Canticles

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[font=Verdana]Just in case someone looking in has neither read nor heard anything from Song until just now; I should probably warn them that portions of it may not be suitable for children.

Some of its language is a little disturbing even for grown-ups, especially in mixed company. One thing's for sure: if we're not careful with this topic, we might give the impression that Christians are depraved.

I suppose there are any number of ways to spiritualize Song, and they're probably all very useful. Nothing especially wrong with allegories either; I mean, the apostle Paul allegorized an event from the Old Testament to illustrate his point in Gal 4:21-31, so I think it's probably okay to utilize his method when we ourselves want to draw attention to something important.

But as for me, I'd much rather take this little book in the Old Testament prima facie, viz: as a romantic fantasy rather than some sort of mystical writing. In point of fact, it's possible that Song is a compilation of several unrelated ditties rather than one continuous story.

Now; according to 2Tim 3:15-17; all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

So then, how does Song fulfill that statement? Well; I think it's pretty obvious that Song is going to teach us the effect that true heart-felt romantic love has on people in relationships between normal men and normal women which, I can tell you from personal experience, is very beneficial for new Christians who grew up in dysfunctional homes and/or coming out of a religion that made them feel guilty about their thoughts and feelings for the opposite sex.

â—� Song 1:1 . . Solomon's song of songs.

Solomon penned quite a few songs; something like 1,005 (1Kings 4:32). Whether he wrote the music too or just the lyrics; I don't know; maybe. He was a very intelligent guy, but that doesn't necessarily mean he was a musician; nor even that he could carry a tune; but then he didn't have too. Solomon had a number of professional singers on the payroll. (Ecc 2:8).

"song of songs" suggests a colloquialism like Sadaam Hussein's "mother of all wars". In other words: this particular song may have represented Solomon's best work to date.[/font]

[font=Georgia]NOTE[/font][font=Verdana]: Personally I think Bad Romance is Lady Gaga's best work to date, but keep that under your hat.
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[font=Verdana]â—� Song 1:4a . .Take me away with you-- let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.

At this point in the Song, there's been no mention of a married relationship between the guy and the girl; but that doesn't mean that Shulah's thoughts are improper, rather, perfectly normal and to be fully expected. I pity a guy in love with a girl who has no interest in sleeping with him.

â—� Song 1:4b . . We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine. How right they are to adore you!

We mustn't forget that a man wrote this song, likely thinking himself it's main character, viz: the starring role; so of course he'd picture himself the most irresistible male on the block; and a king to boot. Well; I've seen for myself how girls react to celebrities.

Good Morning America often has musical groups performing outside in the street and one particular day it was Enrique Iglesia.

While Enrique was singing, security hoisted a young girl up on the stage and he began singing his song directly to her. She began choking up and fighting back tears, and then he got down on both knees right in front of her; all the while crooning a very emotional Latin love song and looking right up into her eyes.

And then something happened that was just overwhelming. The girl was wearing a tank top that went down only about mid ways leaving her tummy exposed so you could see her belly button. Enrique gently pressed the palm of his hand on her bare tummy while he was kneeling there singing and looking right up into her eyes. She really lost it then and just about died.

Do you think that girl would have hesitated to bear Enrique's children? I tell you she would have gladly endured quints for that man right then and there. And it's not just the cute celebrities that have that effect on young girls.

My son and I attended an Aerosmith concert back in 1998 and I was utterly astounded at the number of gorgeous buxom young girls crowding security in front of the stage trying to get Stephen Tyler's attention. I don't know how many of you out there have seen a mug shot of Stephen Tyler but I can assure you he looks more like the Witch of Endor than a rock star, but there he was, charming those girls right out of their better judgment.

So then, we shouldn't be surprised that Shulah said to herself: "Let the king bring me into his chambers." Young girls were thinking the very same thing about Elvis Presley back in the early days of his career.
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[JehovahsWitness]

Episode 1 post 9 JEHOVAHS WITNESS


They meet in springtime...

