Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon by 
Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs by
The Teach the Text Commentary Series gives pastors the best of biblical scholarship and presents the information needed to move seamlessly from the meaning of the text to its effective communication. By keeping the discussion in each carefully selected preaching unit to six pages of focused commentary, the volumes allow pastors to quickly grasp the most important information. Each unit of the commentary includes the big idea and key themes of the passage; sections dedicated to understanding, teaching, and illustrating the text; and full-color images. How do we find meaning in life when it seems futile and meaningless? Ecclesiastes takes readers on a journey pondering this timeless question, and this commentary helps set the book within a biblical worldview in order to help teachers communicate and apply the profound truths of Ecclesiastes today. Song of Songs is full of evocative poetry, but centuries of interpretation have produced little consensus about how this unique book should be understood. Edward M. Curtis lays out the key themes of the book and provides carefully organized commentary for interpreting, teaching, and illustrating this book -- Publisher description.
Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs by
The Bible is both the inspired word of God for his people, whether in biblical times or for the church today, and a fully human book, written in a variety of cultural settings. The Apollos Old Testament Commentary aims to take with equal seriousness the divine and human aspects of Scripture. This volume by Daniel J. Estes and Daniel C. Fredericks expounds the books of Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs in a scholarly manner, and it shows the relevance of these important books to today's readers. Edited by David W. Baker and Gordon J. Wenham, these commentaries are intended primarily to serve the needs of those who preach from the Old Testament, but is equally suitable for use by scholars and all serious students of the Bible.
Lamentations and the Song of Songs by
In Lamentations, well-known theologian Harvey Cox draws on a wide array of sources including poetry, novels, films, paintings, and photography to offer a contemporary theological reading of Lamentations which is provocative and sure to stir numerous theological reflections and responses. The biblical book of Song of Songs has historically been seen as a book pointing to Christ's love for the church and has been interpreted in allegorical ways. Author Stephanie Paulsell suggests that the Song can still have profound meaning for us, teaching us "to love not only what we can see shining on the surface but also those depths of the other which are out of our reach."
Old Jewish Commentaries on the Song of Songs I by
The commentary of Yefet ben Eli the Karaite (second half of the tenth century) on The Song of Songs is example of an exegetical work obeying two imperatives: The explanation of the divine message of Salvation mixed with the assiduous Karaite effort to prove wrong their adversaries, the Rabbanites, with the help of the Bible. In so doing Yefet ben Eli wrote a thoughtful and original commentary on the very symbolic Song of Songs. Indeed, according to Yefet ben Eli nothing in the Book should be taken realistically. The ability of Yefet to replace symbols by historical events is one of the many marks that show Yefet’s mastery and the originality of his commentary.
Old Jewish Commentaries on «the Song of Songs» II by
Song of Songs by Tanchum Yerushalmi (c. 1220-1291), is one of the best representatives of rational exegesis in the Middle Eastern rabbinical school of thought. His in depth knowledge of the Bible as well as his acquaintance with Greek philosophy, added to familiarity with his own Jewish tradition allowed him to write rich biblical commentaries. In so doing he showed himself as a worthy disciple of Saadia Gaon, Hai and Ibn Janah whom he mentions in his commentary on the Song of Songs. The extent of his knowledge can easily be seen in both his philological and philosophical commentaries on one of the most intriguing books of the Bible"--Provided by publisher.
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs for Everyone by
Westminster John Knox Press is pleased to present the seventeen-volume Old Testament for Everyone series. Internationally respected Old Testament scholar John Goldingay addresses Scripture from Genesis to Malachi in such a way that even the most challenging passages are explained simply and concisely. The series is perfect for daily devotions, group study, or personal visits with the Bible. In this volume, Goldingay explores three books of the Old Testament in the wisdom literature genre. These three books are all associated with Solomon and his wisdom, yet unlike other books, they do not mention the Torah, the exodus, or the covenant. As Goldingay says, "The basis of their teaching is the way life actually works. They look at life and reflect on experience and encourage people to live on the basis of how life works." Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs for Everyone explores three practical, down to earth, and hopeful books.
