RELG 301
Poetic and Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament
Module 8 Class Notes - Song of Songs
Song of Songs - Allegory or Direct Reporting?
The textbook does not give much background information or explore the characters in the Song of Songs very fully.
Many Christian scholars are not comfortable with the facts of life, and with the directness of Jewish thought and speech. So there has been a tendency to focus on the Song of Songs as an allegory of the love of Christ for His Church. Jewish scholars also have seen the Song of Songs as an allegory, expressing God's love for His people. Indeed, the theme of God's love for His people as being like the love of a husband for his wife is one which was propounded by some of the prophets, especially Hosea.
In support of an allegorical interpretation, one should remember that Jesus often taught deep truths in parables - what appeared to be simple stories about everyday events such as sowing seed, or a young man leaving his family to seek his fortune elsewhere. But for those who stopped to think, and ask about what they really meant, there was a deeper meaning to be found. Consequently, the Song of Songs has often been interpreted as an allegory, while its plain meaning has been ignored or regarded as something indecent and embarrassing.
However, underlying the allegorical interpretation, there is a basic love story which celebrates the sexual attraction between a young couple, some obstacles which they face, and their eventual union. The language is at times graphic and erotic, and our Western minds tend to shy away from some of the more earthy facts of life. The Song of Songs is set in Jerusalem, but at least one of its characters is from the country - the girl has worked outdoors in the vineyards, and there is frequent reference to a shepherd and sheep. Farmers tend to be very down-to-earth about finding a suitable mate and raising the next generation.
So, my solution is to read the Song of Songs as both an allegory and as a set of love songs describing in intimate detail the feelings of a young woman from the village of Shunem (the Shulamite), and her lover, culminating in their wedding-night
God created humans as sexual beings (Genesis 1:27-28) and regarded that state as "very good" (Genesis 1:31). It may be that one of the reasons for the Song of Songs being included in the Bible is that God is giving us a picture of the pleasures of marriage as it should be - not indecent or dirty or pornographic, but something to be enjoyed as a gift of God. Remember, God cared enough about His people, that He gave the Israelites detailed instructions for elementary hygiene (don't do your business in the camp - go outside the camp, dig a hole, do your business and bury it) (Deut. 23:13)
Song of Songs - Characters
The main character in the Song of Songs is the girl. Her songs are the longest and most frequent, and express a young woman's feelings and longings as she approaches marriage. The girl is from the village of Shulem or Shunam (Song of Songs 6:13) in northern Israel, who has been brought to the king's palace in Jerusalem (Song of Songs 1:4) She has grown up working in the vineyards, and is sunburned and afraid that the ladies of the harem will despise her (Song of Songs 1:5-6)
The girl's beloved is most probably King Solomon - she is brought to the King's palace, and the wedding procession specifically names Solomon as the bridegroom. At this point he is a young man - although there are already 60 queens (foreign princesses, married for political reasons) and 80 concubines in his harem (Song of Songs 6:8). But at this point he loved the Shulamite above them all.
Other, lesser, characters are the brothers of the Shulamite, who, although they had made her labor in the fields, were also fiercely protective of her (Song of Songs 8:8-9).
And a chorus of the Daughters of Jerusalem (who may be the members of the harem)
We do not know what happened later in the marriage. Maybe the Shulamite died young, as many women did; there is no mention of a Shulamite in the Historical Books. Maybe Solomon turned to unfaithfulness; maybe his own upbringing in a dysfunctional family had affected his ability to remain true - he certainly collected wives and concubines as he aged. Solomon reigned for forty years. His heir was not the son of an Israelite girl, but of an Ammonite woman (1 Kings 14:31)
Song of Songs - Finding out who is being addressed
There is a problem with some English translations of the Song of Songs, in that there is no clear indication of who is saying what.
In old English, we used to show whether one person or several people were being addressed : "you" was used when talking to a group of people, "thou" was used when talking to one person. Now-a-days "thou" is sometimes used when speaking to God, or when one wants to sound Shakespearian, or in a few dialects such as those in the North of England.
In modern English, "you" can mean one or several people, and is also used for either a man or a woman.
In the case of a verb, English has to use a noun or pronoun to indicate who is doing the action. So "said" has to have another word, such as "he", or "she" or "we" with it. Hebrew has those indicators built into the form of the verb, and shows whether a guy or a gal "said" something.
Hebrew uses different words for one man, one woman, a group of women, or a group of men. By analyzing the forms of the Hebrew words, one can distinguish who is being addressed in the various parts of the Song of Songs, and use that to work out who the speaker is likely to be.
Go here for the text of the Song of Songs, marked so as to indicate the probable speaker
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