Natural and Pastoral Imagery
Have you ever heard people talk about Song of Songs as describing a wedding? That's definitely one way of looking at it. See, back in the day, there were elaborate wedding festivals where stuff lik...
Animals
Things get wild in Song of Songs, in large part thanks to the crazy animal imagery:In 1:9, the groom states that the bride is "a mare among Pharaoh's chariots." The writer isn't trying to say that...
Alcohol
We moderns might be surprised to see the Bible celebrating drunkenness, but here it is, plain and simple. Being in love in Song of Songs is like being drunk—but better. In 4:10, the groom actuall...
Shepherds and Flocks
This is a love poem, right? So what's with all the sheep? Well, you might remember that shepherding was a big part of life in ancient Israel. Think back to King David, who was said to be a shepherd...
Allegories
Did you know that Fifty Shades of Grey is actually Twilight fan fiction? Yeah. People love to take texts that they love and think about them. Sometimes you get Fifty Shades and sometimes you get bi...
Erotic Imagery
Yeah, we know. You can read Song of Songs with your parents and it won't lead to too much blushing. But what's behind all those intense metaphors?It's difficult to know whether a text like this wou...
Love
It's just that magic feeling, right? Eh.In Song of Songs, love is so much more. In this section, we're going to start to think about exactly how love is described in these poems.PhysicalityThe phys...