Week 9 lecture notes

Week 9
Quiz
Reading Song of Songs 5–8
As we read the text, what questions arise?
What do you wonder about?
Song of Songs: Date, Authorship: Solomon or later?
"The Song of Songs which is to Solomon": By? For? About?
The author is not Solomon:
1. Solomon never speaks; he is only spoken about.
2. The references to Solomon are mostly negative (more on this later).
3. Solomon's relationships with women are the opposite of what the Song teaches (more on this later).
4. The Hebrew is late, with Persian loanwords, so probably from after the Babylonian exile, like Ecclesiastes.
Interpretation: Literal or Allegorical?
1. Literal: it is about human love and sexual intimacy
2. Allegorical: it uses the language of human love and intimacy to speak of something else (e.g., the relationship of God and the Church)
· Both interpretations go back to the 200's AD or earlier; the oldest evidence we have is from people objecting to a literal interpretation.
· the Council of Constantinople (550 AD) outlawed the literal reading of the Song.
Is the Song obscene if interpreted literally?
· Many have thought the Song would be obscene if interpreted literally.
· Why should a description of human love and sexuality be a problem?
o In Greek thinking, one's physical nature must be overcome by the mind/spirit.
o The church developed in this Greco-Roman culture assuming a world view influenced by Plato, with his idea that mind is superior to matter; that one's physical nature must be overcome by the mind and spirit.
o The church did not question this view of the physical nature, so celibacy was thought to be spiritual.
· But the view of the Bible is that creation is good, and sexuality is one aspect of that goodness (Genesis 1). (for example, resurrection is always resurrection of the body.)
Discussion
In teams, discuss the following question:
What seems to be the intention of the original author: Was is expected to be read Allegorically or Literally?
· Early Jews and Christians alike (from the second century AD on) interpreted it allegorically; they only disagreed about what the allegory represented.
· If allegory was intended, we have no evidence in the Song itself, and so much would be inexplicable. (E.g., the woman (=the people of God) takes the initiative in "rousing" the man (=God).)
· The author did not think erotic love was a problem.
Break
Men in the Song: One or two? Positive or Negative?
· Two main characters, one male and one female. Hebrew, the verb and noun suffixes help distinguish the speakers.
Is the man Solomon and the woman his bride? I doubt it.
1. He is young (black hair; leaping like a young stag).
2. 3:6–11 and 8:10–12 do not present Solomon positively, in contrast to the woman's lover.
Egyptian love songs
Read Egyptian Love Songs # 3, 9, 31–34.
In teams, discuss the following question:
What similarities and differences do you see between these Egyptian love songs and the biblical Song of Songs?
· The woman is called "sister" (chapter 4; #9)
· They compliment each other: "most" beautiful, perfect (1:8; #31; 5:2)
· They describe anatomy with metaphors (#3; 5:13; #31; 5:11; 7:3–4)
· No dialogue in the Egyptian songs. They are not in each others' presence.
Human Sexuality
· God created the world good, and sexual activity is a part of that good creation (Genesis 1).. Yet it has come to be treated as a commodity, bought & sold, or used to exert power, manipulate, and control.
· Some consider it dirty, others (who treat it as a leisure activity) almost holy. We must not act as if it is the church's job to legitimate the fallen world.
· The gospel is about expressing our humanity, not repressing major parts of it. If one puts faith and humanness in conflict, humans will be unable to handle the conflict and choose humanness. If we think of God as a God of unreasonable prohibitions, we have bought the serpent's lie (Genesis 3:1), not the freedom granted by God (2:16).
· That said, certain types of sexual activity are not good for us. Consider the question in the light of the worldview of wisdom literature, as seen in Proverbs.
The person who will do well in this life is one who recognizes that someone besides himself created the world (3:14; 11:5; 7:14), and who observes the world around him to learn how it works (8:16–17) and how he can live in harmony with the way God made it (8:12–13).
· A wise relationship is one where you know your place and don't pretend you're an exception to the rule. Just as there is appropriate behaviour, there is appropriate sexual activity. Inappropriate activity will only end up hurting yourself. It goes against the way things are.
· Title
Song of Songs = the best song. is about the love of a man and a woman. Implication: sex and all that goes with it are good things, and its ok to talk about them without shame.
The woman resists being considered the property of males. She is not passive and receptive; she initiates.
For Next Week:
· Song 3:1–6:10
· Provan 297–347
Not to be handed in; simply recommended for a good paper:
Write an abstract of your paper.