Journal: Puritan Reformed Journal
Volume: PRJ 04:2 (Jul 2012)
Article: The Interpretation And Preaching Of The Song Of Songs
Author: Pieter DeVries

PRJ 4:2 (July 2012) p. 5

The Interpretation And Preaching
Of The Song Of Songs

Pieter DeVries1

Since the Enlightenment, many different views on the explanation of the Song of Songs have arisen. Previously, it was almost universally accepted within the church and synagogue that the Song of Songs praises the love between Christ and His church or God and His people. In the sixteenth century, Sebastian Castellio was forced to leave Geneva, in part because he did not consider the Song of Songs to be an allegory. Since the Enlightenment, this view has been considered more and more outdated. It is commonly believed that the Song of Songs deals solely with the pure love between a man and a woman. Some exegetes take a middle position; in their opinion, love between a man and a woman as described in the Song of Songs points beyond itself and thus speaks about the love between Christ and His church. One advocate of this approach is L. H. Van der Meiden, who was Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology at the Theological Seminary of the Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken (the mother church of the Free Reformed Churches) in the Netherlands.2 He characterizes his approach as “historical-Messianic-transparent.” Pure love between a man and a woman becomes transparent to reveal the love between Christ and His church. This is actually a kind of typological exegesis: the type points beyond itself. In Van der Meiden’s approach, the proper meaning of love between a man and a woman receives great emphasis. A similar approach is found in a volume about the Song of Songs written by Gerhard Maier,3 although from the very beginning

PRJ 4:2 (July 2012) p. 6

the reference to Christ and His church is more strongly emphasized than by Van der Meiden.

The Genre Of The Song Of Songs

The view that the Song of Songs solely describes the love between a man and a woman has been defended with an appeal to Egyptian love poetry dating from the eighteenth to the twentieth dynasty. However, there are just as many differences between the Song of Songs and Egyptian love poetry as there are similarities. Important differences include the fact that the Song of Songs, in contrast to Egyptian love poetry, is styled as a dialogue between the characters.4

Throughout the centuries, church and synagogue have understood the Song of Songs as a picture of the love between God and His people. This is the oldest known explanation of the book. That Rabbi Aqiba, who lived during the second half of the first century AD and the first half of the second centur...