“but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.”
~ Song of Songs 6:9
Hi James and Ellen,
Song of Songs or Song of Solomon or Solomon’s Song of Songs is a very different kind of book that is found in the Bible. The Songs of Songs Book is a love story. Your grandpaa does not know how or why a book that is in the Bible that is known as Song of Songs or Song of Solomon or Solomon’s Song of Songs became one of the books in the Old Testament canon. Somewhere around 250 A.D. or over 1750 years ago, the Christ-follower community that was made up of Protestant guys made rules and measures to determine the genuineness of a compilation of books, letters, journals, stories, poems, songs, etc. that had been written by an Old Testament patriarch, Israelite people group kings, prophets, a wine taster, apostles, a reporter, a doctor, two half bros of Jesus and a missionary. The Christ-follower fellowship that was made up of Protestant guys used these rules and measures to determine whether or not a book, letter, journal, story, poem, song, etc. that had been compiled over time had really been inspired or not. The fellowship of guys who were acquiescing to doctrines that espoused Catholicism had their own rules and measures to determine the genuineness of a book, letter, journal, story, poem, song, etc. as to whether or not that it had been inspired. The fellowship of guys who were acquiescing to doctrines that espoused Catholicism ended up with several more books in the Bible that the Catholic Church uses today than what the Christ-follower fellowship that is made up of Protestant guys ended up having in their Bible. The additional books and letters that the Catholic Church has in its Bible are called Apocrypha. For a book, letter, journal, story, poem, song, etc. to be inspired and become a part of the canon that the Christ-follower guys who were called Protestants accepted, the book, letter, journal, story, poem, song, etc. had to bear proof by the way that it was written that the words in the book, letter, journal, story, poem, song, etc. had to have been God – as God the Spirit, breathing on the author or writer of the book, letter, journal, story, poem, song, etc. Your grandpaa sometimes wonders how a song by or for or about Solomon which is called Song of Songs or Song of Solomon or Solomon’s Song of Songs ever managed to pass all the rules and measures that the Christ-follower fellowship of guys who were Protestants had made to decide on the canonicity of a book, letter, journal, story, poem, song, etc. allowing the book, letter, journal, story, poem, song, etc. to be included in a book that is called Bible that is being used today everywhere on planet Earth. The book whose title has morphed to Song of Songs is primarily about a gal who was madly in love with a purportedly really awesome guy who probably was Solomon writing about himself as being the really awesome guy. This book is considered to be a wisdom book. The book focuses on love instead of on other feelings that are found in other books such as reverence, gratitude, anger, sorrow, suffering, commitment, loyalty, hope, moral outrage, repentance, etc.
Song of Songs or Song of Solomon or Solomon’s Song of Songs is an interplay between a number of guys and gals. There is the beloved – who is the absolutely beautiful gal. There is the lover – who is the really awesome guy and there are the friends of the absolutely beautiful gal and really awesome guy. In Song of Songs 6, the lover – or the really awesome guy, does most of the talking. After the friends of the beloved – the absolutely beautiful gal, had asked the beloved where her lover the really awesome guy had gone, the beloved told her friends that her lover had gone to his garden to gather lilies for her. When the lover got back to where his beloved was with their friends, the lover told these friends in verse 9 what he really thought about and how he really felt about his beloved, “but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.”
Your grandpaa has been blessed for over fifty-six years – at the time of the editing of this, with a wife who is very special and unique. One of your grandpaa’s bros once told your grandpaa that the best thing that ever happened to your grandpaa was your grandmaa marrying him. Your grandpaa knows that what his bro said is really true. Your grandmaa has a smile that makes guys, gals and kids feel good. Your grandpaa has seen how your grandmaa’s smile works. There have been times when your grandmaa and grandpaa have said something together in a church. When it was your grandpaa’s turn to speak, your grandpaa saw guys and gals who were sitting in church pews in front of him beginning to lean back against the bench that they were sitting on, cross their arms and look at him with a blank stare – which said to your grandpaa that he better have something really good and interesting to say or . . . when it was your grandmaa’s turn to speak, your grandpaa saw these same guys and gals who were sitting in church pews in front of him beginning to lean forward, uncross their arms and look up at her with a smile on their faces – even before your grandmaa has said one word. Your grandmaa’s big, warm, beautiful smile makes every guy, gal and kid who she talks with and to feel really welcomed and appreciated. Your grandpaa knows that other gals – and guys, really appreciate your grandmaa a lot for her wise insights and genuine kindness. Every guy and gal who meets your grandmaa likes your grandmaa because she nonverbally communicates liking them. Your grandpaa knows what it is like to be sincerely loved by his beloved – who to your grandpaa will always be an absolutely beautiful gal. Your grandpaa knows that the more that he gives your grandmaa the gift of time, the more that your grandpaa is going to be loved by your grandmaa. Your grandpaa believes that it is the guy who is to start and keep the love cycle going.
Song of Songs 6 (386)