The
Song of Songs of Solomon, commonly referred to as
Song of Songs (Hebrew, ,
Shir ha-Shirim) or
Song of Solomon, is a book of the
Hebrew BibleThe Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
—one of the
megillotThe Five Scrolls or The Five Megillot are parts of the Ketuvim , the third major section of the Tanakh . The Five Scrolls are the Song of Songs, the Book of Ruth, the Book of Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and the Book of Esther...
(scrolls)—found in the last section of the
TanakhThe Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
, known as the
KetuvimKetuvim or Kəṯûḇîm in actual Biblical Hebrew is the third and final section of the Tanak , after Torah and Nevi'im . In English translations of the Hebrew Bible, this section is usually entitled "Writings" or "Hagiographa"...
(or "Writings"). It is also known as
Canticle of Canticles or simply
Canticles from the
VulgateThe Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
title
Canticum Canticorum (Latin, "Song of Songs"). It is known as
Āisma in the
Septuagint, which is short for
Āisma āismatōn (
GreekGreek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, ᾎσμα ᾀσμάτων, "Song of Songs").
The protagonists of Song of Songs are a woman (identified in one verse as "the
ShulamiteA Shulamite is a person from Shulem. It is the ascription given to the female protagonist in the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible.Many scholars connect the term with "Shunamite" and believe the terms are interchangeable. It is a name of a maiden or a title...
") and a man, and the poem suggests movement from
courtshipCourtship is the period in a couple's relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage, or establishment of an agreed relationship of a more enduring kind. In courtship, a couple get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement or other such agreement...
to
consummationConsummation is the initial sexual act made within a marriage.Consummation can also refer to:* Consummation , 1970 recordingSee also:* Consummation of days, event predicted in Daniel Chapter 12, verses 1-4...
. For instance, the man proclaims: "As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters." The woman answers: "As the
appleThe apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family . It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely known of the many members of genus Malus that are used by humans. Apple grow on small, deciduous trees that blossom in the spring...
tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." Additionally, the Song includes a chorus, the "daughters of Jerusalem."
In spite of the lack of explicitly religious content, Song of Songs can also be interpreted as an
allegorical representationAllegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
of the relationship of
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and
IsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, or for Christians,
GodGod is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
and the
ChurchThe Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
or
ChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
and the human soul, as husband and wife.
It is one of the shortest books in the
BibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, consisting of only 117 verses. According to
AshkenaziAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
Jewish tradition, it is read on
ShabbatShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
that falls during the intermediate days of
PassoverPassover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
. In the Sephardi community it is recited every Friday night.
Title
The name of the book ("The Song of Songs of Solomon") comes from a superscription: "The song of songs, which is Solomon's."
"Song of songs" is a
HebrewHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
grammatical construction denoting the
superlativeIn grammar, the superlative is the form of an adjective that indicates that the person or thing modified has the quality of the adjective to a degree greater than that of anything it is being compared to in a given context. English superlatives are typically formed with the suffix -est In...
; that is, the title attests to the greatness of the song, similar to "the lord of lords", "the king of kings" or "
holy of holiesThe Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the First Temple, which could be entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur...
" (used of the inner sanctuary of the Jerusalem temple).
Rabbi AkibaAkiva ben Joseph simply known as Rabbi Akiva , was a tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century . He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha...
declared, "Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that Song of Songs is holy. For the whole world is not worth the day on which Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and Song of Songs is holy of holies." (
Mishnah YadayimTohorot is the sixth order of the Mishnah . This order deals with the clean/unclean distinction and family purity. This is the longest of the orders in the Mishnah. There are 12 tractates:...
3:5). Similarly,
Martin LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
called it
das Hohelied (the high song). This is still its name in
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
,
DanishDanish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
,
SwedishSwedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and in
DutchDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
.
Authorship
Solomon as author
Some people translate the first clause of the title as "which is of Solomon", meaning that the book is authored by
SolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
. Rabbi Hiyya the Great said Solomon first wrote
Book of ProverbsThe Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...
, then Song of Songs, and afterward Ecclesiastes.
Rabbi JonathanRabbi Jonathan was a Palestinian tanna of the 2nd century and schoolfellow of R. Josiah, apart from whom he is rarely quoted. Jonathan is generally so cited without further designation; but there is ample reason for identifying him with the less frequently occurring Jonathan b. Joseph Rabbi...
said Solomon first wrote Song of Songs, then Proverbs, then Ecclesiastes. The
TalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, however, states the order of the canon, listing Proverbs first, then
EcclesiastesThe Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
, and then Song of Songs.
