Explained in lectures probably as early as 1526, in print dated 1538.
Newly translated from Latin.
Preface by D. Martin Luther on the Song of Songs.
About this song of King Solomon, many commentators have given various, inappropriate and strange explanations. But in order to get the most simple and correct meaning of this book, I consider it to be a song in which Solomon praises God and thanks Him that his kingdom and reign are ordered and confirmed by God, and prays for the preservation and expansion of this kingdom of his, and at the same time comforts the inhabitants and citizens of this kingdom that they should be of good courage in trials and adversities and trust in God, who always protects and saves his own who cry out to him 2c. Just as Moses wrote his song in Exodus 15:1 ff. about the glorious work of God that took place in the Red Sea at that time, and all the songs that are found in the Holy Scriptures, so did Moses write his song about the glorious work of God that took place in the Red Sea at that time, and all the songs that are found in the Holy Scriptures.
The same is true of the songs of Deborah (Judges 5:2 ff.) and Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1 ff.) and most of the others, as well as of the majority of the Psalms, with the exception of those that contain prophecies about Christ. Solomon undoubtedly wrote this song about his kingdom and his reign, which he administered through the goodness of God in the most beautiful and pleasant peace and tranquility, as will be evident from the text itself.
Furthermore, since any kingdom, principality, or regiment that has the Word and the right worship of God must suffer much adversity, that is, be a laughingstock and an abomination to the whole world, be in the midst of enemies, and expect death every hour like a sheep destined for the slaughter, such a kingdom, principality, or regiment is justly called a kingdom.
*At the repeated request of D. Johann Briesmanu (Brismann), preacher in Königsberg, Veit Dietrich published in 1538 the short notes which he had made for his own use at the time of Luther's lectures on this book. We believe, as does Köstlin (M. Luther, Vol. II, p. 156), that these lectures should be placed in the year 1526, because Luther states in his introduction that the Song of Songs actually belongs together with Saloinonis; therefore, Luther will have moved on to the latter book immediately after completing his lectures on it. In a letter that Veit Dietrich wrote to Briesmann on August I, 1538, he apologizes for the slow fulfillment of the promise to publish the Song of Songs, which he had already made to him several years ago, and sends him a copy together with the letter. This letter is dated from Nuremberg, and we see from it that Luther did not know about the publication. Köstlin remarks: "Only the circumstance that we know of no other Old Testament lecture by Luther for the years 1530 and 31 could be cited for the fact that it was to be published here. Also the sooxns chosen in this interpretation, which is completely different from Luther's later conception - for here God is the bridegroom, his people Israel the bride, while later he places Christ as the bridegroom, the church as the bride - points to a significantly earlier time; likewise the translation of the biblical text, which, deviating from our Bible, often closely follows the Vulgate. The first single edition appeared (as Walch and the Erlangen edition cite it) without indication of place and printer under this title: In eantioa ountieornin brovis, sock oärnoänrn äilneiäa enarrutio v. HIartiui Imtüsri. 1538 in octavo. Under the same title, an edition was published in 1539 at Wittenberg by Johannes Luft, about which Walch notes: "In Herm. von der Hardt antosrnpdu I,ntBoi-i, tom. I, p. 378 and Joh. Christoph Olearius, Verzeichniß der antoAraxUn Imtdsri, x. 41, a Wittenberg edition of 1539 is cited^ which is the one used here. Whether it is the reprint of 1538 or a new edition, I cannot say, since one did not have that at hand. In the meantime, so much is certain, that this interpretation came to light for the first time in 1538." In addition, our writing was published in 1543 at Bafel together with Luther's Commentary on the Prophet Micah. In the collective editions this writing is found in Latin in the Wittenberg (1552), tom. IV, toi. 49; in the Jena (1570), tom. IV, toi. 268 and in the Erlangen, oxoZstiou oxsra, tom. XXI, p. 267. German according to Greiff's translation in the Leipzig edition, vol. VII, p. 1 and in Walch. In the previous volume, we got to know Greifs as a translator in the oporutionss in psLlmos, and therefore give a new translation according to the Erlangen edition, which has reprinted the Lufts edition of 1539, comparing the Wittenberg and Jena editions.
This song can rightfully make Solomon's regiment an example, as well as praise God in the same way, boast in God, rejoice, and admire and praise His divine mercy and power with which He protects His own against the devil's temptations and the tyranny of the world. For just as we use the Psalms of David and the writings of the prophets as examples, even though we are not David nor the prophets; but since we have the same and common goods with them, that is, the same word, the same spirit, the same faith, the same blessedness; since we endure the same dangers and tribulations for the sake of the word of God, so we also rightly claim their words and sayings for ourselves, praising and singing as they praised and sang: so may any regiment in which the church is, and any godly prince, use this Song of Solomon as if it were written with reference to his territory or to his regiment.
And in this way, this Song of Songs, which Solomon sang only of his regiment, becomes a kind of general song for all communities (politiis) that are a people of God, that is, that have the Word of God and hold it in all honor and acknowledge it, and in truth believe that the power of the authorities is instituted and decreed by God, through which God preserves peace, justice and discipline, punishes the guilty, protects the innocent rc. For these great benefits they praise and glorify God with thanksgiving. Then godly authorities and regiments do not place any hope or trust in their treasures, power, wisdom and other human help, which is neither firm nor lasting, but comfort, admonish and encourage themselves to take refuge in God in all tribulations and dangers and trust in Him as the true and only helper and savior who never abandons His people who suffer persecution because of His name and word. For it is certain that the people who practice godliness and love the Word are subject to many evils with which they are afflicted by the devil and the world.
And therefore this song is called the Song of Songs, because it deals with the highest and greatest things, namely with the authority decreed by God, or with the people of God, not with any history concerning only individuals (privata), as other songs in the Holy Scriptures do, but with some whole and lasting kingdom or people, in which God continually performs many and tremendously great miracles and shows His power by preserving and protecting it against all attempts of the devil and the world. Moreover, he does not sing of these great things in ordinary words that are used by people in common life, but with magnificent and pictorial words he sets his things in the light and adorns them, so that the common people, when they hear them, understand that something quite different is being spoken of here. For this is what kings and princes are wont to do: they devise and sing love poems, which the common people receive as if they were sung about a bride or a friend, while through them they depict the condition of their regiment and their people, as the "Theuerdank" did, who adds the bride "Ehrenreich" to Maximilian; or when they speak of hunts, they want to indicate by this speech that the enemy has been destroyed and put to flight, and that they have achieved victory, as if they said: the boar is pierced, the wild beast is captured, and the like.
Solomon did it in the same way in this song of his. He uses splendid words and those that befit such a great king in describing his affairs: He makes God his bridegroom and the people his bride; and thus he sings how much God loves this people, how many and how great benefits he bestows upon them and showers them with them, yes, embraces and cherishes them with such kindness and friendliness as no bridegroom has ever embraced and cherished his bride. Therefore he begins and speaks in the person of the whole people as the bride of God: "He kisses me." 1)
1) This last sentence is inserted in the Wittenberg and Jena editions after the end of the first paragraph of the interpretation of the first chapter; here it is missing.