Song of Songs

Although The Daily Bible editor says it and we have probably been taught it, it's easy to wonder if we aren't reading too much into the story of the Lover and his Beloved when we say it's also a tale of Christ and his bride, the Church. However, the People's Bible (and I would definitely recommend reading or at least skimming the entire commentary on Song of Songs--very interesting) lists several clues in the text which point to a deeper meaning:

• In 1:4 where it says "Take me away with you--let us hurry," that is better translated as the King James Version has it: "Draw me, we will run after thee." Why would the beloved be talking about herself and others chasing the Lover? Here is a hint of the beloved being the Church.
• In 2:7 where she says, "Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you..." the "you" is actually masculine even as she directs her statements to "daughters." This again shows a wider group of people is being addressed.
• Again in 8:13 where the Lover says to his beloved, "You who dwell in the gardens with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice!"--"friends" here is masculine.

I think the clearest proof is the fact that marriage is used in other places in the Bible again to illustrate this relationship of Christ and the Church. In Song of Songs you see why: the overall story is about commitment. Even as the beloved's commitment wavers, leading to the most dramatic point of the story, she repents and recommits to her lover who felt rejected but had never really left her. And finally it's a happy ending where you see the beloved coming up from the "desert" (representing tough times) leaning on her lover.