As a boy in junior high school, the youth pastor at our church warned us not to read Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs) until we were engaged to be married. Filled with sexual imagery and innuendo, junior high boys best stay away.

Of course, I and all my friends immediately read Song of Solomon when we got home. Over and over. Actually a great ploy—how much better if forbidden to read Romans? Junior high boys maintain short attention spans, but being told not to read a specific book in the Bible because it talked about sex certainly focused mine.

The descriptions of the beautiful woman stood out to me then, as well as today, especially the use of metaphor strange to my ears. Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from the hills of Gilead (4:1). Not a line I blurt out when my wife asks me what I think of her hair, but I can picture it if I think hard enough.

I also love this image—Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, coming up from the washing. Each has its twin; not one of them is alone (4:2).

Growing up in the Ozarks, a girl with all her teeth certainly counted as a prize. But seriously, in the era Solomon wrote, dental hygiene lagged way behind today. People experimented with various remedies to clean their teeth and freshen their breath, but it proved difficult to keep a mouth full of healthy teeth into adulthood.

So, the beautiful, white, perfect teeth of his lover impressed Solomon. Makes me thankful for my parents who sent me to brush my teeth every night, and for the dental professionals scolding me over the years for my lack of attention.

I got the message—I now work to keep my teeth like that flock of newly shorn sheep. My hair, however, might be a lost cause.

Song of Songs 4 in week twenty-five of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Hans Heiner Buhr