Difference between revisions of "Song of Solomon" - New World Encyclopedia

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In the millennia since the text's inclusion in the biblical canon, interpretations have run the gamut from the assumption that the entire text follows a single, coherent narrative<ref>See, for example, the account in the [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03302a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia], which states that "there is a continually progressive action that represents the development of the warm friendship and affection of the pair, then the bridal union and the married life of the royal couple. The bride, however, is exhibited as a simple shepherdess, consequently, when the king takes her, she has to undergo a training for the position of queen; in the course of this training occur various trials and sorrows." It is notable that this approach also assumes that the Lover (the unnamed male character in the text) is, in fact, [[King Solomon]].</ref> to the suggestion that the book is merely a collection of utterly discrete, unconnected (romantic/erotic) poems that were edited together at a later date.<ref>See, for example, Franz Landsberger, "Poetic Units within the Song of Songs," ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', Vol. 73(4), (December 1954), pp. 203-216. In his exposition, he notes that the appearance of textual unity "can be explained by a phenomenon which we shall have occasion to meet again and again in the course of our investigation. It is the phenomenon that, in this Song of Songs, the verses have often been joined to one another by virtue of similarity of words or motives" (204). Further, he argues that "the number of poems" compiled together to create the text is "far, far greater than 25" (215-216).</ref> The textual-critical scholarship underlying the latter assertion generally divides the book into various sections based upon literary devices, supposed inconsistencies or changes of authorial voice.<ref>For an outline of many of these arguments, see Murphy, 62-65.</ref> While it is undeniable that the text changes tones and narrative voice, and that it often makes self-referential allusions to previous sections, it is unknowable whether this results from a single, virtuosic poetic composition<ref>Landy (1987) argues for the poetic (though not narrative) unity of the text.</ref> or later redaction.<ref>Murphy notes that this debate cannot be resolves and must remain "an open question" (62).</ref>
 
In the millennia since the text's inclusion in the biblical canon, interpretations have run the gamut from the assumption that the entire text follows a single, coherent narrative<ref>See, for example, the account in the [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03302a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia], which states that "there is a continually progressive action that represents the development of the warm friendship and affection of the pair, then the bridal union and the married life of the royal couple. The bride, however, is exhibited as a simple shepherdess, consequently, when the king takes her, she has to undergo a training for the position of queen; in the course of this training occur various trials and sorrows." It is notable that this approach also assumes that the Lover (the unnamed male character in the text) is, in fact, [[King Solomon]].</ref> to the suggestion that the book is merely a collection of utterly discrete, unconnected (romantic/erotic) poems that were edited together at a later date.<ref>See, for example, Franz Landsberger, "Poetic Units within the Song of Songs," ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', Vol. 73(4), (December 1954), pp. 203-216. In his exposition, he notes that the appearance of textual unity "can be explained by a phenomenon which we shall have occasion to meet again and again in the course of our investigation. It is the phenomenon that, in this Song of Songs, the verses have often been joined to one another by virtue of similarity of words or motives" (204). Further, he argues that "the number of poems" compiled together to create the text is "far, far greater than 25" (215-216).</ref> The textual-critical scholarship underlying the latter assertion generally divides the book into various sections based upon literary devices, supposed inconsistencies or changes of authorial voice.<ref>For an outline of many of these arguments, see Murphy, 62-65.</ref> While it is undeniable that the text changes tones and narrative voice, and that it often makes self-referential allusions to previous sections, it is unknowable whether this results from a single, virtuosic poetic composition<ref>Landy (1987) argues for the poetic (though not narrative) unity of the text.</ref> or later redaction.<ref>Murphy notes that this debate cannot be resolves and must remain "an open question" (62).</ref>
  
