Revised by Monica Melanchthon (10/23)
The book is a collection of erotic love poetry, between a woman and a man. The Song is unique within both the Jewish and Christian canonA canon is a general law or principle by which something is judged. The body of literature in the Old and New Testaments is accepted by most Christians as being canonical (that is, authentic and authoritative) for them., as the Hebrew Bible’s only love poem, and is outstanding in its unrestrained celebration of erotic and sexual love. This text is not concerned with social control or with matters of marriage or reproduction, but is simply the voices of two lovers, who find this love to be invigorating, wonderful, and irresistibly powerful.
The question of how the Song of Songs found a place in the biblical canon, for either Jews or Christians, is likely to occur almost immediately to any thoughtful reader. Read on its own terms as love poetry, rather than through the lenses of tradition, it stands as a frankly secular poem, depicting the deepening affections and passions between two young lovers. There is no mention of God and there are no explicit theological themes.
Many interpreters have found in the Song elements of Egyptian love poetry or themes related to Canaanite fertility religion. Others see it as the product of a time and place where love poetry was written to be performed at banquets by professional singers.
The Song’s invocation of Solomon suggests a connection with Solomon, plausibly because he was a man with many wives, a reputed lover and because of his association with Israel’s WisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, “The fear of the… tradition, material that typically deals with issues of human life and conduct in this world.
