Verses, Divine Principle interpretation, and Reverend Moon’s words
This study file presents all eight chapters of Song of Solomon with the Bible verses first and then Divine Principle interpretation beneath each chapter.
The central focus is covenant love, purity before union, mutual belonging, the beauty of the bride and bridegroom, the discipline of proper timing, the pain of separation, the joy of reunion, and the enduring seal of love that cannot be bought or extinguished.
The comments are written in a Divine Principle framework, emphasizing restored husband-wife love as part of God’s ideal of creation and the culture of heart taught by Reverend Moon.
Theme: Longing for the beloved and the awakening of holy attraction
1:1 The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.
1:2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.
1:3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
1:4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
1:5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
1:6 Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.
1:7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? 1:8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.
1:9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.
1:10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.
1:11 We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.
1:12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.
1:13 A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.
1:14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.
1:15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.
1:16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.
1:17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.
Song of Solomon opens with desire, delight, fragrance, and movement toward the beloved. In a Divine Principle reading, this longing points beyond emotion alone. It reflects the original human impulse to return to love that is centered on God rather than on self.
The repeated attraction between bride and bridegroom can be read as the echo of the ideal of creation, where man and woman were meant to rejoice in one another without fear, accusation, or shame. The language of chambers, perfume, beauty, and green resting place suggests abundance, freshness, and a world where love is not fallen or hidden.
The chapter also contains humility: the woman says she has not kept her own vineyard. In providential terms, fallen people cannot simply assume they are already complete. They must be restored, healed, and guided back to the place where love becomes pure offering rather than possession.
“When they are grown up they learn about the conjugal love of husband and wife and later when they have their own children they will start to love as parents.”
Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 1978 speech collection
“For a couple to be perfected, they must establish the four position foundation by forming a trinity with the man and woman united, centered on God.”
Divine Principle, Part I
Theme: Love in its proper season and guarding the vineyard of the heart
2:1 I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
2:2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
2:3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
2:5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
2:6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand doth embrace me.
2:7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
2:8 The voice of my beloved! behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.
2:9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, he standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the windows, shewing himself through the lattice.
2:10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
2:11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 2:12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; 2:13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
2:14 O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely.
2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.
2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
2:17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
The second chapter joins tenderness with discipline. The lovers belong to one another, yet the text warns not to awaken love before its proper time. Divine Principle strongly resonates with this order: love is holy, but it must mature in alignment with Heaven’s timing and purpose.
The image of little foxes spoiling the vines is especially important. Restoration is not lost only through great public sins; it can be damaged by small hidden selfishness, impatience, resentment, or impurity that enters the vineyard before fruit is fully formed.
Thus the chapter teaches both joy and watchfulness. The beloved calls, 'Rise up... and come away,' but the heart must also guard the tender grape. True love grows in freedom, beauty, and season, yet it is protected through responsibility.
“True love between husband and wife is the love of give and take between a man and woman of united mind and body.”
Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 1982 speech collection
“Parental love, conjugal love, and children’s love… finally form the four position foundation.”
Divine Principle, Part I
Theme: Seeking the beloved through the night until union and public joy
3:1 By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
3:2 I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.
3:3 The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? 3:4 It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
3:5 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please.
3:6 Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? 3:7 Behold his bed, which is Solomon’s; threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel.
3:8 They all hold swords, being expert in war: every man hath his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night.
3:9 King Solomon made himself a chariot of the wood of Lebanon.
3:10 He made the pillars thereof of silver, the bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, the midst thereof being paved with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem.
3:11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and behold king Solomon with the crown wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.
The night search in chapter 3 reveals that love is not sustained by passivity. The bride rises, seeks, questions, finds, and holds fast. In the providence of restoration, one must seek the beloved with initiative and perseverance, especially through darkness and distance.
The movement from lonely searching to public celebration in Solomon’s procession suggests that true union is not merely private feeling. Love is meant to be recognized, honored, and established within an ordered and protected realm.
The day of espousals and gladness of heart therefore points toward covenant. Divine Principle sees the completion of love not in unstable emotion but in a God-centered bond that can stand before Heaven, society, and future generations.
“Every bridegroom should think that his bride is more precious than royalty and cherish her as his queen, and vice-versa.”
Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 1982 speech collection
“There must first appear on the earth the bride who can relieve the humiliated and grieving heart of Jesus before Christ as the bridegroom can come again.”
Divine Principle, Part I
Theme: The beauty, purity, and set-apart worth of the bride
4:1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.
4:2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; whereof every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
4:3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
4:4 Thy neck is like the tower of David builded for an armoury, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
4:5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.
4:6 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.
4:7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
4:8 Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
4:9 Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.
4:10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
4:11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honeycomb: honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
4:12 A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
4:13 Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, 4:14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: 4:15 A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.
4:16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits.
Here the bride is praised in detail and called a spouse, a garden enclosed, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. In Divine Principle language, this strongly evokes purity, uniqueness, and the sacred character of conjugal love before Heaven.
The beloved is not treated as a consumable object but as a treasured person whose integrity and beauty are guarded. The sealed garden image fits the Principle view that love reaches its fulfillment when it is offered in its proper order and sanctified relationship.
The invitation for the winds to blow and the garden to yield its spices shows that purity is not repression. When love is centered on God, what is protected can also become fruitful, fragrant, and life-giving.
