3:16, where the woman’s desire exists as part of marital conflict. As Mitch Chase observes,
The notion of a garden recalls Eden in Genesis 2–3, where God places his image-bearers in a sacred space. But in Genesis 3:22–24, God exiles the couple who had transgressed his command, and the garden was sealed. The love and union of the couple in Solomon’s Song are like a return to Eden, a reentry into a sacred space that had once been locked from further access. Their marriage is a picture of humanity’s restoration to paradise.
Toward the end of the book, the Song states, “Love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave” (Song 8:6). Fellipe interprets this as the heart of the book’s message. Currently, we live in the valley of the shadow of death, where decay, separation, and sin are ever-present. Yet the Song testifies to a love that is stronger than death (cf. Rom 8:31–39).
As Kirk observes, this theme resonates with Romans 8:31–39, where Paul declares that nothing—including death—can separate us from the saving love of God in Christ. The Song, then, becomes more than a mere meditation on romance but also a theological anchor: love persists, prevails, and ultimately triumphs—even over the grave.
Preaching & pastoral application: why this book matters
Despite its beauty and depth, the Song is rarely preached. Fellipe laments this and encourages pastors and teachers to engage it more directly. It’s the only book in Scripture that presents an unambiguously positive picture of human love and sexual desire, untainted by tragedy, infidelity, or death.
At the same time, it’s one of the few books that gives voice to a fully reciprocal love between God and his people—not just God’s love for us, but our delighted and delighted-in response. In this sense, it offers a theological vision that no other book quite provides. It tells us: human love is a reflection of divine love, and divine love can be known, celebrated, and reciprocated even in a world still marked by loss.
God delights in his people, and his people can delight in him. When we feel abandoned, the Song assures us of God’s pursuit. When we encounter intimacy and beauty, it points us back to the One who designed love in the first place. And when we wonder whether we’re truly loved, the voice of God rings out from its pages: “You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you” (Song 4:7).
Logos values thoughtful and engaging discussions on important biblical topics. However, the views and interpretations presented in this episode are those of the individuals speaking and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Logos. We recognize that Christians may hold different perspectives on this passage, and we welcome diverse engagement and respectful dialogue.
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