The Canticle of Canticles (Song of Songs, Song of Solomon)

The Canticle of Canticles is a song of love between a King and his Bride, and it opens with a cry of longing: "Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth" (Canticle 1:1). The Church has always sung it as the song of Christ and His Spouse. Its title, Canticum Canticorum in the Latin Vulgate, is a Hebrew superlative like "Holy of Holies" or "King of kings"; as Bishop Challoner puts it in the preface of the Douay-Rheims Bible, it means "the most excellent of all canticles." Below this guide are all eight chapters, the Latin of the Vulgate beside the Douay-Rheims English.

Who wrote the Song of Solomon?

The Synagogue and the Church received the Canticle as the work of King Solomon, son of David. The Council of Trent, listing the sacred books in its fourth session (1546), names it between Ecclesiastes and Wisdom ("the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Canticle of Canticles, Wisdom"), and the Douay Bible heads it "Solomon's Canticle of Canticles."

The witness of the book. The Hebrew title verse reads "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's", and the Latin heading keeps the name: Canticum Canticorum Salomonis. Solomon is named in the text itself (1:4; 3:7–11), and in 8:11–12 the Vulgate translates his name, Shelomoh, as "the peaceable" (Pacificus). The Bridegroom is a king, and the Bride is called the Sulamitess (6:12), a name often linked with Solomon's own. Its royal splendour suits the king of whom Scripture says: "Solomon also spoke three thousand parables: and his poems were a thousand and five" (3 Kings 4:32).

The witness of tradition. The Jewish teachers and the Fathers, from Origen to St Gregory the Great, commented on the Canticle as Solomon's. Since the nineteenth century many critics have proposed a later poet, or a collection of separate love songs gathered after the Exile; we mention this because readers ask, but the Church's tradition names Solomon.

When was it written?

If it is Solomon's, the Canticle belongs to his reign in the tenth century before Christ, the golden age of Israel, when the Temple was built and Israel "dwelt without any fear... from Dan to Bersabee, all the days of Solomon" (3 Kings 4:25). With Proverbs and Ecclesiastes it makes the three works of Solomon in the canon, and Origen, in the prologue of his commentary, saw in them a ladder: Proverbs teaches the beginner how to live, Ecclesiastes teaches contempt of passing things, and the Canticle leads the purified soul to the love of God.

Modern critics who place the book after the Exile rely on features of its Hebrew vocabulary; the Catholic Encyclopedia judges that these arguments give no clear proof.

What is the Song of Solomon about? A summary

The Canticle is a dialogue. The Bride speaks, the Bridegroom answers, and a chorus, "the daughters of Jerusalem", asks questions and listens. The scenes are linked by a refrain, "I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem... that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please" (2:7; 3:5; 8:4), and by a rhythm of union, loss and finding again. For all its changes of scene, says the Catholic Encyclopedia, the book "must be regarded as a homogeneous whole."

The Bride's longing (chapters 1–2:7)

The poem opens in the middle of desire: "Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments" (chapter 1). The Bride calls herself "black but beautiful", asks the Shepherd where he feeds his flock at midday, and in chapter 2 she rests under his shadow: "He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me."

The call of spring and the night search (chapters 2:8–3:5)

In the second half of chapter 2 the Bridegroom comes "leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills", stands behind the wall, and calls: "Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone" (2:10–11). Then, in chapter 3, she seeks him by night through the city, asks the watchmen, and finds him: "I held him: and I will not let him go."

The wedding of the King (chapters 3:6–5:1)

"Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices?" (3:6). Solomon's litter approaches, and the daughters of Sion go out to see the king crowned "in the day of his espousal." In chapter 4 the Bridegroom praises his Bride from head to foot, declares her without stain, and calls her "a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up." She invites him into his garden, and in the first verse of chapter 5 he enters it.

The trial of absence (chapters 5:2–6:12)

"I sleep, and my heart watcheth" (5:2). The Bridegroom knocks; the Bride delays, and when she opens he is gone. Struck by the keepers of the walls, she still tells the daughters of Jerusalem who her Beloved is: "white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands... and he is all lovely" (5:10–16). In chapter 6 she finds him in his garden among the lilies, and he proclaims her the only one: "One is my dove, my perfect one is but one."

The Sulamitess and love strong as death (chapters 7–8)

The companions call "Return, return, O Sulamitess" (6:12), and chapter 7 praises her beauty again, ending with her gift: "the new and the old, my beloved, I have kept for thee." In chapter 8 she rises "from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved", and the song reaches its summit, "love is strong as death", before closing with the Bride's last word to her Beloved: "Flee away, O my beloved, and be like to the roe, and to the young hart upon the mountains of aromatical spices."