Solomon as audience
Others translate the first clause as "which is for Solomon", meaning that the book is dedicated to Solomon. This theory is confirmed in the text itself when the author seems to contrast himself with Solomon "Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon... My vinyard, my very own, is for myself" (8.11-12) It was common practice in ancient times for an anonymous writer seeking recognition for his work to write
eponymouslyThe eponymous author of a literary work, often a work that is meant to be prophetic or homiletic, is not really the author. An anonymous author chooses to write in the name of another. This eponymous author is not merely a pen name for the real author, but someone with a completely different identity...
in the name of someone more famous. Some read the book as contrasting the nobility of monogamous love with the debased nature of promiscuous love, and suggest that the book is actually a veiled criticism of Solomon, who, according to , had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.
The Jewish Sages themselves considered this a prophetic work that was written during the time of the Prophet Jeremiah by his colleagues (see the Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra, pages 14b-15a), but these latter prophets then attributed their result to king Solomon, just as other writings of Jewish Scripture have been written by one prophet while being attributed to another, such as the Book of Hosea, Isaiah, and others (ibid.).
God
Another approach to the authorship is that offered by
RashiShlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
, consistent with allegorical interpretations, rendering the narrator "he to whom peace belongs", i.e.: God. The Hebrew name of Solomon,
Shlomo, can also be inflected to mean the constructed form of the noun
shalomShalom is a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, and welfare and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye...
, peace, which through noun declension can be possessive. This means that the author is in fact Solomon, but he narrates the book from the perspective of God, who is conversing with the Jewish people, his allegorical and future bride.
Scholarly
Twenty first century linguistic work, including re-examining the dating of early Hebrew poetry, according to evidence of
dialectThe term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
ic variation, has been applied to the Song by a number of scholars from different traditions. Noegel and Rendsburg, for example, conclude as follows.
Other scholars have argued that some of the words used in the text are Persian, which sets the written date to the
postexilicThe Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
period. Solomon lived in the tenth century BCE which is much earlier than the postexilic period. Solomon may not have been the author based from some of the words being used.
Language
Song of Songs for the first time gives literary representation to the everyday post-exilic vernacular. It contains loan words from languages with which Hebrew had contact in post-exilic times, such as Persian, Greek, and Aramaic, and contains numerous items of vocabulary that are otherwise unknown in Biblical Hebrew but are known from Rabbinic Hebrew, and these expressions give the impression of being part of a living language and not the result of an archaic or artificial style. There are longer phrases that are typical of Rabbinic Hebrew in word order and are different from Biblical Hebrew.
Interpretation and use
Although it is commonly held that an
allegorical interpretationAllegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
justified its inclusion in the
Biblical canonA biblical canon, or canon of scripture, is a list of books considered to be authoritative as scripture by a particular religious community. The term itself was first coined by Christians, but the idea is found in Jewish sources. The internal wording of the text can also be specified, for example...
, scholarly discussion has not reached any consensus yet on Song of Songs and leaves other possibilities open.
Jewish tradition
According to Jewish tradition in the
MidrashThe Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
and the
TargumTaekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"...
, the book is an
allegoryAllegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
of God's love for the Children of Israel. In keeping with this understanding, it is read by Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews on
ShabbatShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
eve, to symbolize the love between the Jewish People and God that is also represented by
Shabbat.
Italian JewsItalian Jews can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living or with roots in Italy or in a narrower sense to mean the ancient community who use the Italian rite, as distinct from the communities dating from medieval or modern times who use the Sephardi or Ashkenazi rite.-Divisions:Italian...
read it on the eve of the first Yom Tov and Yom Tov Sheni of Passover, just before Arvit. Most traditional Jews also read the Song on
Shabbat Chol HaMoedChol HaMoed, a Hebrew phrase meaning "weekdays [of] the festival" , refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. During Chol HaMoed the usual restrictions that apply to the Biblical Jewish holidays are relaxed, but not entirely eliminated...
of
PassoverPassover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
, or on the seventh day of the holiday, when the
Song of the seaThe Song of the Sea is a poem that appears in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible, at . It is followed in verses 20 and 21 by a much shorter song sung by Miriam and the other women...
is also read.