The Song of Solomon by
Our culture holds the megaphone when it comes to talking about sex today. Yet the church has maintained a reputation for keeping quiet, hesitant to teach people about this sacred aspect of life. The Song of Solomon, however, holds nothing back as it sings loudly about the holy practice of sexuality and pushes us into the conversation with godly theology. While this biblical text has been subject to a broader range of interpretation probably than any other book in the Bible, Wisdom Literature expert Doug O’Donnell offers this comprehensible guide to help uncoil its complexities and solve its riddles. He explores the poetry, themes, and wisdom of this song from a Christocentric perspective, and gives us a profound, rich, and witty reflection that encourages right thinking and behavior. Showing how this “song of songs” is meant to teach us about biblical sexuality and God’s heart for his people, O’Donnell elucidates on the greatest subject of all time―love. Part of the Preaching the Word series.
Song of Songs by
Song of Songs is a wondrous collection of love lyrics nestled in the heart of the Hebrew Bible—songs of passion and praise between a young maiden and her beloved. It is religious lyric par excellence. But what is its true meaning? Is it an expression of human love and passion, pure and simple? A celebration of the covenant between God and Israel? Or something else? The latest volume in the Jewish Publication Society’s highly acclaimed Bible Commentary series, Song of Songs provides a line-by-line commentary of the original Hebrew Bible text, complete with vocalization and cantillation marks, alongside the JPS English translation. Unique to this volume are four layers of commentary: the traditional PaRDeS of peshat (literal meaning), derash (midrashic and religious-traditional sense), remez (allegorical level), and sod (mystical and spiritual intimations). Michael Fishbane skillfully draws from them all to reveal the extraordinary range of interpretations and ideas perceived in this beloved biblical book. A comprehensive introduction, extensive endnotes, a full bibliography (traditional and modern), and additional explanatory materials are included to enhance the reader’s appreciation of the work. This original, comprehensive commentary on the Song of Songs interprets historical, critical, and traditional sources drawn from the ancient Near East, the entire spectrum of Jewish sources and commentaries, and modern critical studies.
Song of Songs by
The Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible makes a most welcome contribution to the church, the academic world, and the general public at large. By enlisting a wide range of Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox theologians who differ on much, but who agree on the truth of the Nicene Creed, the series also represents ecumenical activity of the very best kind. It is always a daunting challenge to expound the church's sacred book both simply and deeply, but this impressive line-up of authors is very well situated for the attempt. -- Mark A. Noll, University of Notre Dame.
The Artifice of Love by
The lovers'expressions of mutual affection and desire in the Song of Songs include intimate and detailed poetic descriptions of the body. These are challenging to interpret because the imagery used is cryptic, drawing on seemingly incongruous aspects of nature, architecture and war. Biblical scholarship frequently expresses some discomfort or embarrassment over this language, yet largely maintains the view that it should be interpreted positively as a complimentary and loving description of the body. If read without this hermeneutic, however, the imagery appears to construct nonsensical and ridiculous pictures of the human form, which raise interesting questions, and pose definite challenges, for the Song's readers.Fiona Black addresses the problematic nature of the Song's body imagery by using the artistic and literary construct of the grotesque body as a heuristic. The resulting reading investigates some issues for the Song that are often left to the margins, namely, the Song's presentation of desire, its politics of gender, and the affect of the text. The book concludes with the identification of some implications of this reading, including the creation of a new framework in which to understand the relevance of the Song's imagery for its presentation of love.This is volume 12 in the Gender, Culture, Theory subseries and volume 392 in the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement series.
Flashes of Fire by
The essence of true love is in the yearning not in the consummation. This literary analysis of the Song of Songs employs the methods of New Criticism. Each analysis aims to uncover the messages conveyed by the poems and the inner world of the characters. The analysis brings to the fore the highly sophisticated and the original creativity of the love poetry of the Song of Songs. In the introduction, the question is posed as to whether the Song of Songs is an anthology or one literary whole. After discussing the strengths and weakness of the various approaches, the author proposes a novel structure for the Book predicated on the various genres of the love poems. Assis discerns poems of physical description, poems of adoration, and poems of yearning. In addition, he discerns what he takes to be a previously unrecognized genre, poems of rendezvous - a new structure which is based on a psychological understanding of passionate love is now discovered. One of the undisputed dominant features of passionate love is the longing for union with the beloved. Based on this premise, the book is divided into five sections, each of which ends with an attempt to unite or in a union. The structure of the book reflects an emotional and inner development in the psyche of the lovers and in the relationship between them. Throughout the book the interrelationships between the various genres of the love poems, and the development of the characters is spelled out
Gender in Solomonæ_s Song of Songs by
The thesis shows that the Song of Songs can be read as a circular sequence of sub-poems, that follow logically from one another if they are understood as contributing to two main points, made in a woman's voice. The woman urges men to take romantic initiative to be committed exclusively and for life, and urges women three times to wait until they are approached by such men. If this reading is the best explanation of the text of the Song, then the Song is a unified work centered on a woman singing about human romantic love from a woman's perspective.
