Song of Songs 8:8, Premarital Sex

Posted on Wednesday, February 16, 2011 in Bible Commentary | 0 comments

“We have a little sister too young for breasts. What will we do if someone asks to marry her? If she is chaste, we will strengthen and encourage her. But if she is promiscuous, we will shut her off from men.”

Hey, wasn’t that quite an inspiring love story in the verses I quoted on Valentine’s day? The language isn’t exactly contemporary … try comparing your lover’s hair to a flock of goats and see how far it gets you … but you have to admit, it’s some pretty poetic literature!

So, who are the lovers this book is about? Solomon and his new wife? The book never once mentions God, which may be why some interpreters consider it a love poem between Christ and his bride, the people of God. We have to bring God into the picture somehow, right? Or the book remains no more than a secular love poem of unknown origin that somehow sneaked into the Bible.

The shocker doesn’t arrive until the end of the story, when the young maiden’s brothers arrive, and we learn she isn’t married. “What will we do if someone asks to marry her?” Wow, that’s some risqué stuff for an unmarried couple in a revered book of the Bible! The young maiden argues that she has been chaste, but now her breasts are full and they satisfy her lover. Then, she calls for her lover to come.

What happens next is anyone’s guess. It’s there in black and white, but it’s hard to decipher between the many translations. Some say the young woman shoos her lover away so that she may remain chaste. Others say she defiantly hurries her lover’s sexual climax, consummating their love before it can be prevented. I guess you may write your own ending, to match your own religious standards!