The Message of the Song of Songs
The lyrics of love
Tom Gledhill
Inter-Varsity Press
Norton Street, Nottingham NG7 3HR, England
mail: ivp@ivpbooks.com
Website: www.ivpbooks.com
© Tom Gledhill, 1994
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Inter-Varsity Press or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton, a division of Hodder Headline Ltd. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a trademark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.
First published 1994
Reprinted 1996, 2000 (twice), 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-0-85110-967-1
Inter-Varsity Press publishesChristian books that are true to the Bible and that communicate the gospel, develop discipleship and strengthen the church for its mission in the world.
Inter-Varsity Press is closely linked with the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, a student movement connecting Christian Unions in universities and colleges throughout Great Britain, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. Website: www.uccf.org.uk.
The Bible Speaks Today
Series Editors: J. A. Motyer (OT)
John R. W. Stott (NT)
GENERAL PREFACE
The Bible Speaks Today describes three series of expositions, based on the books of the Old and New Testaments, and on Bible themes that run through the whole of Scripture. Each series is characterized by a threefold ideal:
• to expound the biblical text with accuracy
• to relate it to contemporary life, and
• to be readable.
These books are, therefore, not ‘commentaries’, for the commentary seeks rather to elucidate the text than to apply it, and tends to be a work rather of reference than of literature. Nor, on the other hand, do they contain the kinds of ‘sermons’ that attempt to be contemporary and readable without taking Scripture seriously enough. The contributors to The Bible Speaks Today series are all united in their convictions that God still speaks through what he has spoken, and that nothing is more necessary for the life, health and growth of Christians than that they should hear what the Spirit is saying to them through his ancient—yet ever modern—Word.
Alec Motyer
John Stott
Derek Tidball
Series editors
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About The Message of the Song of Songs: The Lyrics of LoveAt first reading, the Song of Songs appears to be an unabashed celebration of the deeply rooted urges of physical attraction, mutual love, and sexual consummation between a man and a woman. Tom Gledhill maintains that the Song of Songs is in fact just that—a literary, poetic exploration of human love that strongly affirms loyalty, beauty, and sexuality in all their variety. With tender metaphor and extravagant imagery, the Song of Songs writer spins a tale of human love into the cadence of verse, innocent of our quest for historical persons behind the text. But in God’s story, human beauty, intimacy, and sexuality are not ends in themselves. They are transencedental longings, whispers of immortality. Like all of creation, they point beyond themselves to their divine Author, who in this Song of Songs is nowhere mentioned but everywhere assumed. This book is a refreshing reminder of the Song of Song’s ancient and vibrant affirmation of human sexuality that forms an interlude in the Old Testament story and echoes between the lines of Christian revelation. |
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