I, You, and the Word God: Finding Meaning in the Song of Songs by
"I, You, and the Word "God" introduces the approach of lyrical ethics, inspired by Emmanuel Levinas's ethical-phenomenological philosophy. Through the optics of lyrical ethics, the reader discovers how the ancient erotic poems of the Song of Songs bear ethical and theological significance for contemporary readers. Levinas's intertwined concepts--oneself qua sensibility, otherness perceived through responsibility, and transcendence embodied in one's love for the other--reveal themselves as lyrical colors woven into the fabric of Song 4:1-7, 5:2-8, and 8:6. More importantly, Levinas's understanding that poetic language breaks the tautology of logocentric discourse and gestures to the outside of consciousness provides the theoretical ground for the listener to solicit meaningfulness from the Song. Through this lyrical reading of the selected poetic units, the book demonstrates that the traditional interpretive methods of representative description, narrative paraphrase, and thematic distillation fail to encounter the otherness of poetry. In contrast, lyrical ethics pays attention to that which transcends consciousness: the awakening of the reader's subjectivity, the saying underlying the said, the sound of the sense, and the invisibility of the visible. The Song so caressed reveals in human love the purposelessly purposive encounter with God"-- Provided by publisher.
Landscapes of the Song of Songs by
Landscapes of the Song of Songs is a unique, interdisciplinary approach to the ancient poetry of the Song of Songs. It develops a theoretical concept of landscape to explore the Song’s intrinsic interest in the natural world, engaging with work from the fields of geography, landscape architecture, and literature. It emphasizes the made quality of both landscapes and poetry, which are art forms defined by human intervention and vision. In this way it critiques the tendency of scholars to reify a perceived dichotomy in the Song between “nature” and “culture.” Each chapter explores a different imaginational landscape of the Song, using insights from landscape theory to inform close readings of the Song’s poems. The landscape concept emphasizes the material landscape, which is the primary focus of the study of agriculture in the Song. The landscape concept also maintains an insistence on human intervention, which informs the studies of both the garden and the city. Finally, a landscape concept implies an awareness of the viewer, which helps to re-appreciate the descriptive poems as a process of perceiving the lover and the land. With a twofold emphasis on landscape and lyric, this book shows how the Song persistently envisions a world in which human lovers are embedded in the natural world, enfolded in complex relationships of fragility and care. In addition, Landscapes offers new, close readings of selected poems of the Song.
My Perfect One by
The interpretations of Song of Songs in the tannaitic midrashim, the first rabbinic scriptural commentaries, employ a form of allegory known as figural interpretation or typology in order to correlate this work to Israel’s ideal national narrative represented by events such as the crossing of the sea and the giving of the Torah. This approach to interpreting Song of Songs helped shape rabbinic conceptions of the character and practice of model Israel as well as of an idealized vision of their beloved, God. The archetypal and idealized language of Song of Songs provides a unique textual arena in which to consider Israel’s relationship with God. Refracted through this lens, God becomes Israel’s beloved (dod), and Israel becomes God’s companion (ra‘yah), God’s perfect one (tamah). Song of Songs, as this book argues, provides a landscape in which to imagine an idyllic construction of Israel’s relationship to her beloved, marked by mutual devotion and fidelity. Song of Songs serves the larger tannaitic program of constructing an exemplary portrayal of Jewish life, centered on rabbinic conceptions of proper Jewish practice and appropriate communal authority. Through this approach to Song of Songs, the Tannaim helped lay the foundations for later Jewish thought of a robust theology of intimacy in God’s relationship with the Jewish people.
Perspectives on the Song of Songs/Perspektiven der Hoheliedauslegung by
The collection of essays contains nineteen contributions that aim at locating the Song of Songs in its ancient context as well as addressing problems of interpretation and the reception of this biblical book in later literature. In contrast to previous studies this work devotes considerable attention to parallels from the Greek world without neglecting the Ancient Near East or Egypt. Several contributions deal with the use of the Song in Byzantine, Medieval, German Romantic and modern Greek Literature. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the collection new perspectives and avenues of approach are opened.