−
Despite this, it is possible to note several discrete episodes within the text (without drawing any untenable conclusions from the existence of such "plot" elements).  
+
Despite this unresolvable enigma, it is possible to enumerate several discrete episodes within the text (without drawing any untenable conclusions from the existence of such "plot" elements):<ref>This division is based upon Murphy (1990) and Weems (1994).</ref>
 +
* 1:1 - the attribution of the text to King Solomon (often assumed to be a later addition)<ref>Entitled "Superscription" in both Murphy and Weems.</ref>
 +
* 1:2&ndash;1:6 - the woman speaks wistfully to her assembled companions about her absent lover
 +
* 1:7&ndash;2:7 - the two lovers speak, praising each other's virtues with metaphors and similes. "The unit concludes with her description of their embrace and an adjuration to the Daughters of Jerusalem [her female companions] (which becomes a refrain; cf. 8:3-4 and also 3:5 and 5:8)."<ref>Murphy, 65.</ref>
 +
::Strengthen me with raisins,
 +
:::refresh me with apples,
 +
:::for I am faint with love.
 +
:&nbsp;
 +
::His left arm is under my head,
 +
:::and his right arm embraces me.
 +
:&nbsp;
 +
::Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
 +
:::by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
 +
:::Do not arouse or awaken love
 +
:::until it so desires (NIV 2:5-2:7).
 +
* 2:8&nbsp;2:17 - the woman recalls her lover's visit, and the tender words that they shared<ref>Weems notes the extensive use of possessive particles, both in this section and in the text as a whole, and suggests that they may indicate an attempt to explicitly define and defend the union of the couple. From this, she opines that the couple may have been of disparate classes or races, such that the general public would have disapproved of their relationship (393).</ref>
 +
 
  
 
Landy's contention —> central image (garden), plus culmination (final conclusions)
 
Landy's contention —> central image (garden), plus culmination (final conclusions)

Revision as of 04:06, 18 June 2007

Books of the

Hebrew Bible

The Song of Solomon or Song of Songs (Hebrew title שיר השירים, Shir ha-Shirim) is a book of the Hebrew Bible—Tanakh or Old Testament—one of the five megillot. It is also sometimes called by its title in the Vulgate, Canticum Canticorum, the "Canticle of Canticles." The title is later than the text [1]. The book consists of a cycle of poems about erotic love, largely in the form of a dialogue between a bridegroom and a bride.

Text

Title

The name of the book is derived from the first verse of the text, "Solomon's Song of Songs" (1:1, NIV) or "The song of songs, which is Solomon's" (1:1, KJV)[1] ("אשִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים, אֲשֶׁר לִשְׁלֹמֹה" in the original Hebrew).[2] For a book that has been at the center of as much controversy as the Song has, it is perhaps somewhat fitting that even the title has been subject to multiple, conflicting interpretations.

On one hand, the title can be understood by approaching it linguistically. Since biblical Hebrew, as a language, lacks superlatives, the same function is performed using a repetitive phrasing (i.e. the "x" of "x")—a pattern that is evidenced in phrases such as "king of kings (cf. Ez. 26:7, Dan. 2:37, Ezra 7:12) and "lord of lords" (cf. Deut. 10:17, Ps. 136:3).[3] As such, the title can be seen as a testament to the ultimacy of the text as a poetic document. This is the understanding conveyed by the title "Song of Songs" (or, more archaically, "Canticle of Canticles"). On the other, some sources proceed on the assumption that this initial phrase ascribes the authorship of the text to the King Solomon described in the biblical record (an assumption that is discussed below. [4] In those editions of the Christian bible that accept this interpretation, the text is known as the "Song of Solomon."

Place in the Canon

The Song of Songs is one of the Five Scrolls (Hebrew: megillot) of the Hebrew Bible (/ Christian Old Testament), the others being the Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes. This compendium, likely following the format of the five books of Torah and the Psalter,[5] is often thought to be the repository of much of the Bible's wisdom literature. This genre, concerned with the exigencies of daily life, consists of meditations upon the existential issues brought up by practical philosophy. In this way, just as the author of Ecclesiastes struggles with the possibility of existential meaninglessness,[6] so too does the author of the Song contemplate the possibility of love as an avenue to Ultimate meaning (though he/she does so with some ambivalence).[7]

Of course, the five books are also grouped together due to a similarity in their application, as all five texts are utilized throughout the Jewish ecclesiastical year as part of various worship services. In this context, the Song is often read from at one of the Passover services.[8]

Given the text's contents, its inclusion in the canon of scripture has often been disputed. See below for a discussion of the text's canonicity.

Structure and Contents

Organization and "Plot"

Just as the the Song's place in scripture has been a tendentious issue, so too is the (seemingly) simpler discussion of its overall structure and organization. At an even more basic level, scholars are divided on whether the text even has an overarching "plot" or narrative underlying its composition.

