The Erotic Code of Song of Solomon: A Breakdown of Biblical Sexuality
I’ve always had a profound love for Song of Solomon—not just as a poetic text, but as one of the boldest, most sensual expressions of sacred sexuality ever written. Tucked inside the pages of the Bible is a collection of erotic metaphors so vivid, so intimate, and so affirming of female desire that it defies the purity culture and shame-based programming many of us were raised with—especially in the church.
That’s why I’m sharing this with the Marriage Heat community.
Too often, women of faith are taught that to be “godly” means to suppress, deny, or sanitize their sexual nature. But Song of Solomon tells another story—a divine one. A story where the woman speaks freely, desires boldly, and initiates intimacy. A story where erotic pleasure is not only allowed, but celebrated. And a story where the design of God is not just about sex, but about the liberation of the female body, voice, and experience.
It’s important for me to name this directly: although Song of Solomon has often been taught in modern churches as a metaphor for Christ and the Church, this is a later distortion. While early Jewish tradition did include symbolic readings, the text was originally understood as erotic poetry, celebrating sexual union within love and marriage. It wasn’t until the rise of Christian asceticism in the 3rd–4th century, particularly after the Council of Nicaea, that theologians like Augustine began to spiritualize the text and suppress its erotic literalism. This shift reflected a broader theological discomfort with the body, pleasure, and especially female sexuality—one that has deeply shaped how generations of women have been taught to see themselves, their desire, and their role in marriage. And honestly this deeply saddens and frustrates me.
Song of Solomon is not just God’s vision for sex—it’s also God’s vision for women.
So much of what is in this breakdown—especially the part where the watchmen beat the woman after she seeks her lover—mirrors how society (and the church) often punishes women for their desire. We’re taught to fear our own bodies, to perform rather than feel, to be pious instead of present. That indoctrination wounds us. It shows up in our marriages, in our bedrooms, in our relationships with our husbands and ourselves.
But Song of Solomon was never meant to shame us—it was written to free us. It’s God’s gift to teach us how to savor sex, how to explore sacred eroticism, and how to reclaim our divine design as sexual beings. I hope this helps all of your to expand your understanding of the beauty of what God has made in sex and union. Our times call us to look beyond church culture and “inner” stand the truth of who we really are from the Divine mind. Enjoy friends!!
Key Erotic Metaphors & What They Represent
1. Garden / Enclosed Garden / Orchard
“A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed.” – 4:12
“Let my beloved come into his garden and eat its choice fruits.” – 4:16
- “Garden” is a euphemism for the woman’s vulva and her sexuality.
- The metaphors of locked and sealed speak to her virginity or sacred privacy, and the invitation to “enter” is unmistakably sexual.
- “Eating its fruit” is oral sex.
- This was a common image in Egyptian love poetry as well—linking female sexuality with fertile gardens.
2. Myrrh, Frankincense, and Spices
“His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are lilies dripping with myrrh.” – 5:13
“My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with flowing myrrh on the handles of the bolt.” – 5:5
- These aromatic substances symbolize bodily fluids, arousal, and post-coital scent.
- “Dripping” with myrrh is the most sexually explicit metaphor—it directly implies physical climax or lubrication.
- Also, her hands dripping with myrrh and her fingers with flowing myrrh references semen, the handles of the bolt being his balls; suggests a hand job or stroking him during sex and him blowing his load in her hands.
3. Honey, Milk, Wine
“Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride; milk and honey are under your tongue.” – 4:11
“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—for your love is more delightful than wine.” – 1:2
- These are sensual tastes and fluids, used to describe:
- The taste of kissing—probably with a mouth full of cum/semen or shared juices (hence milk and honey)
- Oral sex
- The pleasure of her mouth and tongue
- In 4:11, “under your tongue” strongly implies French kissing or oral sex, making it one of the most erotic lines in the entire Bible.
4. Fruit: Pomegranates, Figs, Apples
“I went down to the grove of nut trees to look at the new growth in the valley, to see if the vines had budded or the pomegranates were in bloom.” – 6:11
“Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.” – 2:3
- Pomegranates often symbolize the labia or clitoris, due to their red color and seeded interior.
- Apples and figs symbolize fertility and sex; sitting in his “shade” and tasting his “fruit” suggests oral sex on him.
5. Fountain / Spring / Well
“You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.” – 4:15
- This is a poetic reference to the woman’s sexual arousal and orgasm.
- A well of flowing water streaming down, references her being wet, coming, squirting.
6. The Door / Latch / Opening
“My beloved thrust his hand through the latch-opening; my heart began to pound for him.” – 5:4
- This is an obvious penetration metaphor—the lover’s hand through the latch is about sexual entry, emotionally or physically—but suggests finger thrusting.
- The entire door sequence in chapter 5 is one of the most sexually suggestive parts of the Song.
7. Bed / Couch / Chamber / Banquet Hall
“My beloved is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies.” – 2:16
“He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.” – 2:4
- “Browsing among the lilies” can imply oral sex or leisurely physical exploration.
- The banquet hall is often interpreted as a sexual setting where indulgence and love-making occur.
8. Breasts, Neck, Thighs, Navel, and Belly
“Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.” – 4:5
“Your neck is like the tower of David…” – 4:4
“Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies. Your breasts are like two fawns…” – 7:2–3
- These verses speak to the beauty and sensuality of the female body, in a way that was unusually adoring and tender for ancient texts.
