1. Chapter of The Bible
An Aesthetic Approach
By: Savanna Simons

2.  Also known as “ Song of Solomon” since this is who recorded the
book.
 This tended to cause a lot of confusion and controversy given that Solomon had
an innumerable amount of wives and concubines.
 However it is justified by the fact that works written for the Bible are divinely
inspired. These aren’t necessarily Solomon’s words or even his views, but he is
just who God revealed the Word too.
 Specific parts of the Book were commonly thought of as a
collection of older love poems and were sung individually like the
Egyptian poems they often resemble.
 Parts of this Book were also performed in festivals associated with
planting and harvesting in Mesopotamia (promoting fertility).
They tended to be associated with pagan practices and mythology,
which is weird to me considering this is not what it was intended
for by any means.
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3.  My personal interpretation of the Song of Songs is
something quite different than the secular meaning the
anthology is portraying it as. I refuse to believe that
something included in God’s Holy Word, our
instruction manual as followers of Christ, that these are
just poems that tell the common love story of a man
and woman. I believe God is setting up the standards
for a successful relationship and giving us the tools
that, if put into practice today, would lead to happy
marriages.
 Whether you are religious or not, the advice given in
Song of Songs is relevant—especially for our age. Each
chapter focuses on a different aspect of a successful
relationship, which is what will be uncovered in the
next 8 slides.
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4. 4
 “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is
more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your
perfumes….” (SOS 1:2)
 Here the female is talking. She sees the man from afar and is instantly
attracted to him. He’s hot and he smells good. Girls, you can attest to this,
right?!
 “Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by
the sun.”… “How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how
beautiful! Your eyes are doves.” (SOS 1:6, 15)
 In the first verse, the female is talking. We discover that she is hard
worker—labors in the fields day in and day out. But the man comes back
in verse 15 and tells her how beautiful she is. Not only is he physically
attractive, but he loves her dark skin. He loves the fact that she isn’t afraid
to get her hands dirty. It shows she has more than surface level beauty.
 Bottom Line: Attraction is normal and necessary in a relationship.
If you don’t find each other attractive then what’s the point?
However, beauty and attraction goes way beyond your physical
looks. You must also have good character and a good heart.

