The Song of Songs (Concordia Commentary)
by Christopher Wright Mitchell
Category: Religion

This Christian commentary contains an original translation of Solomon's biblical Song supported by a careful philological examination of the Hebrew text with attention to the grammar of the original language and the meaning of its imagery. The history, culture, and theology of Old Testament Israel informs the interpretation of this love poem. Employing a hermeneutic that is Christological and analogical, this commentary interprets the Song within the context of the other nuptial passages throughout Scripture that portray the relationship between God and his people as a marriage, and that prescribe that human marriage is to be patterned after God's marriage to his people. It expounds the Song as a poem about the divine love kindled in the marriage of Solomon and his Shulammite bride, which is the same love that is kindled in the marriages of Christians. It also is the same love that bound Old Testament Israel to her God, and that binds the Christian church to Jesus Christ, her husband and Lord. The commentary emphasizes the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins and new life through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God's in Christ grace creates the church through the Word and Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, and prepares the church to wait in joyful expectation for the return of Christ and his eternal nuptial celebration with his bride. The commentary also contains many practical applications of the biblical text to human marriages and to the lives of all Christians.