Viewed from this angle, it would be wrong to take the Song of Solomon literally. Constable in his Notes on Song of Solomon) Parsons: “Guidelines for Understanding and Utilizing the Song of Songs,” Bibliotheca Sacra 156:624 (October-December 1999):399-422 quoted by Dr. To them, what the writer said was only a symbolic husk for a deeper spiritual meaning that the reader must discover. Majority of interpreters favor this view. The only possible apology for the inclusion of the Song in the Bible can come from the view that it is an allegory. This fact alone should be enough to cast doubts on the claim that Solomon wrote the Song in admiration of his sweetheart - i.e., a single person - glorifying fidelity and sincerity in love. The Song is apparently sung by Solomon in admiration of one woman, and it depicts faithful love to that woman but Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). Indeed, the difficulty of providing it a meaningful interpretation has caused some Christian readers to doubt its status as a part of scripture. On examination, we can find the Song of Solomon failing to pass any of the above criteria.įrom a religious point of view: (1) it does not teach any doctrine nor does it even mention God (2) it does not reprove us for any error on our part (3) it does not offer us any sort of correction and (4) it does not guide us into righteousness rather it gives sensuous descriptions of physical intimacy in a frank language in a Book of God. Therefore, whatever is believed to have been revealed or inspired by God must serve one of the four purposes:Įither (1) it must teach us doctrine (2) it must reprove us for our errors (3) it offers us correction or (4) it guides us into righteousness. The Christian scholars quote the following verse from Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy as giving clear criteria for judging inspired scripture: Let us consider this question from the Christian point of view: Naturally, no one expects a love poem to be part of the Book revealed by God Almighty. There is no doubt that the Song of Solomon has a unique place among the books of the Bible because it is a love poem. One excellent exegete called it “the most obscure book in the Old Testament” (Franz Delitzsch: Biblical Commentary on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes, quoted by Dr. Some writers believe it presents the reader with the “greatest hermeneutical challenge in the Old Testament”. This book has received more varied interpretations than perhaps any other book in the Bible. Here, we quote the learned view of a Christian Bible scholar on the Song of Solomon: When these verses are quoted, the usual response of many Jews and Christians is a staunch denial of any such possibility.Īnd among those who have cared to examine the Islamic evidence were unbiased persons who were eventually convinced of the truth of Islam and have subsequently become Muslims.Īs you have said, one of these prophetic verses is from the Song of Solomon.īefore we explain the context and meaning of the quoted verse, we need to understand the subject of the Song of Solomon and why it is considered a holy book inspired by God Almighty. Muslim scholars have noted clear and undeniable prophecies found in the Bible (both in the Old and New Testaments) about the coming of the final prophet. So, is it Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who is meant by “Muhammadim” in the Song of Solomon? However, Christians claim that it does not refer to Prophet Muhammad because the whole chapter is about manwoman love story.

This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.” Islamic scholars claim “Muhammadim” is one of the places where the Prophet (PBUH) is mentioned in the Bible. We read in Hebrew: “Hikko Mamittakim we kullo Muhammadim Zehdoodeh wa Zehraee Bayna Jerusalem.” It means “His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. especially in the Song of Solomon, chapter 5 verse 16?

Hikko mamittakim we kullo