Song of Songs

Click here for the end of Ecclesiastes.  Now for the next book - Song of Songs.

CHAPTER 1

And now, for what may very well be the most unlikely book in the entire Bible.  Sure, Ecclesiastes didn’t seem to have much interest in that whole God thing.  And sure, the Book of Esther didn’t even mention God (unless you have the Catholic version, and even there the extra parts felt weirdly tacked on).  But at least Ecclesiastes dealt with the big questions of what gives life meaning.  But at least Esther was about the Jewish people.

But Song of Songs? Eh, well – hmm – let’s just say it’s a very, very different kind of Bible book.  Yeah, that’s one way of putting it.

So what is it?  Well, let me go back to the old family Catholic Bible; the one my mom got from her mother.  It was printed back in 1950 – before Vatican II.  It titles this book “Canticle of Canticles” – and really, that’s a much nicer title.  “Song of Songs” just sounds lame by comparison.  Anyhow, here is the old school Catholic interpretation of this book, as per the 1950 introduction.  This book is, “concerning the union of God and His people and particularly of Christ and his spouse: which is here begun by love; and is to be eternal in heaven.  The spouse of Christ is he church.”

Got it?  This is a poem about the love between Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church.  That’s what it’s about. 

So with that in mind, I present to you the book – a book which clearly, obviously, and blatantly has nothing at all do with the union between Christ and the church.

The first part of Chapter 1 is called “The Woman Speaks of Her Lover” – and this first-person section begins, “Let him kiss me with kisses of his mouth.” 

Yeah, right away, any allegorical interpretations have just gone right into the ditch.  Deep into a motherfucking ditch.  And it keeps up like this.  The entire first section is a woman talking about how wonderful her lover is.  It has a nice line “for your love is better than wine.”  That sounds like an analogy with a future. 

Oh, I guess we can claim that the wine reference refers to the Last Supper and thus communion, right?  Eh, sure.  To be fair, Catholics aren’t the only ones who make some absurd allegorical claims for the book.  I guess the religious leaders feel they have to do something like that – how else can they explain this being in the Bible. It’s pretty clearly a straight up love poem.  So what the hell is it doing in the Bible?  I have no idea, but I sure am glad it’s here.

It’s a really nice love poem.  Our female protagonist exclaims of her man, “Let us exult and rejoice in your, let us celebrate your love: it is beyond wine!”  Fun fact: while reading this section, I was listening to “Praise You” by Fatboy Slim on my iPod.  I recommend doing this while reading this book.

I’m still just four verses in.  The thing gets more interesting as we learn more about the lady of the moment.  She says, “I am black and beautiful.”  Wow!  I didn’t see that one coming, did you?  She goes on, “Do no stare at me because I am so black.”  Huh.  So, she’s exotic then.  We’re later told that she’s the “most beautiful among women.”  Say it loud, she’s black and she’s proud. 

And our proud black beauty is deeply in love.  She calls her lover beautiful three times in two verses, and also notes, “My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh between my breasts he lies.”  Hey Pope and Papal posse – which part of the Catholic Church is the breasts in your analogy?  Or is it that Christ has breasts?

Oh, one other thing.  We’re told that, “The king has brought me to his bed chambers.”  So does that mean the person she’s so in love with is the king?  (That would be Solomon, as some Bibles call this book the Song of Solomon).  Well, I guess, but it when he describes her love, it sounds like someone she knows better.  As we go along, it seems unclear as to who her lover is – Solomon or just some lucky local kid.

CHAPTER 2

This has a great start: “I am a flower of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.”  Yeah, whoever this poet is, the poet knows the words. 

It’s mostly more about how in love our beautiful black female is.  This is a very physical love, as we’re told her lover’s “fruit is sweet to my taste.”  So …..what part of Christ is the fruit?  Oh, she said taste – must be the communion wafer.  Also, “His left hand is under my head, and his right arm embraces me.”  Now, if his left hand is under her head, wouldn’t that mean she’s lying down?  So…..hey-hey!  Jesus is getting freaky with the Roman Catholic Church!

She remembers when her lover visited and calls him a young stag.  “My lover belongs to me and I to him.”  There’s another nice line – and that one can actually work as an analogy for the Church (provided that you ignore all the other lines in the poem so far).

CHAPTER 3

We’re really heading towards a climax here, no pun intended.  She’s lying in bed, desiring the one she loves.  She is so ready for him – ahem – that she gets out of bed and takes to the streets.  She goes around asking all that are there if they’ve seen the one she loves.  My oh my – she sure is revved up.  Clearly, this can only be the union of Christ and the Catholic Church we’re talking about. 

Then she finds him!  “I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him to my mother’s house, to the chamber of her who conceived me.”  A-hem!  Yeah, it sounds like she is about ready to get it on.  “Praise You” might work earlier on, but here you might need a slow jam or something.  Maybe slip on some Barry White if you have it. 

