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Question

Hello dear Father Angelo,

My name is Salvatore. I would like to ask you to explain this biblical passage to me in simple words.

Thank you, God bless you:

Song of Songs 3:6-11: “What is this coming up from the desert, like a column of smoke laden with myrrh, with frankincense, and with the perfume of every exotic dust?

Ah, it is the litter of Solomon; sixty valiant men surround it, of the valiant men of Israel:

All of them expert with the sword, skilled in battle, each with his sword at his side against danger in the watches of the night.

King Solomon made himself a carriage of wood from Lebanon.

He made its columns of silver, its roof of gold, its seat of purple cloth, its framework inlaid with ivory.

Daughters of Jerusalem, come forth and look upon King Solomon in the crown with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his marriage, on the day of the joy of his heart.”

 Answer

Dear Son,

three interpretations have been given of this passage from the Song of Songs, that complement each other.

1. The first interpretation is historical in nature.

“What is this coming up from the desert, like a column of smoke…” would be the people of Israel who came out of Egypt and are wandering in the desert.

The Sacred Scripture reminds us that these people were preceded at night by a pillar of fire, a symbol of the presence of God who defended from dangers and kept fiery animals away.

This advancing nation exhales the scent of myrrh and incense. In royal parades it was customary to burn large quantities of precious perfumes before the sovereign as a sign of honor and joy. Such were the people of Israel, who continued their majestic march in the desert.

Solomon’s carriage (which symbolizes God) is the Ark of the Covenant.

The six hundred thousand Jews who came out of Egypt are represented by the sixty warriors of the Song.

Balaam, a pagan prophet, upon seeing those people exclaims: “How goodly are your tents, O Jacob; your encampments, O Israel!” (Nm 24:5).

Everyone among that nation knows how to wield the sword because they are always at war and they defeat all the people through whose land they must pass.

The carriage rich in decorations also refers to the royal palace of Solomon when the splendor of Israel reached its greatest height.

2. According to another, more religious interpretation, it would be the dedication of the Temple.

In the Jewish tradition the name of Solomon was inextricably linked with the temple that he wanted to build in Jerusalem with the greatest sumptuousness.

Solomon is the symbol of the bridegroom of the Song, that is of God. The royal procession symbolizes the triumphal entry of God into the temple, on the day of its dedication, when his glory filled the Temple, his house (1 King 8:11).

Only in the temple did the worship of God reach its maximum splendor. The column of smoke that exhales the scent of myrrh and incense reminds of the smoke of burnt offerings and incense burned in large quantities on the day of its dedication (1 Kings 8:5 ff.).

The carriage represents the ark covered by the wings of the two Cherubims on which God is seated (1 Sam 4:4). This ark, after many wanderings starting from the desert, was definitively introduced into the temple.

The daughters of Jerusalem are the tribes of Israel that converge to the only legitimate place of worship to God.

3. Finally, there is a third, typically Christian interpretation, in which the Church would be represented.

St. Bede the Venerable says that the Church “emerged as if from the desert of the pagan populations, rose like a column of smoke that exhales myrrh and all the perfumes.

As all the perfumes that are burned form a cloud of fragrant smoke, so the Church is formed in its unity of all the virtues, of all holiness, of all the merits of each of its members.”

In the words Who is she… [Translator’s note: this is how the passage starts in the Italian translation of the Sacred Scriptures] one can once again see the triumphal ascent of the militant Church which also in the present life has its days of exaltation in which God comforts her by making the image appear of the triumphs of the future life.

The carriage represents the militant Church in which Christ rests.

In it, the Saints of God, after having tamed the tumult of the passions, enjoy the embrace of God (represented by Solomon), the King of peace par excellence.

The warriors represent the doctors who form the garrison of the Church, defending it from the incursions of demons and from the assaults of heretics.

The sword they hold in their hand is the spiritual sword of the word of God according to what St. Paul writes: “And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6:17). They carry this sword at their side, to always be ready to fight the battles of the Lord because in the night of the present time the snares of the evil one are subtle and occult and could deface the carriage of Solomon, that is, the Church of the living God.

The litter or carriage can signify the blessed rest of the saints in the bosom of God.

This litter is made with the wood of Lebanon because it is incorruptible and also because it is destined to receive the uncorrupted Saints who are shining with virtue.

The silver columns may represent the Angels belonging to the order of the Thrones.

The gold roof means the eternal rest to which only those who have worthily venerated and imitated the passion of Jesus Christ are represented by the purple seat.

Come forth and look, etc.: the Church as the bride of Jesus Christ speaks and invites her children to come out of the turmoil of the world to be free from all worries so as to be able to contemplate Solomon, that is, the true King of peace, Christ.

By crown we can mean the most holy flesh of Christ that he took in the womb of the Immaculate Virgin, the flesh with which he destroyed the empire of death and with which by resurrecting he gave us the hope of resurrecting.

St. Paul speaks of this crown when he says: “But we do see Jesus ‘crowned with glory and honor’ because he suffered death” (Heb 2:9).

It was his Mother who crowned him, because she gave him the matter of his flesh. On the day of his marriage, that is, on the day of his incarnation when he took the Church as his bride. Then, the heart of Christ was full of joy because the salvation of humanity began.

On the day of his marriage can also refer to the passion of Christ when on the day of his marriage to the Church he was crowned with the crown of opprobrium (the crown of thorns) by his mother (the synagogue).

On that day Jesus rejoiced because through his passion he would redeem the world from the slavery of Satan, freeing humanity from the darkness of paganism and introducing it into the kingdom of light and salvation.

This third interpretation is truly beautiful.

It depicts not only the Church, but also every soul in its relationship with Christ.

In wishing you to live it fully, I offer you my wishes for a happy and holy Easter (in 2019), I remember you in prayer and I bless you.

Father Angelo