Song of Solomon 8:1

Love is not just about the relationship between a bride and her bridegroom. It is much more wonderful even than that. In this chapter, the poet mentions some new subjects, like love between brothers and sisters. And the poet shows how love continues after marriage and even to death. Love is, he says, ‘as strong as death’ (verse 6). It seems that he wants to emphasise the greatness and the power of love.

When this chapter begins, the man and woman are already married. Some people think that they may already have children. Certainly, the woman is thinking about how children behave. She imagines herself as a little girl. She wishes that she knew her husband then! Her love for him is so wonderful. So she wishes that she had always known that love.

For a long time before their marriage, this man and woman loved each other. But they had to be very careful about their behaviour. They were anxious only to do those things that were proper. In their society, a young woman would not kiss a young man whom she liked. But a little girl can kiss her young brother. Nobody thinks that such an act is wrong. So this woman imagines that the man was her brother. Then she could have always shown love to him, even in public.