- The “navel full of wine” and “waist of wheat” are again symbols of sexual readiness and fertility.
- “Mound of wheat” has also been read as referring to the mons pubis.
In Context of the Time It Was Written:
- In ancient Near Eastern love poetry (especially Egyptian and Mesopotamian), it was common to use symbolic language—gardens, fruit, spices, livestock—to describe erotic experiences.
- Song of Solomon fits into that tradition. It was never meant to be just metaphorical or religious. It is erotic literature folks, celebrating mutual, consensual love and physical pleasure.
- What’s radical about it: the woman speaks just as much as the man, expresses desire, initiates intimacy, and is not punished for it.
Let this remind you: you are not wrong for wanting. You are not impure for being sexual. You are God’s design—a body of pleasure, a voice of longing, a vessel of sacred sensuality.
And the Song of Solomon is your proof. So as we like to say around here—stay horny.
Credit to King James’s scholars for the artful poetic translation and its inclusion as a canonical book attributed (incorrectly) to King Solomon. This is the apogee of classical erotic poetry, for those who appreciate the genre. It transcends Ovid, Sappho, Spencer, Sidney, Shakespeare. Read it in bed with your spouse. You won’t get very far.
Thank you 🙏 That was very informative. I agree with everything you wrote about women needing to embrace theirsexuality. I would add that the church often tries to suppress male sexuality as well – instead of celebrating it.
I think we should yes, be emphasizing that it is best to save sex for marriage and to be loyal after marriage. It is also God’s will that we celebrate and even indulge our sexuality within our marriage. I know you agree with that.
Again, I appreciate your post. I learned a lot!
(AKJV+) Song 3:1: "By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves: I sought him, but I found him not."
This is nothing more than masturbation. She calls him and searches for him in bed, but he doesn't hear it.
I’m not sure how you jump to this being masturbation. I’m not sure what it implies, but would like to hear your rationale behind your thoughts. I’m not trying to argue, but would like to understand.
Amen! I loved this. What a lovely exposè of this powerful and beautiful text! God is the author of sex and marriage, and He meant it to be beautiful, safe, freeing, and passionate, for both the man and the woman.
Absolutely excellent posting! For too long the accepted approach to marital sexual connections has almost been to view it as a necessary evil to participate in but not something that should be embraced too enthusiastically, or you are worldly.
As a retired minister, I taught the joy and importance of marital sexual connections as being a gift from God and should be entered into enthusiastically and often in marriage.
Thank you for the clear and accurate explanation of biblical truth.
FH, I 100% agree with you. God wants marriage to include passionate sex. It is actually Satan who wants married couples to live without enjoying a good sexual relationship with their spouse.
I like this a lot. Thank you for compiling these truths so concisely.
I love the breakdown in modern language you have given – it really accords with what I think.
Sex in all its many forms and the messiness (love juices) is wonderful.
Thank you God for this beautiful gift !
I mean no harm, but I am a church skeptic. I usually just read & pray over my reading. I literally let the Bible fill the story in. This takes time & reservation of where my conclusions might want to go. When I am stuck, or perplexed, I go to Bible dictionaries, commentaries, & other translations among other sources to find meanings.
I have found the gist of what you say to be true, in my Bible reading. However, the varied details that many people conclude on have me wanting more clarity. So, I am very interested in your sources. Knowing your sources & reading them, seeing them for myself would be exceptionally helpful. Could you, would you, give a list of your sources, from where you get your conclusions, please?
A former pastor of mine taught a class on Song of Solomon to married couples about sex. I've often wished I had copy of the lessons. He made the same connections on the metaphors.
Excellent synopsis. Modern Christians get huffy about sexuality while ignoring or embracing blatant evil within their churches.
What a great exposition of God’s poem of love! God wants us to enjoy the delicious pleasures that He has created. How we Christian get hung up on feeling that sex is in some way dirty, really is baffling. If we would just stick to Scripture we would avoid so many issues. Lol
One thing that is not a metaphor is the power of the woman's words.
Sadly, a lot of Christians were taught in adolescence that sex is "dirty", and so any discussions of sexual pleasure (especially by the wife) are often minimized. That should not be. A wife's sexual pleasure is mystifying enough for the husband, even in a good marriage, but it is totally baffling if she does not TALK about it.
In contrast, one of my favorite online videos is of a wife lovingly looking up at her husband and saying, "Mmmmmmm, rub my face with your cock." When a woman sees those words, perhaps she thinks that they are not "poetic" enough. But, a man that is trying to navigate the emotional maze of sex neither needs nor wants poetry. (If one is lost, does he need a poem or a MAP??)
That short, simple sentence speaks VOLUMES to the husband. It says, "I love you." It also says, "I have a specific sexual need, and here is how you can fulfill it." But, it goes deeper. It also says, "I want YOU — all of you — even the part (his semen) that the Mean Girls at school tole me was "icky". It isn't. I enjoy your cum so much that I want to SEE it, feel it on my face, smell it, and be able to stick my tongue out and TASTE it if I want." That soothes the man's inward feelings of rejection that are all too common (but often unspoken, lest he face even more rejection for mentioning it).
WORDS can make a lot of difference during sex. Women say that they want a man to say "three little words" (usually meaning, "I love you.") Men also want to hear "three little words", but they are, "Fuck my pussy!"
This is really great. Thank you for posting.