Unlocking the Old Testament Part 36 - Song of Songs

Summary

David Pawson explains why he believes the Song of Songs belongs in the Bible, despite its lack of explicit references to God, prayer, salvation, or heaven and its frank celebration of physical attraction.

Main Ideas

• The title means “the greatest song.” Pawson explains that “Song of Songs” is a Hebrew superlative, like “King of Kings.”
• The poem affirms human love and sexuality. Pawson argues that its sensual imagery is not a reason to dismiss it as unspiritual. In his account, Hebrew thought sees the physical world as good because God created it; the poem therefore affirms love between a man and a woman.
• Read it as poetry, not a coded allegory. Pawson objects to interpretations that assign hidden meanings to every image—for example, treating “between my breasts” as a reference to the Old and New Testaments. He argues that the poem’s images should generally be understood in their ordinary sense: pomegranates are pomegranates, and breasts are breasts.
• Read it as an analogy. The human love described in the poem can illustrate the relationship between God and people. Pawson distinguishes this from allegory: an analogy compares two real things rather than turning a story into a secret code.
• Pawson’s proposed plot: He rejects the theory that a young woman is torn between a shepherd and King Solomon. Instead, he presents the poem as a love story between the woman and Solomon, who initially meets her in the guise of a shepherd. Pawson imagines her as a rural young woman burdened with work for her brothers, who falls in love with him before discovering that he is the king. She then leaves her rural home for the palace and must adjust to being one of Solomon’s queens. Pawson presents this reconstruction as his interpretation, rather than as an uncontested scholarly conclusion.
• The poem portrays love as intimate but restrained. Pawson says the relationship with God is not erotic, but emotional: the imagery invites affection, longing, and closeness without making the spiritual relationship a sexual one.
• Faith is fundamentally personal. Pawson’s central lesson is that Christianity is not merely religious activity; at its heart is loving God and belonging to him. He connects this to the Bible’s recurring picture of God as a husband and his people as a wife, and to Jesus as the bridegroom.
• Faith is also public and carries responsibility. The believer’s relationship with Christ is not simply private. Pawson describes Christians as belonging to the King’s “royal family,” visible to others and responsible for living in a way that reflects that relationship.

Reading Approach

• Start with the poem’s direct, ordinary meaning rather than assuming its details conceal a code.
• Notice its poetic and sensual language as an affirmation of created human love.
• Treat the romance as an analogy for the love between God and people, not as a one-to-one allegory.
• Read it alongside other biblical passages that use marriage, bridegroom, shepherd, or royal imagery.
• Hold together the two dimensions Pawson emphasizes: a close personal relationship with God and the public responsibilities that come with it.

Speakers and Sources

• Speaker: David Pawson, the lecturer and narrator. No other interview speakers are featured in the subtitles.
• Biblical sources and references discussed: Song of Songs; Esther; Hosea; Psalms 23 and 45; the Gospel account of Jesus speaking with Peter after his denial; Jesus’ bridegroom imagery; the Bible’s closing depiction of the bride; and the commandments to love God and one’s neighbour.
• Other examples and references mentioned: Rabbis and unnamed commentators; The Pilgrim’s Progress, Gulliver’s Travels, Winnie-the-Pooh, The Sound of Music, Jane Eyre, Cinderella, and romance writers Katherine Cookson and Barbara Cartland; and the British royal family, including the Queen Mother, Edward VIII, Charles, and Diana.