Wisdom · Chapter 1 of 8

Song of Solomon 1

The Song of Songs opens with the voice of the bride longing for her beloved's kisses, praising his love as better than wine and his name as poured-out perfume. Dark and lovely from working the vineyards, she seeks where he pastures his flock at noon. He answers with tender praise of her beauty, and the two exchange images of desire, myrrh, and a green resting place beneath cedar beams.

What happens in Song of Solomon 1

The book announces itself as the song of songs, Solomon's (verse 1). The bride speaks first, longing for her beloved's kisses and declaring his love better than wine and his name like fragrant ointment poured out (verses 2-3). She asks to be drawn after him into the king's chambers (verse 4). Aware that the sun has darkened her while her angry brothers set her to keep the vineyards, she calls herself dark but lovely, likened to the tents of Kedar and the curtains of Solomon (verses 5-6).

She asks where he feeds and rests his flock at noon, and the beloved answers, calling her fairest among women and praising her beauty with images of jewelled cheeks and a gold-adorned neck (verses 7-11). She responds with the fragrance of spikenard, a bundle of myrrh, and a cluster of henna from Engedi, and the two exchange praises, resting on a green bed beneath beams of cedar and fir (verses 12-17).

Song of Solomon 1 in context

The Song of Songs is Hebrew love poetry, celebrating the delight and longing between a bride and her beloved. Traditionally attributed to Solomon, it reads as a series of exchanged songs rather than a plot. On its plainest level it honours faithful, passionate marital love as good and God-given.

Jewish and Christian readers have also long read it as a picture of the love between God and His people, an interpretation this chapter's imagery of seeking and belonging invites.

Main themes of Song of Solomon 1

Song of Solomon 1 (KJV)

1The song of songs, which is Solomon’s. 2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine. 3Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee. 4Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee. 5I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. 6Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. 7Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? 8If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents. 9I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots. 10Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold. 11We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver. 12While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. 13A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. 14My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi. 15Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes. 16Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green. 17The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

Verses to carry from Song of Solomon 1

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.”Song of Solomon 1:2

“Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.”Song of Solomon 1:4

“Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?”Song of Solomon 1:7

Reflection

Let the Song teach your heart to desire. The bride wants her beloved above wine and perfume, and she actively seeks where he may be found. Ask whether your love for God has that kind of longing. And if you feel weathered or unworthy, hear the gentle confidence of dark but lovely: you are loved, and that love makes you beautiful.

A prayer from Song of Solomon 1