I adopt in this commentary. It cuts the Gordian knot and is the approach that in my opinion provides the best interpretative framework. I believe that, when he wrote, the author had in mind both a natural and a spiritual understanding, and that those who originally received it as Scripture understood it both in terms of human love and intimacy and as a portrait of the loving relationship between God and his people. Raewynne Whiteley puts it like this: ‘Song of Songs could be understood as a superb