Revised by Monica Melanchthon (10/23)
Why is this book in the Bible?
Instead of asking how this book came to be in the Bible for which we may not have an answer, it is perhaps more beneficial to ask what this book contributes to our understanding of the scriptural tradition. Its inclusion within the Old Testament was certainly debated by early readers. Rabbi Aqiba defended it as the “Holy of HoliesThe holy of holies was, in the Old Testament, the tabernacle’s inner sanctuary that housed the ark of the covenant and its mercy seat. The space was separated from the rest of the holy place by a veil and was visited only once a year…,” which is also a phrase used for the inner sanctum of the TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged…. That the book arouses discomfort, and perhaps sexual desire, was acknowledged. So, what does this book have to do with the Divine? Does God have anything to do with human sexuality, sex, or pleasure? That the book is very different from other books in the Old Testament is quite clear. This book makes no mention of God. It has been suggested that the book (arising from 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… circles) is a human response to issues of love and human pleasure. In a context where the divide between what is sacred and secular (a modern issue), was practically non-existent, the book is a comment on all human yearning and desire – physical and spiritual, presented through the issue of sexuality, for it is a common human experience, in fact foundational to it, and can be easily understood.
Perhaps what the book offers is the opportunity to explore desire, especially female desire, and especially in contexts where a woman’s desire is understood to be one that should serve the needs of men and family. This book acknowledges the personal desire of women and celebrates it and deems it as natural, instinctive, and universal.
The book offers a helpful message for all kinds of desires, sexual and others. The focus on sexual desire might function as a metaphor for all women and men who yearn and crave to usher in a new world, a world of equality, peace, and justice. The qualities of the woman – resilience, courage, boldness, determination, and risk-taking are exemplary in their modernity and essential characteristics in the genesis of the suppressed woman as citizen and as agent, as a human being in church and society.
Womanhood and Woman’s Sexuality Defined
The life of an Israelite woman is marked by subordination and subservience to the male members in the society. Always the daughter of, wife of, mother of or sister of, she is rarely presented with an identity of her own. The woman in Song of Songs, referred to as “the Shulammite” (indicating that she was perhaps born in the village of Shulem), is presented as one who should be protected, regulated, and controlled – an agenda item in the fifth century reform movements of EzraScribe who helped establish Jewish practices in Jerusalem after the exile. and NehemiahThe governor of Jerusalem who rebuilt the city walls after the exile.. The book therefore is an artful engagement with women’s identity, independence, and agency. Unlike most of her sisters in the rest of the Old Testament, this woman circumvents social conventions and control, and with subversive resolve and resilience, she survives and pursues her desires in the face of authority that seeks to control her. She shoves aside all taboos to gratify her desire. How might we incorporate these aspects into our current definitions of womanhood or interpretations of a woman being made in the image of GodAccording to the book of Genesis, humans were created in the likeness, or the image, of God. The phrase is generally taken to refer to the uprightness and dignity of human nature. Because of disobedience the image of God has been corrupted or, some say,…? If the woman is created in the image of God, what in this character of the woman in this book, is/are representative of qualities that are also ascribed to God?
Naturalizing, Normalizing, and Legitimating Love and Desire
The setting of Song of Songs is creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and… and nature, which helps enhance the pleasure and beauty of love. It emphasizes the notion that love and desire cannot be confined to time and place. The setting for the expression and consummation of this desire and the yearning for love is not restricted to the four walls of a house or home (Song of Songs 1:4; 2:4; 3:1; 8:2) but also includes the outdoors, the pasture (1:7-8;) the garden (4:16; 5:1; 6:2;), and the vineyard (8:12). The many references to nature, the seasonal changes (2:10-13; 6:11), the vegetation, the flora and fauna, and the plethora of metaphors taken from nature is a striking feature of the Song. These images surrounded by references to eating and drinking are considered to be symbolic of consummated sexual love.
The desire and love between the two individuals transform the most ordinary of surroundings and circumstances into a place of splendor and wonder. This interweaving between nature, metaphors drawn from nature, and elements of nature with the human experience of love and desire is significant and appealing, strengthening the fellowship between the natural world and the human being. The Song seems to be saying that love and desire are organic, innate to the human being, and cannot be legislated, curtailed, or controlled. This might be compared with the love of God for human beings that is natural, unconditional, and unbound even to the extent of sacrificing his only begotten Son for the wellbeing and life of the human community. Nature and the natural world become a medium through which God speaks and reveals Godself, God’s wonder, mysteryA mystery is something secret, hidden and not perceived by ordinary means. In the book of Daniel a significant mystery is revealed through divine revelation (Daniel 2); Paul speaks of a mystery of God in Romans 11 and again in Ephesians 3. In speaking of…, and love to the rest of the created world. The desire between humans is also an expression or metaphor for the desire that God has to be in communion with God’s creation, human beings included, and the yearning of God to make good what God has created.
The Song, while it recognizes the desires of women, also delimits the contents of desire. Differences between the one who desires and the desired one are denied. All relations of power and expressions of power that today accompany class, caste, racial, ethnic, and religious identities are denied or overlooked. What might such a notion offer to our understanding of marriage or relationships, or our understanding of God, or of God’s intention to create a world of diversity and difference?
The Presence of God
Much is made of the fact that God is not mentioned in this book. Does God need to be named for one to acknowledge God’s presence? The book seems to highlight the fact that God is present in everything that is beautiful, in human beings, in nature, in relationships, in everything and everyone (individuals, communities, structures, and system) that honors difference and diversity. In fact, God becomes manifest in such attitudes and postures. God is present and reveals Godself in and through everyone who honors and celebrates difference and plurality, is respectful of women, their individuality and their createdness in the image of God.