“True love between husband and wife is the love of give and take between a man and woman of united mind and body.”
Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 1982 speech collection
“By joining as husband and wife and multiplying children, they should have established a family connected and united in the hearts of the parents, couple, and children.”
Divine Principle, Part II
Theme: Delayed response, painful separation, and renewed testimony of love
5:1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.
5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
5:3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them? 5:4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.
5:5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
5:6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
5:7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.
5:8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.
5:9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us? 5:10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
5:11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
5:12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.
5:13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.
5:14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
5:15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.
5:16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Chapter 5 introduces one of the book’s sobering reversals. The beloved knocks, but delayed response leads to absence, grief, and a painful search. In providential terms, missed timing matters. Love requires alertness and response when Heaven calls.
The wounded search through the city dramatizes the cost of separation. Yet even in pain the bride does not abandon love. She gives testimony: 'He is altogether lovely.' This resembles the path of faith in restoration, where longing deepens conviction rather than destroying it.
Thus the chapter warns against spiritual and relational complacency. One can love sincerely and still fail through hesitation. Restoration then requires renewed pursuit, humility, and public witness to the value of the beloved.
“If Jesus was a man, he certainly would have wanted marriage to a wonderful woman.”
Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Proclamation of the Messiah
“For a couple to be perfected, they must establish the four position foundation by forming a trinity with the man and woman united, centered on God.”
Divine Principle, Part I
Theme: Restored assurance, exclusiveness of love, and the one undefiled
6:1 Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside? that we may seek him with thee.
6:2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.
6:3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies.
6:4 Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners.
6:5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
6:6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them.
6:7 As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.
6:8 There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number.
6:9 My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her.
6:10 Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners? 6:11 I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished and the pomegranates budded.
6:12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me like the chariots of Amminadib.
6:13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies.
After loss and searching, chapter 6 returns to assurance: 'I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.' In a Divine Principle frame, restored love is not vague or shared among competing claims; it is exclusive, clear, and covenantal.
The declaration that the beloved is 'but one' is providentially important. The ideal partner is not interchangeable. Original love is singular and irreplaceable because it is rooted in Heaven’s purpose, not in appetite alone.
The imagery of beauty, order, and banners also suggests strength. True love is tender, but it is not weak. When centered on God, conjugal unity possesses dignity, public witness, and the power to stand firm amid many rival claims.
“Every bridegroom should think that his bride is more precious than royalty and cherish her as his queen, and vice-versa.”
Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 1982 speech collection
“By joining as husband and wife and multiplying children, they should have established a family connected and united in the hearts of the parents, couple, and children.”
Divine Principle, Part II
Theme: Mature mutual desire and the fruitfulness of covenant union
7:1 How beautiful are thy feet with shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a cunning workman.
7:2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies.
7:3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
7:4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bathrabbim: thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looketh toward Damascus.
7:5 Thine head upon thee is like Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple; the king is held in the galleries.
7:6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! 7:7 This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.
7:8 I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples; 7:9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.
7:10 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
7:11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
7:12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves.
7:13 The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
In chapter 7 desire becomes confident, mutual, and fruitful. The language of vineyards, fields, villages, mandrakes, and pleasant fruits portrays mature love moving outward into life, labor, and future blessing.
Divine Principle does not treat conjugal love as merely private romance. It is the center from which family, generational continuity, and the wider culture of heart can emerge. For that reason, the chapter’s fruitfulness imagery is especially meaningful.
The woman’s words, 'I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me,' show reciprocity without domination. Original love is give and take action in joy, where each lives for the other and both stand under God’s blessing.
“When they are grown up they learn about the conjugal love of husband and wife and later when they have their own children they will start to love as parents.”
Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 1978 speech collection
“Parental love, conjugal love, and children’s love… finally form the four position foundation.”
Divine Principle, Part I
Theme: Love as an unquenchable seal and the permanence of covenant
8:1 O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; yea, I should not be despised.
8:2 I would lead thee, and bring thee into my mother’s house, who would instruct me: I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.
8:3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.
8:4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please.
8:5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee.
8:6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
8:7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.
8:8 We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts: what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for? 8:9 If she be a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver: and if she be a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.
8:10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers: then was I in his eyes as one that found favour.
8:11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
8:12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.
8:13 Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice: cause me to hear it.
8:14 Make haste, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
The final chapter seals the whole book with permanence. Love is strong as death, many waters cannot quench it, and it is set upon the heart and arm like a seal. Divine Principle recognizes such language as touching the original covenant power of love itself.
Love here is not cheap sentiment. It cannot be bought with substance, drowned by floods, or replaced by lesser exchange. This accords with the Principle view that true love is the highest value because it binds persons, generations, and Heaven together.
The closing concern for the younger sister and the vineyard shows that lasting love also assumes responsibility. Mature love protects, prepares, and transmits blessing. Thus Song of Solomon ends not in fantasy but in covenant fidelity that must be guarded and handed on.
“True love between husband and wife is the love of give and take between a man and woman of united mind and body.”
Rev. Sun Myung Moon, 1982 speech collection
“By joining as husband and wife and multiplying children, they should have established a family connected and united in the hearts of the parents, couple, and children.”
Divine Principle, Part II