How Song of Songs Became a Divine Love Song

The origin of the interpretation of Song of Songs as a description of God’s relationship with God’s beloved community has been a persistent question in the work’s history of interpretation. Earlier scholarship has provided a number of possible solutions to this problem, none of them conclusive. This...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Kaplan, Jonathan 1976- (Author) ; Wilson-Wright, Aren M. 1988- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Brill 2018
In: Biblical interpretation
Year: 2018, Volume: 26, Issue: 3, Pages: 334-351
IxTheo Classification:HB Old Testament
Further subjects:B Love
B Poetics
B Symbolics
B Song of Songs
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:The origin of the interpretation of Song of Songs as a description of God’s relationship with God’s beloved community has been a persistent question in the work’s history of interpretation. Earlier scholarship has provided a number of possible solutions to this problem, none of them conclusive. This article offers another possible answer: the language and imagery of the Northwest Semitic combat myth in Song 8:6-7, which identifies love with Yhwh as the victorious divine warrior, triggers the work’s interpretation as a divine love song. This argument receives support from some of the earliest allusions to Song of Songs in Revelation, which interpret Song of Songs in the context of apocalyptic discourse that likewise draws heavily on the combat myth.
ISSN:1568-5152
Contains:Enthalten in: Biblical interpretation
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685152-00263P03