What It Means To 'Find The One Your Soul Loves', According To The Song Of Solomon 3:4 In The Bible
Love so real, it's all-consuming.
unsplash What does it mean to find 'the one your soul loves'? Does the Bible have a book dedicated to this exact question?
Out of the 66 books in the Bible, none are quite like the one in the Old Testament known as the Song of Solomon.
If that name doesn’t sound familiar, maybe you know it by a different title: the Song of Songs.
In Hebrew (from which the name is derived) a phrase like this essentially means “the best of the best.”
So here it’s the greatest song of all songs, similar to Lord of Lords or King of Kings.
But what is it exactly that makes this particular book so different?
Well, it’s actually the only one that doesn’t strictly talk about laws or following God. Instead, it takes on the topic of marriage and passion, love and adoration, in quite a bit of detail, too.
In the Song of Solomon, the story goes something like this: a woman expresses the desire of her love for a man who’s become her lover.
Just as a natural relationship would progress, there’s flattery and compliments abounding between the two. Then, later on, the two of them, along with the daughters of Israel, witness a royal wedding procession.
The book goes on with the man describing his lover, the woman, and others describing her beauty. Throughout the entirety of the story, the woman addresses the daughters of Israel, reminding them to “not stir up love like this until it is ready.”
The book too also contains quite a bit of imagery, both metaphorical and physical descriptions of the two’s love (basically what they do in bed).
So you can probably understand why this book of the Bible can cause some controversy in the church and rub some people the wrong way.
However, there are some that take the Song of Solomon 3:4 and put it into a more general definition, considering it to be more about Christ and His “bride,” the church.
So who was so bold as to write this book? Well, as the name would imply, the general consensus is that Solomon wrote it. Now for a bit of history.
Solomon was actually a king of Israel, and it’s believed that he wrote this song during his reign, which would’ve been somewhere between 971 and 931 B.C.
As for the actual writing itself, some scholars believe someone else wrote the book, but considering the constant mention of Solomon’s name and other evidence within it, most believe King Solomon did write the Song of Songs.
The question becomes now, what should Christians do with the information given to them by Solomon?
Honestly, I believe every Christian should read this book. We all know what the Bible says about marriage, but no part of the bible covers it as thoroughly as the Song of Solomon. There’s a reason he was also known for his wisdom, and that’s something we should take advantage of.
Regardless of your beliefs or values, it’s clear that this book of the Bible stands out among the rest.
And, just like any other part, there’s something to be learned as well. What that is I couldn’t say because God’s message for each person is different. So if you want the answer, it’s time to crack open that Bible and get to reading!
Jesse Oakley is a writer who writes about love, relationships, self-care and spirituality/astrology.