Song of Songs (The Old Testament Library | OTL)

by J. Cheryl Exum

Publisher:

Westminster John Knox

, 2005

Overview

This original commentary highlights the poetic genius of the Song of Songs, one of the most elusive texts of the Hebrew Bible. J. Cheryl Exum illustrates that genius in the way the song demonstrates to its readers that love is as strong as death. She shows how the song immortalizes love, offering a mature sensitivity to how being in love is different for the woman and the man. Many long–standing conundrums in the interpretation of the book are given persuasive solutions in Exum’s verse–by–verse exegesis.

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Contents

Top Highlights

“The Song’s lovers are archetypal lovers—composite figures, types of lovers rather than any specific lovers” (Page 8)

“He is not the lover in the poem, nor one of the speakers. The Song is not ‘about’ him, and yet he casts his shadow over it.” (Page 90)

“Most commentators tend to date the Song in or around the Hellenistic period, primarily on linguistic grounds” (Page 67)

“relies exclusively on dialogue, so that we learn about love through what lovers say about it” (Page 1)

“Romance transforms the way lovers look at the world around them; suddenly the whole world becomes more beautiful, more vibrant, more wonderful. This is what happens to the Song of Songs lovers.” (Page 13)

Product Details

• Title: Song of Songs
• Author: J. Cheryl Exum
• Series: Old Testament Library Series
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox
• Publication Date: 2005
• Pages: 288
• Christian Group: Reformed
• Resource Type: Commentaries
• Topic: 1 Kings and 2 Kings

About J. Cheryl Exum

J. Cheryl Exum is professor of biblical studies at the University of Sheffield. The author of numerous scholarly works on the Hebrew Bible, her books include Tragedy and Biblical Narrative, Fragmented Women: Feminist (Sub)versions of Biblical Narratives as well as Fragmented Women: Feminist (Sub)versions of Biblical Narratives. She is executive editor of the journal Biblical Interpretation and a director of Sheffield Phoenix Press.