Scrolls of Love by
In this book, ten leading figures explore the connections in their own lives between the private realms of faith and their public calling as teachers, scholars, and intellectuals.
Solomon: The Lure of Wisdom by
Tradition has it that King Solomon knew everything there was to know—the mysteries of nature, of love, of God himself—but what do we know of him? Esteemed biblical scholar Steven Weitzman reintroduces readers to Solomon's story and its surprising influence in shaping Western culture, and he also examines what Solomon's life, wisdom, and writings have come to mean for Jews, Christians, and Muslims over the past two thousand years. Weitzman's Solomon is populated by a colorful cast of ambitious characters—Byzantine emperors, explorers, rabbis, saints, scientists, poets, archaeologists, trial judges, reggae singers, and moviemakers among them—whose common goal is to unearth the truth about Solomon's life and wisdom. Filled with the Solomonic texts of the Bible, along with lesser–known magical texts and other writings, this book challenges both religious and secular assumptions. Even as it seeks to tell the story of ancient Israel's greatest ruler, this insightful book is also a meditation on the Solomonic desire to know all of life's secrets, and on the role of this desire in world history.
The Song of Songs and the Eros of God by
Modern biblical scholarship interprets the Song as a collection of love lyrics. For Edmée Kingsmill, on the contrary, the essence of the Song is mystical. A principal concern of this study, however, is to uncover the relationship between the 117 verses of the Song and those biblical books to which they point. Beneath the metaphors a network of allusions is being woven, conveying a picture opposite to that we find in the prophets who, confronted with the continual'adultery'of Israel, poured forth their condemnations with unwearying passion. In dramatic contrast, the Song presents a paradisal picture:'For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear in the land, and the time of singing is come'(Song 2: 11-12). Thus, in presenting the ideal, the intention of the Song's author is shown to be encouragement. The inclusion of this poem in the biblical canon is understood, therefore, to be central to the purpose of the biblical literature: to bring all people to love the God of love. The book is in two parts. The first and longer part is concerned with themes, including the relationship of the Song to the early Jewish mystical literature. The second part is a short commentary intended for the reader interested in the text as much as in the related questions to which the text gives rise.
The Song of Songs and the Fashioning of Identity in Early Latin Christianity by
This study provides a new account of how the Song of Songs became one of the most popular biblical texts in medieval Western Christianity, through a close and detailed study of its interpretation by late antique Latin theologians. It has often been presumed that early Latin writers exercised little influence on the medieval interpretation of the poem, since there are so few extant commentaries from the period. But this is to overlook the hundreds of citations of and allusions to the Song in the writings of influential figures such as Cyprian, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine, as well as the lesser-known theologian Gregory of Elvira. Through a comprehensive analysis of these citations and allusions, it is argued that, contrary to the expectations of many modern scholars, the Song of Songs was not a problematic text for early Christian theologians, but was a resource that they mined as they debated the nature of the church and of the virtuous life. The first part of the volume considers the use of the Song in the churches of Roman Africa and Spain, where bishops and theologians focused on images of enclosure and purity invoked in the poem. In the second part, the focus is late fourth-century Italy, where a new ascetic interpretation, concerned particularly with women’s piety, began to emerge. This erotic poem gradually became embedded in the discursive traditions of Latin Late Antiquity, which were bequeathed to the Christian communities of early medieval Europe.
A Vocabulary of Desire by
"In A Vocabulary of Desire, Laura Lieber offers a nuanced, multifaceted and highly original study of how the Song of Songs was understood and deployed by Jewish liturgical poets in Late Antiquity (ca. 4th-7th centuries CE). Through her examination of poems which embellish and even rewrite the Song of Songs, Lieber brings the creative spirit-liturgical, intellectual, and exegetical-of these poems vividly to the fore. All who are interested in the early interpretation of the Song of Songs, the ancient synagogue, early Jewish and Christian hymnography, and Judaism in Late Antiquity will find this volume both enriching and accessible. The volume consists of two interrelated halves. In the first section, four introductory essays establish the broad cultural context in which these poems emerged; in the second, each chapter consists of an analytical essay structured around a single, complete poetic cycle, presented in new Hebrew editions with annotated original English translations"-- Provided by publisher.
The Voice of My Beloved by
The Song of Songs, eight chapters of love lyrics found in the collection of wisdom literature attributed to Solomon, is the most enigmatic book of the Bible. For thousands of years Jews and Christians alike have preserved it in the canon of scripture and used it in liturgy. Exegetes saw it as a central text for allegorical interpretations, and so the Song of Songs has exerted an enormous influence on spirituality and mysticism in the Western tradition.
In the Voice of My Beloved, E. Ann Matter focuses on the most fertile moment of Song of Songs interpretation: the Middle Ages. At least eighty Latin commentaries on the text survive from the period. In tracing the evolution of these commentaries, Matter reveals them to be a vehicle for expressing changing medieval ideas about the church, the relationship between body and soul, and human and divine love. She shows that the commentaries constitute a well-defined genre of medieval Latin literature. And in discussing the exegesis of the Song of Songs, she takes into account the modern exegesis of the book and feminist critiques of the theology embodied in the text.
Altogether Lovely by
Summary: In Altogether Lovely, Havilah Dharamraj approaches the Song with a clear vision of the gendering of power relationships in the ancient Near East and through an intertextual method centered not on production but on the reception of texts. She sets the Song's lyrical portrayal of passion and intimacy alongside other canonical portrayals of love spurned, lust, rejection, and sexual violence from Hosea, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. The result is a richly nuanced exposition of the possibilities of intimacy and remorse in interhuman and divine-human relationship.
Earthing the Cosmic Queen by
Earthing the Cosmic Queen explores the connection of poet, world, and text in the Song of Songs based on the process of reading as understood by Relevance Theory. This linguistic theory reveals new insights into the Song of Songs by tracing associations between the poet and her world. The main portion of this book involves a discourse analysis of the entire Song for the purpose of revealing the poet's cognitive environment and communicative intentions. Seven sites of discourse are explored: entreaties, wasf, the daughters, royalty, the brothers, losing and finding, and the Garden. The Garden of Eden strongly figures and could be considered a flashpoint of engagement. There is suggestion in the text that there is a crisis for the poet regarding her place in ancient Hebrew society. Thus, the Garden of Eden texts and the Song of Songs are carefully contrasted to highlight the contours of her radical message.
I, You, and the Word God by
Summary: "I, You, and the Word "God" introduces the approach of lyrical ethics, inspired by Emmanuel Levinas's ethical-phenomenological philosophy. Through the optics of lyrical ethics, the reader discovers how the ancient erotic poems of the Song of Songs bear ethical and theological significance for contemporary readers. Levinas's intertwined concepts--oneself qua sensibility, otherness perceived through responsibility, and transcendence embodied in one's love for the other--reveal themselves as lyrical colors woven into the fabric of Song 4:1-7, 5:2-8, and 8:6. More importantly, Levinas's understanding that poetic language breaks the tautology of logocentric discourse and gestures to the outside of consciousness provides the theoretical ground for the listener to solicit meaningfulness from the Song. Through this lyrical reading of the selected poetic units, the book demonstrates that the traditional interpretive methods of representative description, narrative paraphrase, and thematic distillation fail to encounter the otherness of poetry. In contrast, lyrical ethics pays attention to that which transcends consciousness: the awakening of the reader's subjectivity, the saying underlying the said, the sound of the sense, and the invisibility of the visible. The Song so caressed reveals in human love the purposelessly purposive encounter with God"-- Provided by publisher.
The Love of Loves in the Song of Songs by
We live in a world where sexuality is ruined by sin, its beauty obscured by our brokenness. We need a divine vision for the way love was meant to be, with a gospel that offers forgiveness for sin and grace to live in the way that God has made us to be. In the Song of Songs, we encounter a love story that is part of the greatest love story ever told. Philip Ryken walks through this biblical love poem verse by verse, reflecting on what the Bible says about God’s design for love, intimacy, and sexuality and offering insights into not only human relationships but also our relationship to God himself―learning more about the One who has loved us with an everlasting love.
The Song of Songs and Christology in the Early Church, 381 - 451 by
How was the scriptural imagery used in the Song of Songs to speak of the Bridegroom and the Bride? Mark W. Elliott presents a range of interpretations paying attention to the context of the commentators in the Early Church.
