What is the meaning of song of songs 8:6-7? ‘Love is as strong as death and its jealousy unyielding as the grave’; what does this mean?
Song of Songs 8:6 is talking about love. Love has aspects that King Solomon wants us to know. First, we are told love is as strong as death.
As we know, the greatest enemy of man is death. King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes that a man is powerless in the day of his death. Whether someone was rich or poor, death takes him.
The power of love is equaled to the power of death. When love finds you, just as death, you are powerless before it. This is true from the case of Jesus; He loved us and even though we were sinners and we did evil against Him, He still loved us.
In the end, not even death could stop Him from loving us. After we crucified Him, He resurrected and continued loving us. Jesus proved that love is as strong as death and even more.
‘Its jealousy unyielding as the grave’. This describes the effect of love. Where there is love, there is an equal measure of Jealousy. Because Jesus loved us so much, it made the devil jealous.
In response, the devil entices us to sin against God hoping that God would give up His love for us. The same happens with love in relationships; when two people are in love, it draws jealously among others.
Love itself is jealous. The more you love someone, the more you will want to have that person for yourself.
This scripture lets us know the consequences of love and its power. With this knowledge, you should not be surprised when close friends become jealous of you after you find love. You should also not be surprised when love draws you away from those you spent time with initially.
Jesus knew this and that is why He warned us that the world will hate us because of Him. The more you love Jesus, the more the world hates you. But we are called to defend our love for Jesus.