When was Song of Solomon written?

Song of Solomon celebrates the joy, beauty, and holiness of intimacy between a husband and wife in marriage. In one key passage, Song of Solomon 8:7 extols the lasting value of love: “Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned.” As the book’s title suggests, Solomon, the son of David and the third king of Israel, is traditionally identified as the book’s author. He likely composed the book when he was king between 970 and 931 BC, likely during the early years of his reign.

The evidence supporting Solomon’s authorship helps establish the book’s timeframe within his reign. His name appears seven times in the eight chapters of Song of Solomon (1:1, 5; 3:7, 9, 11; 8:11, 12), reinforcing the traditional view that he wrote it. This places its composition during Solomon’s rule, and internal details may offer further clues to refine its precise date.

One well-known fact about Solomon’s life is that he had hundreds of wives and concubines. While the Bible does not specify how quickly he accumulated them, he likely added them over time. The book of 1 Kings gives the highest recorded number: Solomon “had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray” (1 Kings 11:3). However, Song of Solomon records a much lower number: “Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number” (Song of Solomon 6:8). This lower count may reflect an earlier stage in Solomon’s rule, before he expanded his harem. If so, it is likely the book was written in an earlier part of Solomon’s reign.

Beyond its references to Solomon’s wives, Song of Solomon also mentions cities and nations without referencing tensions that later arose among them. Cities and towns from both northern and southern Israel are referenced without mentioning the political divisions that led to the nation’s split in 931 BC. For instance, Song of Solomon 6:4 states, “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.” Tirzah later became the first capital of the northern kingdom after the split, while Jerusalem remained the capital of the southern kingdom. The mention of both cities in a peaceful context points to a composition date before the civil war—i.e., during Solomon’s reign. Similarly, the book refers to nations like Lebanon and Egypt without alluding to the frictions that later characterized Israel’s relationship with them.

Furthermore, Song of Solomon portrays a husband and wife experiencing and celebrating marital intimacy. This further reinforces the idea that it was written earlier in Solomon’s life. In contrast, another book attributed to Solomon, Ecclesiastes, alludes to the frailty of old age: “When the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets” (Ecclesiastes 12:5). The grasshopper is a poetic description of the waning physical desires of old age, contrasting with the themes of youth and vitality in Song of Solomon. Again, this suggests that Solomon wrote his love poem early in his reign.

The main female character in the book expresses a central theme of love and devotion when she declares, “My beloved is mine, and I am his” (Song of Solomon 2:16). Though Solomon had many serious shortcomings in his relationships with women, Song of Solomon demonstrates his awareness of the sacredness of God’s design for marriage.