Songs of Song is a depiction of the value, beauty, and meaning of work and love between a man and a woman. The Song relays stories of an ideal image of family, work, and life by showcasing lovers who court, marry, and then work. King Solomon, who is the author of the Song, explicitly communicated the themes of hardship, pleasure, beauty, joy, passion, diligence, and family.
At the beginning of the Song, a woman is expressing her love for her man. While at it she also informs that her skin has become dark as a result of hard work in the family vineyard. She says that her brothers made her work hard there. Although this Song is about love, one cannot fail to notice that work is also given center stage. In addition, dark skin had a different meaning from the present-day racial connotation. Dark skin was used to describe people who toiled in the sun for economic reasons. Perhaps, they were mostly the peasants who ranked low in the economic hierarchy. In this Song, however, the woman’s beauty has not diminished by hard work. As she puts it in Song 1:5, “Dark am I, yet lovely,” King James Version. Moreover, the woman is not regretting her job for it has prepared her for the future when she expects to tender for her own vineyard as well (Song 8:12). Later, she will leave her brothers and get married and have her own vineyard.
In many civilizations, work has always been construed as an enemy of beauty. However, the biblical perspective brought out through the Song depicts work as an essential beauty. Not only does King Solomon builds a palanquin for himself, but the Song also praises the loveliness of workmanship. Thus, as expressed in Song 3:10, it is a labor of love. Ultimately, the Song reiterates that apart from being a means to an economic end, work is also a foundation of aesthetic ingenuity.
In the Song, the woman is in pursuit of her beloved, a man whom she describes to be the finest of men. She receives information from her friends that the man is at his obvious place of work where he is shepherding sheep. His work, however, does not make it hard to interact with her. The arrangement of their work allows them to freely interact as a family. This is in contrast to how work is today where family interaction time is dictated by job demands and an employer’s goodwill.
The man and the woman proclaim their devotion to each other through the Song. He intones of her impeccable beauty and she sings how madly she is in love with him. When springtime arrives, they both sing in its glory and he invites her over to his place. In ancient Israel, springtime was a time to work on the farms. It was the time when crops were pruned to guarantee good harvests. It was also during this time that the young grapes were more attractive to foxes and animals. The two lovers, thus, find joy in chasing the foxes away from the farms. This is a glorious picture of finding pleasure and happiness at work.
A keen observer will notice that this form of work is in contradiction to what God told Adam in Genesis 3:17-19. After the man had sinned against God, He cursed the ground and commanded that food will only be produced from it after painful toil. It is evident from this verse that this was not God’s original meaning of work. Therefore, the kind of work elaborated in Song is an exemplification of how God desires people to live and work. It is a fulfillment of Isaiah’s, “They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit” (Isaiah 65:21). This is an indication that God’s kingdom does not mean that work is eliminated but rather executed in delightful relationships.
The Song has also expressed the concept of marriage between a man and a woman. The woman desires the man and, dressed in an elegant palanquin, she goes to him. On his part, the man receives her while wearing a crown. This confirms that the couple did a beautiful wedding to officiate their love. After the wedding, both sing lovely songs to each other. The author uses vivid metaphors and images to describe the events of the wedding night. Although many Christian preachers shy away from mentioning sex, the author of the Song is categorical that sex between two lovers on their wedding day should be the norm.
Sex is used in the Song to connect the household and work. Indeed, the primary unit of all economic activities in the household. Sex gives rise to children who continue the generation and provide the workforce needed in the fields. Moreover, sex is also an expression of passion, which holds a household together. The modern-day work environment denies most couples an opportunity to have ample time with each other. In conclusion, the increase in the number of divorce cases among couples could partly be blamed on dissatisfaction, which arises from both partners being busy for each other. The Song advises that couples should not allow work to prevent them from having intimacies.
Reference
King James Bible. (2008). Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1769)