Based on the book of the same name (Song)...Read more there
Shock of shocks! How does Song of Songs, a collection of erotic love poems find its way into the Hebrew Scriptures? Though YHWH God doesn't rate a mention in any of these poems / songs, over time many people have come to see Song as an imaginative metaphor for the love between God & his people, Israel. Of God as the 'bridegroom' of his people. Scholars are not sure this was the original aim of the author(s), but it's easy to see how such a shift in focus from a physical to a spiritual way of looking at things could come about! Nor is it hard to see how later it came to be seen as a metaphor of the love between Christ & his Church. Put another way, Song may helpfully be seen as an imaginative developing & exploring of the relationship between the people & God. In practical terms does it really matter whether the poems were originally an imaginative description of love between God & humanity or have simply become seen this way in practice? Does it really matter who wrote them any more than it matters whether Shakespeare or someone else wrote Macbeth; or who the 'Mona Lisa' was in real life? Understanding & appreciating the Scriptures as imaginative, creative, way to faith could break us out of the many shackles control freaks have put on us. Or we've shackled ourselves with! Understanding & interpreting the Scriptures with imagination & faith pays more worthwhile dividends than insisting they be understood literally, fundamentalistically, & dogmatically! Song is as full of imaginative possibilities as the creation stories & other brilliantly told & retold myths from earliest days!
Given our experience by now of writings like Proverbs & Ecclesiastes with their supposed focus on Solomon's wisdom & way with words, we won't be surprised to see Solomon figure prominently as author & maybe star of the Song itself, but whether this is factually true we have no way of telling. What is important is that we read (out loud?) these songs & appreciate them one by one & as a whole. This may take persistence, especially on the part of those of us who don't normally or often read poetry. Perhaps even more so for those of us who were turned off poetry through having to read & study it slavishly for examination purposes rather than enjoyment. To experience Song come alive might enliven a class of students (us?) bored out of their mind with their usual fare! Song is essentially a dialogue between a Bride & Bridegroom, with occasional brief comments from a Narrator or Chorus. Try reading Song as it comes,taking a break after each section. After that it may be helpful to re-read the work with notes from a version of the Scriptures - some versions have more useful notes than others - but whatever we do, let's not interrupt the flow of the Song & its enjoyment by constant reference to the notes!
Among Jewish families there is a long tradition of following the formal observance of Passover with informal songs & games. Song is one such celebratory item often used. What could be more fitting than to follow the formal observance of God's love & faithfulness to the Jewish nation with the informal singing of a 'love song to God' as Song has been referred to, to conclude the festivities?
Pastor & theologian Eugene Peterson reminds us negative sexual metaphors like 'adultery & harlotry are the usual metaphors for describing humankind's role in the covenant with God' This theme of 'love gone wrong' is common in the Hebrew Bible [1]. But in Song the relationship with God is a joyful one in which humankind is not kicked out of Paradise but revels in it with God! Might beginning to explore, develop, & enjoy such a relationship with God be a way back to God for those put off by real or imagined ideas of church or synagogue being for 'wowsers'? But that's another story...next time...52...Isaiah: Split-Personality Prophet
Notes: [1] Peterson (Five Smooth Stones..., p.34, Eerdmans, Michigan, 1980).
Q: Does our kind of personal relationship with God get a mention in Song?
Given our experience by now of writings like Proverbs & Ecclesiastes with their supposed focus on Solomon's wisdom & way with words, we won't be surprised to see Solomon figure prominently as author & maybe star of the Song itself, but whether this is factually true we have no way of telling. What is important is that we read (out loud?) these songs & appreciate them one by one & as a whole. This may take persistence, especially on the part of those of us who don't normally or often read poetry. Perhaps even more so for those of us who were turned off poetry through having to read & study it slavishly for examination purposes rather than enjoyment. To experience Song come alive might enliven a class of students (us?) bored out of their mind with their usual fare! Song is essentially a dialogue between a Bride & Bridegroom, with occasional brief comments from a Narrator or Chorus. Try reading Song as it comes,taking a break after each section. After that it may be helpful to re-read the work with notes from a version of the Scriptures - some versions have more useful notes than others - but whatever we do, let's not interrupt the flow of the Song & its enjoyment by constant reference to the notes!
Among Jewish families there is a long tradition of following the formal observance of Passover with informal songs & games. Song is one such celebratory item often used. What could be more fitting than to follow the formal observance of God's love & faithfulness to the Jewish nation with the informal singing of a 'love song to God' as Song has been referred to, to conclude the festivities?
Pastor & theologian Eugene Peterson reminds us negative sexual metaphors like 'adultery & harlotry are the usual metaphors for describing humankind's role in the covenant with God' This theme of 'love gone wrong' is common in the Hebrew Bible [1]. But in Song the relationship with God is a joyful one in which humankind is not kicked out of Paradise but revels in it with God! Might beginning to explore, develop, & enjoy such a relationship with God be a way back to God for those put off by real or imagined ideas of church or synagogue being for 'wowsers'? But that's another story...next time...52...Isaiah: Split-Personality Prophet
Notes: [1] Peterson (Five Smooth Stones..., p.34, Eerdmans, Michigan, 1980).
Q: Does our kind of personal relationship with God get a mention in Song?
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