In the millennia since the text's inclusion in the biblical canon, interpretations have run the gamut from the assumption that the entire text follows a single, coherent narrative[9] to the suggestion that the book is merely a collection of utterly discrete, unconnected (romantic/erotic) poems that were edited together at a later date.[10] The textual-critical scholarship underlying the latter assertion generally divides the book into various sections based upon literary devices, supposed inconsistencies or changes of authorial voice.[11] While it is undeniable that the text changes tones and narrative voice, and that it often makes self-referential allusions to previous sections, it is unknowable whether this results from a single, virtuosic poetic composition[12] or later redaction.[13]

Despite this unresolvable enigma, it is possible to enumerate several discrete episodes within the text (without drawing any untenable conclusions from the existence of such "plot" elements):[14]

  • 1:1 - the attribution of the text to King Solomon (often assumed to be a later addition)[15]
  • 1:2–1:6 - the woman speaks wistfully to her assembled companions about her absent lover
  • 1:7–2:7 - the two lovers speak, praising each other's virtues with metaphors and similes. "The unit concludes with her description of their embrace and an adjuration to the Daughters of Jerusalem [her female companions] (which becomes a refrain; cf. 8:3-4 and also 3:5 and 5:8)."[16]
Strengthen me with raisins,
refresh me with apples,
for I am faint with love.
 
His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
 
Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
until it so desires (NIV 2:5-2:7).
  • 2:8 2:17 - the woman recalls her lover's visit, and the tender words that they shared[17]


Landy's contention —> central image (garden), plus culmination (final conclusions)

Characters

The text, read without allegory as a celebration of sexual love, appears to alternate between addressing a male object of affection and a female one. Some scholars suggest that the poems may be a series of antiphonal remarks and responses between a male and female pair, possibly created by one author rather than reflecting a genuine series of exchanged poems. Other scholars suggest that it is a collection of originally more independent poetry.

The majority of scholars who believe that Solomon was the author of the work hold that the woman addressed in the song is his wife Pharaoh's daughter who is first mentioned at 1 Kings 3:1. One of the points cited for this is the passage at Song 1:9 that states "I have compared thee, O my love, to a steed in Pharaoh's chariots." At Song 1:5 she is reported to say "I am black" and at Song 4:8-12 the woman is described as "my bride".

<parochialism>

Poetic and Literary Devices

While the nature and function of the Song as a religious document remain controversial, it is undeniable that it is, first and foremost, an inspiring and moving example of poetic art. Through its use of various poetic and literary devices, it manages to create a vivid and compelling world, one that is inhabited by two (unnamed) characters that readers are invited to project themselves onto. An intriguing element of this text as poetry is that, in spite of the efforts of various scholars and commentators over the centuries, it simply does not require a single discrete interpretation. As such, any ambiguities, double meanings or circular references could have been intentional elements of the poet's overall purpose in composing the text.

Symbolism

-Garden- -Family- -Woman as Land- <comment on circularity of symbolism>

Sensory Imagery

Authorial Voice

Alliteration

Context

Authorship

Some people translate the second clause of the title as "which is of Solomon," meaning that the book is authored by Solomon. According to Jewish tradition, Solomon wrote three Biblical books, corresponding to three states in a man's life: Song of Songs, which expresses the lustful vigor of youth; Proverbs, which expresses the wisdom of maturity; and Ecclesiastes, which expresses the cynicism of old age. Others translate the second clause as "which is for Solomon," meaning that the book is dedicated to Solomon. It was common practice in ancient times for an anonymous writer seeking recognition for his work to write eponymously 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 is said to have had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.

Canonicity

Rabbi Akiba declared, "Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs is holy. For the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and the Song of Songs is holy of holies. (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5). Similarly, Martin Luther called it "das Hohelied," meaning, "the high song."

Interpretations and Exegesis

Although the book never mentions God by name, an allegorical interpretation justified its inclusion in the Biblical canon.[citation needed] According to Jewish tradition in the Midrash and the Targum, it is an allegory of God's love for the Children of Israel.

<rework intro> A more traditional approach to the authorship such as that offered by Rashi [2], which is consistent with allegorical interpretations, renders 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 shalom, peace, which through noun declension can be possessive [3]. 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 birde.


In Christian tradition that began with Origen, it is allegory for the relationship of Christ and the Church or Christ and the individual believer (see the Sermons on the Song of Songs by Bernard of Clairvaux). This type of allegorical interpretation was applied later to even passing details in parables of Jesus. It is also heavily used in Sufi poetry.

Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) of 2006 refers to the 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.

The Song of Solomon is not quoted by New Testament writers, but is possibly alluded to on a number of occasions.

(Compare Ps. 45; Isa. 54:4-6; 62:4, 5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 20; Ezek. 16; Hos. 2:16, 19, 20. Compare also Matt. 9:15; John 3:29; Eph. 5:23, 27, 29; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 9; 22:17.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, does not recognize the Song of Solomon as authoritative [4], although it is included in the Church's canon and printed in Church-published copies of the Bible.

Inter-cultural parallels

Egyptian love poetry

Uses of the Text

Historical uses - profane (bawdy) poem - weddings?

In keeping with this understanding, it is read by Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews on Sabbath eve, to symbolize the love between the Jewish People and God that is also represented by Sabbath. Most traditional Jews also read the book on the Sabbath of Chol HaMoed of Passover, or on the seventh day of the holiday, when the Song of the Sea is also read.

Notes

  1. ↑ All biblical citations are from biblegateway.com, which hosts over fifty different versions of the Bible (including twenty different English-language translations). Retrieved June 17, 2007.
  2. ↑ Copied from the online Hebrew/English version available at Mechon-Mamre.com. Note that this line is written right-to-left, in following Hebrew typographic conventions. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
  3. ↑ Bandstra, 444.
  4. ↑ Weems, 365.
  5. ↑ Bandstra, 459.
  6. ↑ Landy, 318.
  7. ↑ ibid. See also: Murphy, 99.
  8. ↑ See Isidore Singer and Ludwig Blau, The Five Megillot - Late Use in Liturgy, The Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 17, 2007. See also: Bandstra, 459.
  9. ↑ See, for example, the account in the Catholic Encyclopedia, which states that "there is a continually progressive action that represents the development of the warm friendship and affection of the pair, then the bridal union and the married life of the royal couple. The bride, however, is exhibited as a simple shepherdess, consequently, when the king takes her, she has to undergo a training for the position of queen; in the course of this training occur various trials and sorrows." It is notable that this approach also assumes that the Lover (the unnamed male character in the text) is, in fact, King Solomon.
  10. ↑ See, for example, Franz Landsberger, "Poetic Units within the Song of Songs," Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 73(4), (December 1954), pp. 203-216. In his exposition, he notes that the appearance of textual unity "can be explained by a phenomenon which we shall have occasion to meet again and again in the course of our investigation. It is the phenomenon that, in this Song of Songs, the verses have often been joined to one another by virtue of similarity of words or motives" (204). Further, he argues that "the number of poems" compiled together to create the text is "far, far greater than 25" (215-216).
  11. ↑ For an outline of many of these arguments, see Murphy, 62-65.
  12. ↑ Landy (1987) argues for the poetic (though not narrative) unity of the text.
  13. ↑ Murphy notes that this debate cannot be resolves and must remain "an open question" (62).
  14. ↑ This division is based upon Murphy (1990) and Weems (1994).
  15. ↑ Entitled "Superscription" in both Murphy and Weems.
  16. ↑ Murphy, 65.
  17. ↑ Weems notes the extensive use of possessive particles, both in this section and in the text as a whole, and suggests that they may indicate an attempt to explicitly define and defend the union of the couple. From this, she opines that the couple may have been of disparate classes or races, such that the general public would have disapproved of their relationship (393).

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Bandstra, Barry L. Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Second Edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999. ISBN 0534527272.
  • Fox, Michael V. The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985. ISBN 0299100901.
  • Gietmann, G. "The Canticle of Canticles" in The Catholic Encyclopedia. Volume III. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908.
  • Landy, Francis. "The Song of Songs" in The Literary Guide to the Bible. Edited by Robert Alter and Frank Kermode. Cambridge, MS: The Belknap Press of Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0674875303.
  • Landsberger, Franz. "Poetic Units within the Song of Songs." Journal of Biblical Literature. Vol. 73(4), (December 1954). 203-216.
  • Murphy, Roland E. The Song of Songs: A Commentary on the Book of Canticles or the Song of Songs. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990. ISBN 0800660242.
  • Weems, Renita J. "The Song of Songs" in The New Interpreter's Bible (Vol. V). Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994. ISBN 068727818X.

External links

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Song of Solomon

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This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.

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