5.  “Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you…Do not arouse of awaken love
until it so desires.” (SOS 2:7)
 Honestly, this verse is pretty self explanatory. Don’t rush love. Girls have a tendency
to be hopeless romantics and rush love in many ways. (Not trying to be sexist, it just
really does work out that way.) One, they tend to rush into relationships, and two,
once in the relationship, the pressure and desire to be intimate becomes too strong
and sex becomes a factor in the relationship. This verse is saying that as hard as it is,
you MUST wait for both the right guy and the right time to be intimate. Otherwise
the relationship is doomed from the start.
 “Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes the ruin the vineyards, our
vineyards that are in bloom.” (SOS 2:15)
 This verse is comparing sex and other things that destroy a young relationship to
foxes that destroy the vineyards. This loves is in full bloom, why willingly ruin it
with sex, lies, shadiness, etc.?
 “My beloved is mine and I am his…Until the day breaks and the shadows
flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the
rugged hills.” (SOS 2:16-17)
 This verse is very similar to the one before. If the relationship is truly meant to be,
you don’t need sex to make it last (at this point in time). You have each other, and as
long as you’ve promised to keep the “foxes” out of your relationship there’s really
nothing to worry about. So when the temptation arises—flee! Don’t invite the foxes
in to play; all that brings is destruction.
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6.  “…when I found the one my heart loves, I held him
and would not let him go till I had brought him to my
mother’s house…” (SOS 3:4)
 This woman knows with all her heart this is the man she wants
to spend the rest of her life. So it’s only natural she would want
him to meet her mother and get her blessing for marriage.
 “Look! It is Solomon’s carriage…on the day of his
wedding, the day his heart rejoiced.” (SOS 3:7-10)
 These verses described the elaborateness of the marriage
between the man and woman, but this is not saying all
weddings should be huge bashes. Solomon was a king so it was
only natural for him to give his wife the best of the best, but the
most important line is when it says his heart rejoiced. Marriage
is a celebration of love. It doesn’t matter how elaborate the
wedding is as long as it done for the right reasons and you are
proud of how well you handled yourselves during the dating
process.
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7.  “How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh how
beautiful!...You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
there is no flaw in you.” (SOS 4:1-7)
 In the first 7 verses of Chapter 4, the husband spends time just
in awe of how beautiful his wife is. Instead of just jumping
right into the sex, he wants to make sure his wife feels
comfortable, protected, beautiful. Girls are super emotional and
insecure (once again, not trying to be sexist, that’s just how it
is), so these praises are exactly what she needs to hear to truly
get into the mood. Sex, especially within the confines of
marriage, is much more than a physical act, so it’s important to
make your partner feel appreciated.
 “Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its
choice fruits.” (SOS 4:16)
 At this point the wife feels completely loved and secure and
wants to feel, and make her husband, feel this great all the time.
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8.  “Eat, friends, and drink; drink your fill of love.” (SOS 5:1)
 This line proves that marriage and particularly sex, is a gift from
God. He created it and wants you to enjoy it. When you’re
married, have all the sex you want. It will keep you connected.
 “I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had left; he was
gone. My heart sank at his departure.” (SOS 5:6)
 For the rest of the chapter we see the couple having their first fight.
When the wife finally decides to let him in, he has left. She goes
looking for him but returns home with no luck. She asks her
friends to keep an eye out for him and they basically ask her why
she would put up with his storming out. And even though she is
hurt, she refuses to say anything bad, only about her love for him.
The man and the woman both handled the situation in a
respectable manner. The man recognized how angry he was and
went away to cool down rather than take it out on her. Also, the
wife did the right thing by not dissing her husband even if she was
hurt. Talking bad about your partner makes you look as bad, if not
worse than the partner who is apparently in the wrong.
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9.  “I am my beloved and my beloved is mine; he browses
among the lilies.” (SOS 6:3)
 We discover here that even though the man left, the woman knows
exactly where her husband is. In the garden to cool down. Notice
he didn’t go to a bar, or another woman or some other place that
will cause even more problems. He just went to a secluded place—
somewhere he knows the wife would find him.
 “You are as beautiful as Tizrah, my darling, as lovely as
Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.” (SOS 6:4)
 The wife went in search and when she found the husband, he was
no longer angry. He took the time he needed to cool down and
never once confronted her about the issue. That’s not to say it
wouldn’t be resolved later in a calm manner, but he recognized
that when she humbly came to him, confrontation was not what
was important. Forgiveness and love was the top priority.
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10.  “I belong to my beloved, and his desire is for me.”
(SOS 7:10)
 Basically this entire chapter is saying that sex only gets
better with time. Your desire deepens, you get to know
your partner better, and you can be fully assured that you
only have those desires for one another.
 “Come, my beloved, let us go to the countryside,
let us spend the night in the villages.”
 Just because you’ve been married for a while doesn’t
mean your relationship has to be monotonous or boring!
Go out on dates, spend nights outside of the house,
embrace youthfulness no matter your age!
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11.  Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not
arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” (SOS
8:4)
 Here we see this verse again for the umpteenth time, but I
feel it sums up the entire book very well. We have seen
the man and the woman through the entire relationship.
We’ve seen the ups and the downs, but most importantly
we see how awesome marriage is when it’s approached in
the way God intended it to be. We can’t help but envy
this seemingly perfect relationship and desire one of our
own (it’s only human nature), but they are once again
warning not to rush into it. Marriage is super awesome,
but only when done right.

12.  The Song of Songs can be seen as a parallel of God’s
love for his people as long as it is not taken to literally.
God takes the figure of the man and the Church takes
the figure of the woman. Now obviously there is no sex
going on, but a relationship between God and his
followers should be intimate—just not on the physical
level. It is a relationship based upon basic trust, loyalty,
respect, and unconditional love. The greatest thing
about God’s love is that no matter how far you stray he
will always welcome you back with open arms because
we are the bride of Christ. The marriage is something to
be taken seriously, and our relationships with other
people should model the relationship God longs to
have with each and every one of his children.

13.  Damrosch, David, eds. Gateways to World
Literature: The Ancient Modern World through the
Early Modern Period, Volume 1. Boston: Pearson,
2012. Print.
 Holy Bible: New International Version. Michigan:
Zondervan, 2011. Print.
 Nelson, Tommy. “The Song of Solomon: A
Study of Love, Marriage, Sex, and Romance.”
Denton Bible Church. Denton, TX. June 2008.