The Catholic meaning of the Song of Songs

The Bridegroom and the Bride. The Canticle does not stand alone. God calls Himself Israel's husband through the prophets: "I will espouse thee to me for ever" (Osee 2:19); "the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride, and thy God shall rejoice over thee" (Isaias 62:5). St John the Baptist names Christ the Bridegroom (John 3:29), Our Lord is the Bridegroom of the wise virgins (Matthew 25), St Paul calls marriage "a great sacrament... in Christ and in the church" (Ephesians 5:32), and Scripture ends with "the marriage of the Lamb" (Apocalypse 19:7). The Canticle, like Psalm 44 (45), the wedding psalm of the King, is the song of that marriage.

The reading of the Fathers. The Jewish teachers already read the song as the love of God for Israel; Rabbi Akiba, in the first century after Christ, called it the Holy of Holies among the Writings (Mishnah, Yadayim 3:5). Origen wrote a commentary and homilies on it, and St Jerome, translating two of the homilies, said that while Origen surpassed all writers in his other works, "in the Song of Songs he surpassed even himself." St Gregory of Nyssa, St Ambrose, St Gregory the Great and St Bede followed. When Theodore of Mopsuestia reduced it to a merely human love song, his view was rejected in the condemnation of his writings at the Second Council of Constantinople (553). St Bernard of Clairvaux gave it eighty-six sermons and died with the work unfinished.

Three applications. The tradition reads the Bride in three ways. She is the Church, one, holy and ever pursued by her Lord; Challoner applies "one is my dove" to the unity of the Church and "catch us the little foxes" to the pastors' duty against false teachers. She is the faithful soul, called to union with God through trial and absence; this is the reading of the mystics, of St Bernard, of St Teresa of Avila and of St John of the Cross, whose Spiritual Canticle is modelled on it.

And she is, above all, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Challoner's preface says the spouse of Christ is the Church, "more especially as to the happiest part of it, viz., perfect souls, every one of which is his beloved, but, above all others, the immaculate and ever blessed virgin mother."

Our Lady in the Canticle. The Church applies "Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee" (4:7) to the Immaculate Conception. St Jerome reads "a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up" (4:12) of Mary, mother and virgin (Against Jovinian I.31; Letter 48.21), a figure of the perpetual virginity of Mary. Two titles in the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, "Tower of David" and "Tower of ivory", come from the praises of the Bride (4:4; 7:4).

A book for the mature. Origen reports that the Hebrews kept the book from the young, and St Jerome would have a girl read it only after the rest of Scripture, "lest... she would fail to perceive that, though it is written in fleshly words, it is a marriage song of a spiritual bridal" (Letter 107.12). God chose the noblest human love to speak of His own, and the Canticle thus also honours Catholic marriage, which St Paul makes the image of Christ and the Church.

Famous verses of the Song of Solomon

The Douay follows the Vulgate's verse numbering, which in chapters 1 and 6 runs one behind the King James Version (KJV); we note the KJV number where they differ.

Canticle 4:7 (Song of Solomon 4:7). "Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee" (chapter 4). The Church sings it of Our Lady on 8 December: Tota pulchra es, Maria.

Canticle 8:6–7. "Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell, the lamps thereof are fire and flames. Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can the floods drown it" (chapter 8).

Canticle 3:4. "I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him: and I will not let him go" (chapter 3), the cry of the soul that finds Christ after seeking Him by night.

Canticle 2:16 and 6:2 (KJV 6:3). "My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies" (2:16); "I to my beloved, and my beloved to me" (6:2).

Canticle 2:1–2. "I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters" (chapter 2). Challoner hears Christ, "the flower of mankind", praising His Church.

Canticle 1:4 (KJV 1:5). "I am black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem" (chapter 1): the Church, says Challoner, lowly without and fair within.

Canticle 1:14 (KJV 1:15), 4:1 and 4:9. "Behold thou art fair, O my love... thy eyes are as those of doves"; "How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou!"; "Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse."

Canticle 5:16. "His throat most sweet, and he is all lovely: such is my beloved, and he is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem" (chapter 5).

Canticle 6:9 (KJV 6:10). "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?" (chapter 6), sung of Our Lady.

In 1:1 the Douay reads "thy breasts are better than wine" where the KJV has "thy love", following the Septuagint and the Vulgate; see the Latin Vulgate Bible.

Its place in the Bible and in the liturgy

In the canon. The Canticle is a protocanonical book, received by the Hebrew canon, by the Greek Septuagint and by every Christian Church; Protestant Bibles keep it as the Song of Solomon. In the Douay Bible it stands among the Sapiential books, after Ecclesiastes and before Wisdom; in Protestant Bibles, which omit Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus, the next book is Isaiah.

