J. Cheryl Exum

Song of Songs

A Commentary

WJK	Westminster
	John Knox Press
	louisville • kentucky

THE OLD TESTAMENT LIBRARY

Editorial Advisory Board

William P. Brown

Carol A. Newsom

David L. Petersen

© 2005 J. Cheryl Exum

Originally published in hardback in the United States by Westminster John Knox Press in 2005.

2011 paperback edition

Published by Westminster John Knox Press

Louisville, Kentucky

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396.

Research for this commentary was supported in part by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Board (now the Arts and Humanities Research Council) in the United Kingdom.

“my love”. Copyright 1923, 1951, © 1991 by the Trustees for the E. E. Cummings Trust. Copyright © 1976 by George James Firmage, from Complete Poems: 1904–1962 by E. E. Cummings, edited by George J. Firmage. Used by permission of Liveright Publishing Corporation.

“Bella” [“Beauty”] is copyright © Brian Cole, 1994; used by permission.

Book design by Jennifer K. Cox

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

ISBN 978-0-664-23841-4 (paper edition)

The Old Testament Library

CONTENTS

Abbreviations

Select Bibliography

Introduction

1 A Love Poem

2 Love and Death

3 Controlling Poetic Strategies

The Illusion of Immediacy

Conjuring

The Invitation to the Reader

The Lovers as Representing All Lovers

Blurring Distinctions between Anticipation and Enjoyment of Love

Love Forever in Progress: Repetition and Resistance to Closure

4 Gendered Love-Talk and the Relation of the Sexes

Different Ways of Speaking about Love

Lovesick and Awestruck

Speaking Metaphorically about the Female and Male Body

Erotic Look or Voyeuristic Gaze?

The Song and Conventional Gender Relations

5 Poetic Composition and Style

Text and Translation

A Masterpiece of Pure Poetry

One Poem or Many?

Literary Arrangement and Its Significance

Lyric Poetry and Reading for the Plot

Fantasy, Reality, and Poetic Imagination

6 The Song of Songs and Its World

Literary Context: Ancient Near Eastern Love Poetry

Historical-Cultural Context

Social World

A Book of the Bible

7 The Song of Songs and Its Readers

Allegorical Interpretation

The Dramatic Theory

Wedding Songs

Cultic Interpretation

Feminist Criticism

Privileging the Reader

COMMENTARY

1:1 Superscription

1:2–4 The Voice of Desire

1:5–2:7 A Dialogue about Love

2:8–3:5 The Woman’s First Long Speech

3:6–11 The Woman’s First Long Speech, A Continuation

4:1–5:1 The Man’s First Long Speech

5:2–6:3 The Woman’s Second Long Speech

6:4–7:9 [10 H] The Man’s Second Long Speech

7:10–13 [11–14 H] The Woman’s Reply

8:1–14 A Dialogue about Love