Kabbalah
Song of Songs is one of the overtly mystical Biblical texts for the
KabbalahKabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, which gave esoteric interpretation on all the Hebrew Bible. Following the dissemination of the
ZoharThe Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
in the 13th century, Jewish mysticism took on a metaphorically anthropomorphic erotic element, and Song of Songs is an example of this. In Zoharic Kabbalah, God is represented by a system of ten sephirot emanations, each symbolizing a different attribute of God, comprising both male and female. The Shechina (indwelling Divine presence) was identified with the feminine sephira Malchut, the vessel of Kingship. This symbolizes the Jewish people, and in the body, the female form, identified with the woman in Song of Songs. Her beloved was identified with the male sephira Tiferet, the "Holy One Blessed be He", central principle in the beneficent Heavenly
flowOhr is a central Kabbalistic term in the Jewish mystical tradition. The analogy of physical light is used as a way of describing metaphysical Divine emanations...
of Divine emotion. In the body, this represents the male torso, uniting through the sephira Yesod of the male
sign of the covenantThe brit milah is a Jewish religious circumcision ceremony performed on 8-day old male infants by a mohel. The brit milah is followed by a celebratory meal .-Biblical references:...
organ of procreation. Through beneficent deeds and
Jewish observanceThe primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
, the Jewish people restore cosmic harmony in the Divine realm, healing the exile of the Shechina with God's transcendence, revealing the essential Unity of God. This elevation of the World is aroused from Above on the Sabbath, a foretaste of the redeemed purpose of Creation. The text thus became a description, depending on the aspect, of the creation of the world, the passage of
Shabbat, the covenant with Israel, and the coming of the Messianic age. "Lecha Dodi", a 16th century liturgical song with strong Kabbalistic symbolism, contains many passages, including its opening two words, taken directly from Song of Songs.
Christian tradition
Song of Songs is not quoted anywhere in the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. One possible allusion to the Song of Songs in the New Testament might be Revelation 3:20, which speaks of knocking at doors, as does Song 5:2. John 7:38, speaks of "living water," using the language for spiritual life found in places like Jeremiah 17:13, Jeremiah 2:13, and Zechariah 14:8, but the phrase is also used poetically in Song 4:15. Useful for reference purposes is that the expensive nard perfume spoken of in John 12:3 and Mark 14:3 is mentioned in Song 1:12, 4:13, 4:14.
The Song was regarded by Christian theologians either as a typological set of songs describing of the relationship of Christ and the Church or as an allegory of the soul's relationship to Christ and God, until late in the 19th century. Since that time Christian scholars have generally become more interested in the literal sense of the Song. The earliest attested Christian interpretation of the Song is found in an influential commentary by Hippolytus. This commentary covered only the first three chapters to 3:7. Hippolytus'
Commentary on the Song of Songs interprets the Song as referring to a complicated relationship between Israel, Christ and the Gentile Church. The commentary returns often to the topic of the anointing of the Holy Spirit and was originally written as a mystagogy, an instruction for new Christians. The commentary survives in two Georgian manuscripts, a Greek epitome, a Paleo-Slavonic
florilegiumIn medieval Latin a florilegium was a compilation of excerpts from other writings. The word is formed the Latin flos and legere : literally a gathering of flowers, or collection of fine extracts from the body of a larger work. It was adapted from the Greek anthologia "anthology", with the same...
, and fragments in Armenian and Syriac.
OrigenOrigen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...
interpreted the Song largely as an allegory of the soul and Christ. He differed with Hippolytus and felt that the Song should be reserved for the spiritually mature and that studying it might be harmful for the novice. In this he followed third-century Jewish interpretive traditions. His commentary—apart from a few fragments of the original Greek—survives in a Latin translation due to
Tyrannius RufinusTyrannius Rufinus or Rufinus of Aquileia was a monk, historian, and theologian. He is most known as a translator of Greek patristic material into Latin—especially the work of Origen.-Life:...
. A celebrated medieval series of commentaries was that composed by the Cistercians
Bernard of ClairvauxBernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
, Gilbert of Hoilandia, and
John of FordJohn of Ford was the prior of the Cistercian monastery of Forde, then from 1186 abbot of its daughter house of Bindon, and between 1191 and 1214 the abbot of Forde. He was a friend and ally of King John during the papal interdict, receiving remuneration from the king...
over the course of several decades, each continuing the work of the previous. Other prominent and accessible traditional commentaries are those of Apponius and Nilus of Ancyra (
Sources ChrétiennesSources Chrétiennes is a bilingual collection of patristic texts founded in Lyon in 1942 by the Jesuits Jean Daniélou, Claude Mondésert, and Henri de Lubac....
