“The Song of Songs is like the box top for a jigsaw puzzle. When you dump the pieces on the table, they’re a total mess; you need a picture to help put them into place. The Song of Songs is a picture of love for people who are still figuring out how the pieces fit together. It doesn’t show us everything that’s broken, but mainly shows us the way things were always meant to be.”

Ryken undertakes one version of interpretation of the Biblical book Song of Solomon. He undergirds the book as a practical guide for relationships in light of KChrist’s love us especially centered on the love of Christ and the church as to that of the love experienced between a couple. One could call this Ryken’s mixtape on healthy love and relationships as there is a lot of direct application for married couples as well as those that are still single. Because of this, at times, it felt too pastoral though I can easily excuse this as he built it around his university context.

It is not a verse by verse commentary so much as a resource for contemplation and meditation than edification or preaching. In a few places, I felt it was tame and lacked the oomph in engaging with spiritual eroticism.

It is thick in experiential connection to Christ and even if you do not use the practical buide at the end each section lends itself to good meditation and contemplation.

Who might be interested: couples, single (healthy sexuality)

**This was a review copy** ( )

The Love of Loves in the Song of Songs looks at each verse of the Song of Songs, a book from the Bible. I always liked this book best, because I always saw it as a representation of an eternal and powerful love between God and a person. I believe it’s symbolically about a persons’ relationship with God. Our author goes a bit further. He describes some of the historical background and customs that are referred to in the Song of Songs, thus putting them into context. He also relates the Song of Songs to a monogamous love between a man and a woman. Although I do not agree with every single interpretation of the Song of Songs that he makes here, I find that this book might be a good one for meditation on these wonderful verses.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. ( )