The Song portrays the longing of the bride for her lover, the king, Solomon. There is an advent scene in 3:6-11, but this Solomon is elusive. Even at the end of the Song, the bride is still urging the lover to hurry up and come to her. A once and future Solomon, an already-not yet . . . . Continue Reading »
Wine is a sign of kingship, and so Solomon is a king of wine. His kisses are better than wine; he is himself a source of intoxication for the bride, Israel (Song 1:2, 4). Solomon, though, is not merely a giver of wine, but in giving the wine of his love to Israel, he makes Israel into a . . . . Continue Reading »
Kingsmill calls attention to the common imagery used by the Song of Songs and the overtly “wisdom” literature, especially Proverbs. She makes a good case. But the difference between the Song and the other wisdom literature is notable. Proverbs 8:7 says, “My . . . . Continue Reading »
The apertures of our body are doorways that mediate between outside and inside. We normally think of them as intake points: Light enters our eyes and we see, molecules tickle the sensors in our noses and we smell, mouths and tongues are for tasting and eating. In the Song, the movement is . . . . Continue Reading »
Lexicons typically etymologize “Moriah” by linking it to the verb “see.” Abraham tells Isaac that Yahweh will “see (as in “see to”) the lamb for the offering on the mountains of Moriah (Genesis 22:8, 14). Moriah is where Yahweh provides a . . . . Continue Reading »
Tournay also has an explanation for the apparent mangling of names in the Song. “Amminadab” appears where we might expect Abinadab, Shunammite where we might be thinking of Shulamite. This, he argues, is purposeful. The names are to bring to mind their historical . . . . Continue Reading »
Like other commentators on the Song, Raymond Jacques Tournay suggests that the “chariots of Amminadab” and the dance referredto at the end of Song of Song 6 allude to David’s entry into Jerusalem with the ark. What he adds is an allusion to the exile ad return: “In Song 7:1, . . . . Continue Reading »
Let us stipulate that the vineyard is the temple and the bride is Jerusalem. That clarifies two passages of the Song. “They made me caretaker of the vineyards, but I have not taken care of my own vineyard” (1:6). True enough; Jerusalem did not care for the temple-vineyard in . . . . Continue Reading »
Exploring the Jewish mystical theme of the shiur koma (the body of God), C. R. Morray-Jones writes, “the evidence suggests that the shiur koma tradition was originally concerned with two separate figures: the kavod of God himself, to whom the scriptural throne-theophany verses were applied, . . . . Continue Reading »
“As the Scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). As the Scripture says ? Where? Edmee Kingsmill ( The Song of Songs and the Eros of God: A Study in Biblical Intertextuality (Oxford Theological Monographs) ) suggests the Song of Songs . . . . Continue Reading »
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