Next comes a nice bit of advice, “I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the does of the field, do not awaken or stir up love until it is ready.”  Advice like that has been given out how many times across history?  More times than anyone can count.  And this case it can be taken two ways.  Either she’s glad she’s waited for this moment, or she’s wishing she’d waited longer than this moment.  But right now it seems like the first interpretation.

But wait – before anything else can happen, our story takes a very different turn.  Before anything happens in the chamber of her who conceived our protagonist, columns of smoke rise up in the desert.  (Suddenly, it’s daytime or something.  Weird).  It’s Solomon!  He’s coming along pimped out with his posse, with all of his bling showing.  He’s got 60 men – all wonderful warriors armed with swords.  He’s got his silver and purple cloth and his riches all with him.

We’re told it’s the day of his marriage.  So….. is our main character going to be taken from her love just before consummation to be with Solomon? 

CHAPTER 4

Now, after three verses from the point of view of our female lead, we shift focus to the guy.  I guess it’s Solomon, as he strolled up at the end of the last chapter.  Besides, it sounds like there’s a marriage about to happen, and that fits with what’s going to be said here.

Enough of the boring part of trying to figure out exactly who is who.  Now for the fun part – what’s going on.  And what’s going on is really simple: a bunch of sweet-talking. 

He loves everything about her.  She is beautiful, and beautiful in every way.  He goes over all parts.  Her eyes are like doves behind her veil.  (Huh.  The female is wearing a veil.  That’s interesting.  Her teeth are great.  Her lips are great.  Her cheeks are great.  Her breasts – yup, this supposed allegory for the love between Christ and the Catholic Church takes some time to rave about her breasts.  She is flawless in every way, and has ravished his heart.  “How much better is your love than wine,” we’re told.  Hey – they’re using the same lines!  Also, “your lips drop honey, my bride.”  Yeah, that’s another good one.  You can practically see her melting as you read this.  Someone is so getting laid tonight.

That said, some lines ….well, some lines just don’t translate that well.  How about this one: “Your hair is like a flock of goats.”  What’s that now?  Yeah, I can see the honey line and the sweeter than wine line – but the flock of goats?  That one hasn’t survived very well.

Actually, I can kind of figure this one out, thanks to Exodus.  Back there, the Bible had an extended section describing the construction of the Ark of the Lord.  We heard all about its building materials for several chapters.  Among all the special materials and gold and glorious materials, was goat hair.  Apparently, goat hair was very fine and nice.  Saying she has hair like goats means she has really nice hair.  I guess.

He also says, “Like pomegranate halves, your cheeks behind your veil.”  (Again, a reference to her wearing a veil).  Pomegranate references haven’t really stood the test of time in love poems. 

CHAPTER 5

They’re about to get it on.  He tells her, “Open to me, my sister.”  Folks – this is in the Bible.  Again: I defy to find a less likely Bible book in the Bible.  (Can you imagine what the Books of Tobit and Judith must be thinking?  “What?  They kicked us out but left this in? Seriously, Martin Luther? Seriously?”) 

Sure enough, she’s game.  She opens for her love and is ready for him – but he’s gone!  Wait –what?  The hell?  All that build up, all that talk?  Huh?  This part doesn’t make much literal sense, so score that for the people who see the poem as an allegory, but the allegorical interpretation still has more problems than a literal take would.

So now she’s out looking for her lover.  She pauses to tell the reader, “I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my love, what shall you tell him?  That I am sick with love.”  One comment: this is the first time all Bible long I’ve gotten a sense that the writer is female. Mostly it’s guys.  They were the scribes, after all.  Other parts could’ve been written by a woman, but this one feels like it more than anything else. 

Some people stop her to ask for a description of her lover.  Since this is right after she addressed the Daughters of Jerusalem, I guess that’s who she is talking to.  But her being asked for a description sounds like she’s going to give a missing person’s report to the cops.  So I imagined the rest of the chapter as her speaking to Detective Lenny Briscoe from Law & Order.  (Hey, Lenny is a Jew at least).

Briscoe: Can you describe he?

Female lead: “My lover is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among thousands.”

Briscoe: Reddish, huh?  When you say outstanding, I take it you don’t mean he’s just really tall.

Female: “His hair like palm fronds, as black as a raven.”

Briscoe: Black hair, got it.

Female; “His eyes are like doves beside streams of water, bathing in milk.”

Briscoe: Lady, you’d make my job a lot easier here if you’d just say, “dark eyes.”

Female: “His loins, a work of ivory covered with sapphires.”

Briscoe: Uh, I hope we don’t have to look there to try to identify him.  Couldn’t you just give us a name or something?  Are those sapphires piercings or something?

CHAPTER 6

Rejoice!  He’s been found!  How he left and why he left are questions unanswered (never brought up, in fact). 

But they are united once more.  And he gives her some more sweet talk.  Wait – it’s the same sweet talk.  Some lines are left out this time (no breasts reference) but we get the goat hair and the pomegranate halves and many other lines already used.  If this is Solomon, that’s kind of lame.  He’s king and supposedly really wise.  Can’t he think of a second speech?  If it is just a local lad she fancies, it’s actually a little endearing.  He loves her and has a found a few words to express himself, but – well, he’s a little inexperienced at this whole wooing thing I guess.  So he’s just reusing the old material. 

And to the walnut grove they go down together. And what happens?  “Before I knew it, my desire had made me the blessed one of the prince’s people.”  So, uh, consummation then?  Weird euphemism for it, but that’s my best hunch.

CHAPTER 7

Well, maybe it hasn’t been consummated just yet.  He’s admiring her. Some of the lines we’ve heard before, but this time many of the lines are new.  Here’s another pick up line that hasn’t survived the ages, “Your belly, a mound of wheat, encircled with lilies.”  Yeah, I don’t think you want the use the word “mound” when discussing a woman’s belly these days. 

But he’s moved beyond goats when complimenting her on her hair: “Your hair is like purpose, a king is caught in its locks.” I’m not sure I fully get it, but purple was the royal color, so I guess he’s saying her hair is majestic. 

And he reaches his peak with the following: “Your very form resembles a date-palm, and your breasts, clusters.  I thought, `Let me climb the date-palm!  Let me take hold of its branches!  Let your breasts be like clusters of the vine, and the fragrance of your breath like apples and your mouth like the best wine – that flows down smoothly for my lover, gliding over my lips and teeth.”  I take back what I said last chapter – ain’t nothing consummated yet.  They’re still working their way there. 

She chimes in with “I belong to my lover, his yearning is for me.”  That seems to be the central line of the poem. 

They go down to the garden, where all sorts of fruit are in bloom.  There is seems like they’ll finally do it, after plenty of panting and pleading and yearning.  ‘cuz that’s so incredibly like the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and Jesus Christ!

CHAPTER 8

The first line of this last chapter really kills a lot of the mood we’ve been building up: “Would that you were a brother to me, nursed at my mother’s breasts!”  Ummm .. huh?  When you’re on the verge of having sex, maybe you don’t tell the guy you wish you were siblings.  The days of Abraham and Sarah are long ago (and they were only half-siblings).  And maybe you don’t bring up your mother’s breasts.  That’s just …weird. 

But then we’re told why she feels this way – she could kiss him outside and no one would despise her.  Yeah, but – he’d be your brother. Still gross.

They poem rehashes some lines we’ve already come across, most notably again her statement to tell the girls to wait until the right moment to have sex.  I guess the time is now ripe.  No more Solomon going to come along in his pimp-mobile.  (I get the feeling that the man she’s with is a local guy.  Regardless, we hear virtually nothing about him all poem long, except that he’s pretty and that he thinks she’s is beautiful). 

They are happy.  They are in love.  They are together.  The book ends with her saying, “Swiftly, my lover, be like a gazelle or a young stag upon the mountains of spices.”  If Alfred Hitchcock was directed it, here we’d have a train entering a tunnel while the words “THE END” flash on the screen.  They’ve achieved unity, sexual unity. 

It’s a happy ending indeed.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Now that’s what I call a poem!  That was entertaining and memorable.  I had trouble following it at times, but the language was great, and the emotions of yearning and love came clearly through.  That sure is some kind of poem!

But is it a Biblical poem?  Well, in a literal sense, sure, because it’s a poem in the Bible.  But that just brings up the question – WHY is it the Bible?  The Catholic interpretation seems so strained that it’s worth a laugh and little more.  (OK, it’s worth many laughs – but still little more).  This is a secular love poem.  Solomon shows up for a few seconds (unless he’s really the main guy), but either way, the star of the poem is the lady.  And the poem is about her yearnings and feelings more than anything else. 

So why include it?  I have one thought. 

In Medieval Europe, there were mystics who envisioned their relationship with Christ in very personal terms.  One female mystic, Hadewijch of Brabant, wrote of her love for Christ in such personal and emotional terms as to be sexual.  Is there something like this going on here?

Maybe, but Solomon isn’t Christ.  And I still don’t see what the analogy would be.  More than anything else, I think it was just a well-written poem, featuring a prominent Biblical character, and was extremely popular.  Since it was so popular, they put it in.  It was too well known to leave out.  Essentially, it’s Biblical fan fiction.  Take Solomon, and insert him in your story – and whadaya know, you do a good enough job and it advances from fan-fic to part of the canon. 

Or maybe there is something else causing this book to make it into the Bible.  I don’t really know.  One thing I’ll give the Bible compilers a lot of credit for.  They’re not shying away from controversy when selecting books to make the final cut.  The Bible doesn’t always speak with one voice.  That is actually a lot of its power, as it gives you different angles to play against.  Job acknowledges that the world can’t be justified on moral terms.  Ecclesiastes notes how to live a good life without reference to God.  And Song of Songs introduces a personal, sexual emotion – and a female emotion, too.  They all help broaden the scope of the Bible.

This is a great book.  It’s also maybe the most distinctive book in the entire Bible.

Click here to start the next book, the Book of Wisdom.