Is Solomon the hero of the song?

Many fine commentators think so, both among those who follow the allegorical or typological model and among those who follow the literal model. The opening superscription might seem to point clearly in that direction. Isn’t the greatest Davidic king the ideal person to speak about love and marriage, and thus foreshadow Christ? But that identification seems difficult to reconcile with the historical Solomon that we know from the rest of the Bible—a famous collector of a thousand wives and concubines (1 Kings 11:3). He hardly seems like a model of an exclusive, lifelong, “till death do us part” marriage relationship, the kind extolled in the Song!

Even if Solomon wrote the book to a particular woman when he was young, before he married all his other wives, his subsequent life story would surely undercut the Song’s teaching. What would we say about someone who gave a wonderful testimony in church about his true love for his bride—and then later repeatedly betrayed her trust? Would we keep that testimony prominently posted on our church website, even if everything he had said about love and marriage were true?

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