The Song of Songs: Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries | TOTC)

by Iain M. Duguid

Publisher:

Inter-Varsity

, 2015

Overview

This Old Testament book, ‘the best of songs’, has fascinated and perplexed interpreters for centuries. We hear the passionate melody of romantic love, and are confronted by erotic imagery—but whose love is described? Is it a couple’s love for each other, God’s love for his people, or a poem that speaks to love in all its dimensions? Iain Duguid’s commentary explains how the Song is designed to show us an idealized picture of married love, in the context of a fallen and broken world. It also convicts us of how far short of this perfection we fall, both as humans and as lovers, and drives us repeatedly into the arms of our true heavenly husband, Jesus Christ. Replacing G. Lloyd Carr’s The Song of Solomon, Duguid’s commentary on the Song of Songs utilizes up-to-date scholarship to paint a fresh picture of this provocative Old Testament text.

Contents

Top Highlights

“In fact, the Song of Songs is best understood as a wisdom piece about two idealized people, a man and a woman, whose exclusive and committed love is deep but, like all loves in this fallen world, far from perfect. Their idealized love story is contrasted with the alternative Solomonic model of ‘love’ that we see in 1 Kings 11, a model that views marriage primarily as a commercial and political transaction, a means to wealth, security or political advancement.” (Page 36)

“Marriage is designed by God to give us language and experiences that are not merely satisfying and delightful in themselves, but out of which we learn to understand our relationship with God more fully.” (Page 48)

“Some scholars have sought to separate out a typological approach as a third way, similar to allegory but distinct from it. In true allegory, the literal meaning is of no significance; however, in typology, the literal meaning is recognized as valid in its own right, but the interpreter then goes on to link that meaning with an event or teaching in the New Testament that is here foreshadowed.” (Page 27)

“Like a mirror, allegorical exegesis tells us much more about the interpreter than it does about the biblical text.” (Page 30)

“The modern prevalence of therapeutic interpretations of the Song of Songs in preference to older Christ-centred allegories may thus tell us something significant about the functional priorities of the church in our day and age, but it doesn’t help us to understand the text.” (Page 30)

Product Details

• Title: The Song of Songs: An Introduction and Commentary
• Author: Iain M. Duguid
• Series: Tyndale Commentaries
• Volume: 19
• Publisher: Inter-Varsity
• Print Publication Date: 2015
• Logos Release Date: 2017
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible. O.T. Song of Songs › Commentaries
• ISBNs: 9781783591909, 9780830842865, 9780830899142, 9781596389489, 1783591900, 0830842861, 0830899146, 1596389486
• Resource ID: LLS:TOTC22SODUGUID
• Resource Type: Bible Commentary
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-10-10T22:43:10Z

About Iain M. Duguid

Rev. Dr. Iain Duguid (PhD, Cambridge) is professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary. Dr. Duguid’s academic interests include various topics of Old Testament theology. His doctoral research was on Ezekiel, which was published in the Supplements to Vetus Testamentum series, and he remains part of the small but lively group of scholars around the world interested in the theology of that prophet. He has also published scholarly work on Esther, Nehemiah, the Song of Songs, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi as well as more popular treatments of the patriarchs, Esther, and Daniel. Current research projects include Judges, the biblical theology of worship, and preaching Christ from the different genres of the Old Testament. As part of the oversight committee for the Holman Christian Standard Bible, he engages in regular discussions about best practices in Bible translation. He has also contributed to many study Bibles.