READING THE SONG OF SONGS

PART VI

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Song of Songs 5:2-6:12

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The first nighttime episode is in 3:1-4.  The second such episode is in 5:2-8.

The imagery of 5:2-8 is initially pleasant and erotic.  Then it turns violent.  The woman welcomes her lover.  They make love.  Then he leaves and she longs for him.  So, the woman goes outside at night to seek her lover.  She also calls for him.  She wears a veil.  Watchmen, knowing that prostitutes often veil their faces, mistake the female lover for a “working girl.”  They beat her and humiliate her by removing her veil.  The woman’s longing for her absent lover becomes more intense.  In verse 8, she is “swoon,” “faint,” or “sick” with love, depending upon the translation one reads.  This is true although she may not be the woman of her lover’s dreams.  And he is not the man she had imagined him to be.

The poetic language points to explicit details–the woman’s sexual rejection of her lover, his corresponding lack of sexual intensity, and the gang rape of the woman.  And she is lovesick, with the emphasis on “sick.”

The Daughters of Jerusalem, whom the female lover addresses in verse 8, speak in verse 9.

Verses 10-16 are unique.  They are the only wasf in the Bible (a) addressed to a third party, and (b) describing the body of the male lover.  The third party is the Daughters of Jerusalem.  The imagery in the wasf comes from plants, animals, and precious stones and metals.  The female lover, despite her sexual rejection of the man, longs intensely for him.

The Daughters of Jerusalem dialogue with the female lover in 6:1-3.  The man

has gone down to his garden,

to the beds of spices

to browse in the gardens

and to pick lilies.

In plain English, he and the woman have made love.

Then the man, in language similar to 4:1-5, describes the woman’s body again in 6:4-7.  Next, in terms recycled from 2:2-3 and 5:10, he praises the woman in 6:8.  The male lover goes on to compare the woman to the breaking dawn or another natural light source in 6:10.  I prefer Robert Alter’s translation:

Who is this espied like the dawn,

fair as the moon,

dazzling as the sun,

daunting as what looms on high?

TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures offers a pleasant translation, too:

Who is she that shines through like the dawn,

Beautiful as the moon,

Radiant as the sun,

Awesome as bannered hosts?

The text shifts in verses 11 and 12, a fragment of another poem.  The man

goes down to the garden

again.  Verse 12 includes the Hebrew ámi-nadiv.  So, depending on the translation one prefers, the male lover refers either to

the chariots of Ammi-nadib

(as in TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures) or

the noblest chariot

(as in Robert Alter’s translation).  Given the context of 6:11, the chariot may refer to the female lover’s body.

Life is complicated.  Human relationships have their ups and downs.  Experience confirms this.  My decade-long relationship with a woman was joyful and tumultuous.  Her mental illnesses made that relationship more challenging than it would have been otherwise.  The tension of “come hither,” followed by “go away,” followed by “come hither again,” rings true for me.

The sexual violence in 5:7 is beyond troubling, as it should be.  Sadly, such violence–especially in patriarchal cultures–remains endemic and frequently socially-approved.  “Rape culture” is as real as it is depraved and evil.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 26, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ISABEL FLORENCE HAPGOOD, U.S. JOURNALIST, TRANSLATOR, AND ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDREA GIACINTO LONGHIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF TREVISO

THE FEAST OF PEARL S. BUCK, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONARY, NOVELIST, AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF PHILIP DODDRIDGE, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF THEODORE H. ROBINSON, BRITISH BAPTIST ORIENTALIST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF VIRGIL MICHEL, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ACADEMIC, AND PIONEER OF LITURGICAL RENEWAL

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READING THE SONG OF SONGS

PART V

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Song of Songs 4:1-5:1

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Poetic descriptions of the beauty of the female body were commonplace in Syrian and Egyptian literature.  In this cultural context, the term for that genre was wasfs.  Yet Song of Songs 4:1-7 is unique in the Hebrew Bible.  When we decode the natural imagery in this wasf, we read a description of the female lover.

1. She has wavy hair that flows down her back.
2. Her teeth are white and straight.
3. She wears a veil.
4. The meaning of her brow gleaming like a pomegranate split open is vague.  The words may refer to the color or shape of the woman’s brow.  Alternatively, the language may indicate the play of light and shadow between her skin and her veil.
5. The female, who has a long neck, wears necklaces.
6. The physical description terminates with her breasts, soft and smelling like flowers.
7. We already know that she is sunburned from having to work in the family vineyard.

