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Song of Solomon: Harem 9 Apr 2020

Solomon did many great things. He built the temple. Israel lived in peace during the first part of his reign. With this peace, wisdom and culture flourished. Solomon wrote 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs. Solomon loved women.

Household

Solomon's household counted 700 wives and 300 concubines. The ones mentioned in the bible worshiped other gods than Yahweh.

One of Many?

If you were one "beloveth" among a 1000 others, how would you feel? Would you really feel special? Actually it is an honest question how God can love so many children in a personal way.

Understanding the Song of Songs

1. The bible book may have been assembled perhaps 500 years after the death of Solomon.
2. It is a poem with prophetic content.
3. Jews interpret Yahweh as the lover and Israel as the beloveth.
4. Christians interpret the lover as Yahweh and the church as the beloveth.

Community

I prefer a small deviation: I believe that the beloveth is "the people called together by God". That implies that the love of God is targeted to a community and not first focused on individuals.

Thus reading the Song of Songs, should arouse a love for a Community of lovers of God. And I believe that such love ought to be very practical and not so much theoretical or theological. It should smell like the perfume of Jesus.

Solomon's household could fill a Jumbo Jet