The Song of Solomon 

“I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk. Eat, friends; Drink and imbibe deeply, O lovers," (Songs of Solomon 5:1 NASB1995).

One peculiar aspect of the verse is Solomon says his bride is his "sister", but is this literal? We see Solomon call his bride this on a few occasions (Songs of Solomon 4:9), but the actual meaning is much more tame. Solomon was not marrying his actual sister; rather, the term "sister" and "brother" acted as terms of endearment in many cultures. This is similar to how a man may say to his wife, "Baby, you are amazing". He is not literally calling his wife a baby; rather, he is using a term of endearment. 

The term "sister" or "brother" was used to emphasize the closeness of the two, as if like siblings. As Douglas J. Brewer notes: "the term "sister" was often used for "wife," perhaps an indication of the strength of the bond between spouses," (Brewer).

Work Cited:

The University of Chicago Library. "The Fathom Archive." The University of Chicago Library Digital Collections, https://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/2/21701778/. Accessed 4 June 2024.

 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Strangely, some followers of Islam will claim that this verse speaks about Muhammed(the prophet of Islam). In the actual Hebrew, the word for "lovely" is מַחֲּמַדִּ֑ים‪‬‪‬ (ma·ḥă·mad·dîm) which people will claim is in reference to the name Muhammed. I'm sure you can see the strangeness of this claim. Especially since the word is masculine plural, are they insulating there is more than one Muhammed?