In the Missal of 1962. The Epistle of the Visitation (2 July) is the call of spring, Canticle 2:8–14. The Epistle of St Mary Magdalene (22 July) joins the night search (3:2–5) to "love is strong as death" (8:6–7), for St Mary Magdalene sought the Lord at the tomb. The Gradual of Our Lady of Lourdes (11 February) is "The flowers have appeared in our land... Arise, my love" (2:12, 10, 14), and the Alleluia of the Immaculate Conception is Tota pulchra es, Maria (4:7).

In the Breviary. At Vespers of Our Lady's feasts the psalm antiphons are drawn from the Canticle: Dum esset Rex in accubitu suo (1:11), Laeva ejus sub capite meo (2:6), Nigra sum, sed formosa (1:4), Jam hiems transiit (2:11). Pray them in the Iter Fidei Breviary; our guide to the Breviary explains the hours.

How to read the Canticle of Canticles

Read it in one sitting first: eight short chapters, perhaps twenty minutes. Notice who speaks in each verse, the Bride, the Bridegroom or the daughters of Jerusalem, because the meaning turns on it. Then reread it a chapter a day with Challoner's notes, asking how each verse speaks of Christ and His Church, of Our Lady and of your own soul. It is a book for mental prayer more than for study.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who wrote the Song of Solomon?

The Church has received the Song of Solomon, called the Canticle of Canticles in the Douay-Rheims, as the work of King Solomon, son of David. The Hebrew title reads "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's", Solomon is named in the poem itself, and Scripture records that he composed "a thousand and five" poems (3 Kings 4:32). Jewish and Christian tradition names him.

Is the Song of Songs the same as the Song of Solomon?

Yes. The Song of Songs, the Song of Solomon, Canticles and the Canticle of Canticles are four names for one book. "Song of Songs" and "Canticle of Canticles" translate its title, meaning the most excellent of songs; "Song of Solomon" names its author.

What is the Song of Solomon about?

It is a love song in eight chapters between a King, the Bridegroom, and his Bride, with the daughters of Jerusalem as a chorus. The Church reads it as the love of Christ for His Church, for each faithful soul, and above all for the Blessed Virgin Mary. Its scenes move through longing, union, absence and search to the cry that "love is strong as death" (Canticle 8:6).

Why is the Song of Solomon in the Bible?

Because it is inspired Scripture, received by the Synagogue and by the Church from the beginning and listed by the Council of Trent among the sacred books. Under the figure of human love it reveals the espousal of God and His people, which St Paul calls "a great sacrament... in Christ and in the church" (Ephesians 5:32).

Where is the Song of Solomon in the Bible?

It is in the Old Testament, among the Wisdom or Sapiential books. In a Catholic Bible it comes after Ecclesiastes and before the Book of Wisdom; in a Protestant Bible it comes after Ecclesiastes and before Isaiah. You can open it from the Iter Fidei online Bible.

What book comes after the Song of Solomon?

In the Catholic Bible the book after the Canticle of Canticles is Wisdom, followed by Ecclesiasticus (Sirach). Protestant Bibles do not include these two books, so in them the Song of Solomon is followed by Isaiah, called Isaias in the Douay-Rheims.

How many chapters are in the Song of Solomon?

The Canticle of Canticles has 8 chapters. In the Douay-Rheims, which follows the Vulgate, the verses of chapters 1 and 6 run one behind those of the King James Version.

What does Song of Solomon 4:7 mean?

"Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee" is the Bridegroom's praise of his Bride. The Church applies it above all to Our Lady, singing on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, Tota pulchra es, Maria, et macula originalis non est in te: "Thou art all fair, O Mary, and the original stain is not in thee."

Read the whole Canticle of Canticles verse by verse, in Latin and English, in the Iter Fidei Catholic Bible app.

Sources. Holy Scripture, Douay-Rheims (Challoner) and Latin Vulgate: Canticle of Canticles 1–8; 3 Kings 4:32; Psalm 44; Isaias 62:5; Osee 2:19–20; Matthew 25:1–13; John 3:29; Ephesians 5:25–32; Apocalypse 19:7, 21:2. Bishop Richard Challoner, preface and notes to the Canticle of Canticles in the Douay-Rheims Bible. Council of Trent, Session IV (1546), Decree on the Canonical Scriptures. Second Council of Constantinople (553), condemnation of the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia. Origen, Commentary and Homilies on the Song of Songs, with St Jerome's prologue to his translation of the homilies. St Gregory of Nyssa, Homilies on the Song of Songs. St Jerome, Against Jovinian I.31; Letters 48 and 107. Mishnah, Yadayim 3:5. St Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), "Canticle of Canticles". Missale Romanum (1962): Masses of 8 December, 11 February, 2 July and 22 July. Breviarium Romanum (1962): Common of Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary.