How to read the Song of Songs

The Song of Songs is perhaps one of the least explored books of the Old Testament. After all, when
was the last time you heard a sermon on it!
There isn’t anything quite like the Song of Songs elsewhere in scripture. It is a love poem
celebrating the love between a woman and a man and has a lot to teach us on desire and delight.
However, it is also part of wisdom literature where God provides divine perspective concerning
life and so in the Song of Songs we have this perspective on love.
Over the four Tuesday evenings this November Iain Hepburn (iain@stdevenicks.org) will lead us
through the book, as we look at the importance of the Song of Songs as Wisdom material and
explore the seven scenes that make up the book:
5 November Wisdom and the Song of Songs
12 November Scenes 1-2: The harem
19 November Scenes 3-5: Dreaming of what could be
26 November Scenes 6-7: Home at last
Come and join us as Iain unpacks a portion of scripture that is often overlooked.
Dr Iain Hepburn is the Lay Parish worker at St Devenick’s church in Bieldside. He is also an Old
Testament scholar with an extensive background in biblical studies. Since gaining his PhD, Iain
has specialised in biblical languages, allowing him to become a dynamic and motivational
speaker in this field. He has lectured at numerous institutions and collaborated with various
churches and enjoys the opportunity to bring the Old Testament to life in fresh ways. Iain is also
the author of the two-volume book 50 Hebrew Words, which has been praised for its insightful
exploration of the Hebrew language. He previously led two seminar series “An Introduction to Old
Testament” and “The Tabernacle” at St. Devenick’s.