When we arrive at verse 12 and keep reading, we read about the woman’s sexuality, described in terms of agricultural plenty.  She is like a locked garden.  That is, the female lover is inaccessible.  She invites the male lover to

come to his garden and enjoy its luscious fruits.

–4:16

The male lover accepts the invitation (5:1).

The lovers in the Song of Songs are committed to each other.  The male lover expresses himself:

You have captured my heart

My own, my bride.

You have captured my heart

With one [glance] of your eyes,

With one coil of your necklace.

–4:9, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1999)

Many people can relate to that feeling, in not to all the details in that verse.  When another person becomes THE ONE, words cannot adequately express the emotional state.  Yet the Song of Songs expresses that feeling more eloquently than most texts on the subject.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 22, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALBAN, FIRST BRITISH MARTYR, CIRCA 209 OR 305

THE FEAST OF DESIDERIUS ERASMUS, DUTCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, BIBLICAL AND CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, AND CONTROVERSALIST; SAINT JOHN FISHER, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, CARDINAL, AND MARTYR, 1535; AND SAINT THOMAS MORE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC CLASSICAL SCHOLAR, JURIST, THEOLOGIAN, CONTROVERSIALIST, AND MARTYR, 1535

THE FEAST OF GERHARD GIESCHEN, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF JAMES ARTHUR MACKINNON, CANADIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, 1965

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICETAS OF REMESIANA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAULINUS OF NOLA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF NOLA

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Above:  Christ on the Cross, by Gerard David

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Numbers 10:33-36

Deuteronomy 10:11-12:1

Judges 5:1-31

Song of Songs 4:9-5:16

Isaiah 26:1-21

Psalms 7; 17; 44; 57 or 108; 119:145-176; 149

Matthew 7:1-23

Luke 7:36-8:3

Matthew 27:62-66

1 Corinthians 15:27-34 (35-38) 39-41 (42-58)

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In Luke 7:38 the former Gerasene demoniac, recently healed by Jesus, seeks to follow Jesus physically.  Our Lord and Savior has other plans, however.  He sends the man away with these instructions:

Go back home and report all that God has done for you.

–Luke 7:39a, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

The text informs us that the man obeyed Jesus.

The theme of the Great Vigil of Easter, as evident in assigned readings, is salvation history.  In Hebrew thought God is like what God has done–for groups as well as individuals.  The responsibility of those whom God has blessed is to proclaim by words and deeds what God has done–to function as vehicles of grace and to glorify God.  Salvation history is important to understand.  So is knowing that salvation is an ongoing process.

Happy Easter!

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 10, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHANN NITSCHMANN, SR., MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND BISHOP; DAVID NITSCHMANN, JR., THE SYNDIC, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY BISHOP; AND DAVID NITSCHMANN, THE MARTYR, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER, POET AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN LUDWIG BRAU, NORWEGIAN MORAVIAN TEACHER AND POET

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JOHN LEONARDI, FOUNDER OF THE CLERKS REGULAR OF THE MOTHER OF GOD OF LUCCA; AND JOSEPH CALASANCTIUS, FOUNDER OF THE CLERKS REGULAR OF RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/devotion-for-the-great-vigil-of-easter-year-d/

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Above:  Ruins of Corinth

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-00671

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The Collect:

Lord God, source of every blessing,

you showed forth your glory and led many to faith by the works of your Son,

who brought gladness and salvation to his people.

Transform us by the Spirit of his love,

that we may find our life together in him,

Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 22

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The Assigned Readings:

Song of Songs 4:1-8 (Tuesday)

Song of Songs 4:9-5:1 (Wednesday)

Psalm 145 (Both Days)

1 Corinthians 1:3-17 (Tuesday)

Luke 5:33-39 (Wednesday)

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The Lord draws near to all who summon him,,

to all who summon him in sincerity.

For his worshippers he does all they could wish for,

he hears their cry for help and saves them.

–Psalm 145:18-19, The Psalms Introduced and Newly Translated for Today’s Readers (1989), by Harry Mowvley

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They should, therefore, dwell in unity and mutual respect, I suppose, but the opposite is true much of the time.

Two of the three readings contain references to disputes.  (The lovers in the Song of Songs are in harmony with each other.)  The question of fasting–that some people do it and others do not–arises in Luke 5.  And in 1 Corinthians, that community’s notorious factionalism is at issue.  Such divisiveness probably arose from well-intentioned attempts to discern and to act in accordance with the will of God and to hold to correct theology; that is my most charitable guess.  However, again and again we human beings have proven ourselves capable of fouling up while trying to do the right thing.  Then opinions become tribal boundaries.  The result is an unholy mess.

The truth is, of course, that there is such a thing as objective reality, and that each of us is right about some details of it and wrong about others.  Laying competing fundamentalisms aside and acknowledging a proper degree of ambiguity (in what Calvinist theology labels matters indifferent) is a fine strategy for working toward peace and faithful community.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 27, 2015 COMMON ERA

PROPER 21:  THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B

THE FEAST OF SAINT LEOBA, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIA, 1947

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Adapted from this post:

https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/devotion-for-tuesday-and-wednesday-after-the-second-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  Pool of Bethesda, Jerusalem, June 12, 1839, by David Roberts

Image Source = Library of Congress

(http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002717460/)

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

–The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Song of Songs 1:1-2:7 (May 18)

Song of Songs 2:8-3:11 (May 19)

Song of Songs 4:1-5:1 (May 20)

Psalm 103 (Morning–May 18)

Psalm 5 (Morning–May 19 and 20)

Psalms 117 and 139 (Evening–May 18)

Psalms 84 and 29 (Evening–May 19 and 20)

John 5:1-18 (May 18)

John 5:19-29 (May 19)

John 5:30-47 (May 20)

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Some Related Posts:

John 5:

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/third-week-of-advent-friday/

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/devotion-for-february-13-and-14-in-epiphanyordinary-time-lcms-daily-lectionary/

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/devotion-for-february-15-lcms-daily-lectionary/

http://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/devotion-for-february-16-lcms-daily-lectionary/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/twenty-fourth-day-of-lent/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/twenty-fifth-day-of-lent/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/twenty-sixth-day-of-lent/

http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2012/06/16/thirty-sixth-day-of-easter-sixth-sunday-of-easter-year-c/

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In John 5, the unity of which I have maintained, Jesus committed a good deed.  He did this on the Sabbath, a fact which made some especially strict interpreters of the Law uncomfortable.  And he spoke of himself in ways which sounded blasphemous to them.  The penalty for blasphemy, according to the Law of Moses, was death.

What makes us uncomfortable?  And which input makes us more uncomfortable than other input?  What do these facts say about us?  Consider Psalm 139:18-21 (1979 Book of Common Prayer), for example:

Oh, that you would slay the wicked, O God!

You that thirst for blood, depart from me.

They speak despitefully against you;

your enemies take your Name in vain.

Do I not hate those, O LORD, who hate you?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

I hate them with a perfect hatred;

they have become my own enemies.

Then there is Psalm 137:9 (1979 Prayer Book):

Happy shall be he who takes your little ones,

and dashes them against the rock.

Those passages–and many others in the Bible–should make one uncomfortable.  Accounts of massacres depicted as God’s will cause me to squirm in my seat.

But do such passages make one more uncomfortable than love poetry?  Or does love poetry make one more uncomfortable?  The Song of Songs seems to be exactly what it appears to be:  love poetry.  There is nothing exploitative about it, and the two lovers are consenting adults.  Allegorical interpretations seem like stretches to me.  They look like attempts to make the Song of Songs seem like something it is not.

I think that often, in certain cultures and subcultures, people are more prudish about love and sexuality than squeamish about violence.  Our bodies, with their orifices, fluids, and urges, both repel and attract us.  Yet here we are, in our physical form.  And, if we focus so much on the spirit as to think negatively of the body, how far removed are we from Gnosticism?

So, which option–the means of leaving this life or the method of coming into it–offends us or offends us more?  And what does one’s answer to that question say about one?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 3, 2012 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ELIZABETH FERARD, ANGLICAN DEACONESS

THE FEAST OF SAINT ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL, QUEEN

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Adapted from this post:

http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/devotion-for-may-18-19-and-20-in-ordinary-time-lcms-daily-lectionary/

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