) and
Gregory of NyssaSt. Gregory of Nyssa was a Christian bishop and saint. He was a younger brother of Basil the Great and a good friend of Gregory of Nazianzus. His significance has long been recognized in the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic branches of Christianity...
and
Rupert of DeutzRupert of Deutz was an influential Benedictine theologian, exegete and writer on liturgical and musical topics.He was from Liège, and late in life became abbot of Deutz Abbey...
(
Fontes ChristianiFontes Christiani is a widely-cited German bilingual collection of patristic and medieval Latin works with modern German translations. Published initially by Herder, a long-established German theological publisher beginning in 1988, it is now published by the Belgian company Brepols, a major...
).
In 1561 Luis de León, a Spanish
lyricLyric poetry is a genre of poetry that expresses personal and emotional feelings. In the ancient world, lyric poems were those which were sung to the lyre. Lyric poems do not have to rhyme, and today do not need to be set to music or a beat...
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
and an Augustinian friar, translated the Song of Songs into Spanish for his cousin, Isabel Osorio, a nun who could not read the Latin text, and wrote an accompanying commentary. This work became highly popular among his peers. However, at this time in Spain, translation of biblical texts into Spanish was not viewed favorably, and the translation of the Song of Songs was one of the main charges of supposed
heresyHeresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
brought against him when in 1572 he was imprisoned in Valladolid - though released after four years with an admonition.
Pope John Paul IIBlessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
in his five-year catechesis on the
Theology of the BodyTheology of the Body is the topic of a series of 129 lectures given by Pope John Paul II during his Wednesday audiences in the Pope Paul VI Hall between September 1979 and November 1984. It was the first major teaching of his pontificate...
dedicates a major portion of the section on marriage to a study of Song of Songs. The Pope speaks of the way in which the lovers in the Song provide a true and liberating vision of the love that results when men and women allow the divine fire of
agape to penetrate and permeate
eros.
Pope Benedict XVIBenedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...
's encyclical
Deus Caritas EstDeus Caritas Est is a 2006 encyclical—the first written by Pope Benedict XVI, in large part derived from writings by his late predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Its subject is love, as seen through a Christian perspective, and God's place within all love...
(God is Love) of 2006 refers to Song of Songs in both its literal and allegorical meaning, stating that erotic love (
eros) and self-donating love (
agape) is shown there as the two halves of true love, which is both giving and receiving.
Messianic interpretation
It has been suggested that the book is a
messianicA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
text, in that the lover can be interpreted as the Messiah. It could refer to the Messiah because it often speaks of the Davidic king Solomon.
NathanNathan the Prophet was a court prophet who lived in the time of King David and Queen Bathsheba. He came to David to reprimand him over his committing adultery with Bathsheba while she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite whose death the King had also arranged to hide his previous transgression.His...
's prophecy in showed that the promised Messiah would issue from the progeny of David. Each Davidic king was viewed as a potential Messiah, so the Song's speaking of the Temple-builder Solomon would bring to readers’ minds their Messianic hopes. When the Song references "mighty men" , it brings to mind David and his mighty men . Describing the lover as "ruddy" again brings to mind David (c.f. ). The Aramaic Jewish targums also interpreted the lover as the awaited Messiah. All these references to kingship, to shepherding, to David, and to Solomon bring to mind the expected Messiah.
In the
New TestamentThe New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
,
JesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
later claimed his identity as Messiah when he presented himself as greater than Solomon because, as the builder of the Temple, Solomon was an "obvious messianic model."
The king's garden (for example ) can be viewed in the light of the
Garden of EdenThe Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
, bringing to mind the Messiah who was expected to restore Israel to an Edenic state. The lovers are portrayed as having overcome the alienation produced by the Fall. The state of woman whose "desire shall be for your husband" has even been reversed: "his desire is for me" .
Other considerations
Scholars have noted that Song of Songs shows similarities of various kinds with other
Ancient Near EastThe ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia , ancient Egypt, ancient Iran The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia...
ern love poetry in general, but particularly some Sumerian erotic passages, and the Ramesside Egyptian love poetry. Discussion of similarities with
TamilTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
love poetry was also of interest in scholastic discussion in the late 20th century.
Feminist scholars of biblical literature have offered a range of different responses to the Song.
