Song of Songs 2:15 is a puzzle to most commentators. Cheryl Exum does a good job with it. Like many commentators, she notes evidence that foxes were symbolic of sexual potency and also ancient fables and proverbs that indicate foxes were threats to vineyards. Verse 15 is the . . . . Continue Reading »
The Targum on the Song of Songs, deftly translated and annotated by Philip Alexander ( The Targum of Canticles: Translated, With a Critical Introduction, Apparatus, and Notes (Aramaic Bible) ), has its amusing oddities. The bride in the cleft of the rock in 2:14 is Israel at the Red Sea, . . . . Continue Reading »
In an 1837 exchange on the interpretation of the Song of Songs in The Congregational Magazine , one James Bennett argued that the Song had to be interpreted allegorically because a literal interpretation made the woman sound immodest: “What writer, with the feelings, or the reason, of a man, . . . . Continue Reading »
Stephen D. Moore (in an essay on “The Song of Songs in the History of Sexuality”) notes that the shift from allegorical to literal/sexual interpretations of the Song is connected to shifts in understanding of male love. Patristic and medieval commentators on the Song easily took . . . . Continue Reading »
Exum notes that for the lovers of the Song “nature in all its glory reflects and participates in their mutual delight. And everything is experienced more intensely, from the thrill of watching a lavishly outfitted palanquin approach from a distance . . . to the pleasure derived from the . . . . Continue Reading »
Yesterday, I noted Exum’s observation that the Song’s imagery is not straightforward visual, but describes the experiences of the lovers. Exum is drawing on a 1967 JBL article by Richard Soulen, who says, “It should be obvious that comparisons of the female body to jewels (7 . . . . Continue Reading »
Commentators often resort to some embarrassing expedients in trying to explain the bodily imagery of the Song of Songs. The assumption is that the images are mainly visual. Breasts are like fawns grazing among the lilies? Well, the fawns must be bent over, their backs rounded and . . . . Continue Reading »
In her commentary on the Song of Songs (Old Testament Library) , Cheryl Exum notes the finely rendered sexual differences between the way the man and woman of the Song, evident in the different ways they express their desires for one another. The woman tells stories: “They are the only . . . . Continue Reading »
Song of Songs 3:11 speaks of the crowning of Solomon on the day of his wedding. Most commentators refer to the Orthodox practice of crowning grooms and brides as new Adams and Eves. I’ve got no problem with that, but I suspect there’s something else. First, as Ernst Wendland . . . . Continue Reading »
The beloved is a dove. Why a dove? We can answer by taking a detour through temple theology. The temple is made according to the pattern of the mountain, reflecting the beauty of Yahweh’s original glory. The temple is glory come to earth., And the glory of Yahweh is like a . . . . Continue Reading »
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