The feminist companion to the Bible series, edited by Athalya Brenner, has two volumes (1993, 2001) devoted to the Song, the first of which was actually the first volume of the whole series. Phyllis Trible, however, published "
Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation" in 1973, offering a reading of the Song with a positive representation of sexuality and egalitarian gender relations, which was widely discussed, notably (and favourably) in Marvin Pope's major commentary for the
Anchor BibleThe Anchor Bible project, consisting of a Commentary Series, Bible Dictionary, and Reference Library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture begun in 1956, when individual volumes in the commentary series began production...
. Cheryl Exum, whose work on the Song is also widely known and highly regarded, considers, however, that "The subjectivity conferred upon the woman by the poet inevitably reflects a patriarchal worldview; how could it not?".
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest denomination in the
Latter Day Saint movementThe Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
, does not recognize the book as inspired, although it is included in the church's
canonThe Standard Works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are the four books that currently constitute its open scriptural canon.* The Holy Bible * The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ...
and printed in
church-published copies of the BibleThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints publishes editions of the Bible in English and Spanish that it encourages its members to use. The text of the LDS Church's English-language Bible is the Authorized King James Version and the church's Spanish-language Bible is a revised Reina-Valera...
.
See also
- 4Q106
4Q106 is one large and three small fragments from three columns of a scroll containing portions of the Song of Songs in Hebrew. It is one of three scrolls found in Cave 4 at Qumran that have been reconstructed as copies of the Song of Songs...
, 4Q1074Q107 is a fragment of the Song of Songs in Hebrew found in Cave 4 at Qumran in the West Bank and which comprises part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. From the palaeography on the fragment it has been identified as being early-Herodian, i.e. c.30-31 BCE. The scribe responsible for 4Q107 did not write...
, 4Q1084Q108 is a fragment containing a portion of the Song of Songs in Hebrew. Fragments from three such scrolls were found in Cave 4 at Qumran...
, 6Q66Q6 is a small portion of a scroll from Cave 6 at Qumran, containing Song of Songs 1:1-7 in Hebrew. Together with three scroll portions found in Cave 4, they comprise the total witness to the Song from the Dead Sea Scrolls...
(portions of Song in Dead Sea ScrollsThe Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea, from which they derive their name...
)
- Hortus conclusus
Hortus conclusus is a Latin term, meaning literally "enclosed garden". "The word 'garden' is at root the same as the word 'yard'. It means an enclosure", observed Derek Clifford, at the outset of a series of essays on garden design, in which he skirted the conventions of the hortus conclusus...
- Rose of Sharon
Rose of Sharon is a common name that applies to several different species of flowering plants that are highly valued throughout the world. The name's colloquial application has been used as an example of the lack of precision of common names, which potentially causes confusion...
External links
JewishJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
translations and commentary:
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
translations and commentary:
Literature
- Garrett, Duane A. Song of Songs. Word Biblical Commentary 23B. Nashville: Nelson, 2004.
- Linafelt, Tod. "Biblical Love Poetry (...and God)". Journal of the American Academy of Religion 70 (2) 2002.
- Pope, Marvin H. Song of Songs: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Bible
The Anchor Bible project, consisting of a Commentary Series, Bible Dictionary, and Reference Library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture begun in 1956, when individual volumes in the commentary series began production...
7C. 2 volumes. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1977.
- Theo Kobusch, Metaphysik, C. Metaphysik als Exegese des Hohenliedes, in Der Neue Pauly, Band 15, La-Ot, Stuttgart Weimar 2001.
- Ariel Bloch and Chana Bloch
Chana Bloch is an American poet, translator, and scholar. She is a professor emerita of English at Mills College in Oakland, California.-Life and work:...
, translators. The Song of Songs: A New Translation, With an Introduction and Commentary. Afterword by Robert AlterRobert Bernard Alter is an American professor of Hebrew language and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967.-Biography:...
, Random HouseRandom House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, 1995, ISBN 978-0520213302.
- Hudson Taylor
James Hudson Taylor , was a British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and founder of the China Inland Mission . Taylor spent 51 years in China...
, Union and Communion or Thoughts on the Song of Solomon, Dodo Press 2009 et.alii pdf download
Recording
Canticum Canticorum. Eloge De L'amour. La Cantique Des Cantiques à la Renaissance,
Capilla FlamencaCapilla Flamenca is a vocal and instrumental early music consort based in Leuven, Belgium. The group specialises in 14th to 16th Century music from Flanders and takes its name from the choir of the court chapel of Emperor Charles V...
, 2004 (Eufoda 1359).