The sound of my dear one! Look! Here he comes, Climbing the mountains, leaping over the hills. - chap 2:8

He loves her ... she loves him...





They walking amongst the flowers as lovers have done since time immemorial.


PLEASE NOTE Song of Solomon is not written an in chronological order; we will be discussing the verses as they happen in chronological order not as they appear in the book.




To be continued ....




RELATED POSTS



How can one get an overview of the Song of Solomon? [video included]
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 163#957163

NOTE All posts I write represent my personal faith based beliefs as one of Jehovah's Witnesses





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[font=Verdana]â—� Song 1:5 . . I am black but lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.

The Hebrew word for "black" is shachor (shaw-khore') which means dusky, defined by Webster's as somewhat dark in color, i.e. somewhere between light and dark; viz: tanned.

Quite a few people here in Oregon frequent tanning salons to darken their skin, while in California they bake themselves in sunlight. But apparently in Shulah's day, women didn't tan on purpose because it was considered unattractive.

The "tents of Kedar" is likely a reference to the portable goatskin shelters utilized by herdsmen in the field, while the "curtains of Solomon" is a reference to the beauty of woven tapestries hanging in his palace.

Shulah had probably never actually seen those tapestries for herself but everybody knew about Solomon's extreme wealth and his ostentatious manner of living.

So, Shulah's feminine attributes outweighed her complexion; and to tell the truth, very few of the men I've encountered during my 75 years on the third rock from the Sun care all that much about the color of a woman's face anyway. It's a very minor consideration; if it's considered at all.

â—� Song 1:6 . . Do not stare at me because I am swarthy, for the sun has burned me. My mother's sons were angry with me; they made me caretaker of the vineyards. But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

Shulah's "own vineyard" no doubt refers to taking care of herself. Grape harvest in that land is sometime around July and September; so you can just imagine the damage done to Shulah's skin out there in the fields under a hot summer Sun.

When women "stare" at each other, it's usually for the purpose of evaluating their appearance; viz: the daughters of Jerusalem were nit-picking Shulah's appearance and likely making unkind remarks about it like when Joan Rivers was on Fashion Police; though for Joan it was all in fun, but I suspect the women in Jerusalem were catty; defined by Webster's as spiteful and malicious.
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[JehovahsWitness]

<< Review Episode 2 post 12 by JEHOVAHS WITNESS


Welcome back, we'll get to the Jerusalem trip in due time, for now let us continue our discussion in chronological order. So far we have a young couple, deeply in love, arranging to meet, and walk together on the hills and orcharards where they had first met.


NOTE The poetic form of the Canticles (Song of Solomon) means it is not always easy to discern who is speaking so I will be posting comments regarding the dialogue as we progress.


The boy sings get praises of beautiful girl.

Look! You are beautiful. Your eyes are those of doves [1:15]


Rise up, my beloved, and come. My beautiful one, come away with me.[2:13]


O my dove, in the retreats of the crag, In the recesses of the cliff [2:14]


Let me see you and hear your voice [2:13]


For your voice is pleasant and your appearance is lovely.’[2:14]

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[font=Verdana]â—� Song 1:7 . . Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends?

A veiled woman following flocks in that day was sort of like the loose women that followed cow towns and mining camps in the olde American west, except that not all veiled women were involved in vice.

When Judah encountered Tamar at a rest stop along the highway, he mistook her for a qedeshah (ked-ay-shaw') which isn't your typical working girl, but rather a devotee raising money for an established religion (Gen 38:21) typically a pagan kind of religion centered upon the worship of a goddess like Ashtoreth (a.k.a. Astarte). So one might say that a qedeshah's services were for a worthy cause.

In those days, cult prostitutes had a measure of respect in their community, and it wasn't unusual for every woman in the community to be expected to take a turn at supporting their "church" in that manner; so cult prostitution wasn't really looked upon as a dirty business, rather, as a sacred obligation.

Still, Shulah wouldn't want it getting around that she was a cult hooker; and it would certainly look that way were she to shadow the flocks. Well; her love interest solved that problem by inviting her to move into camp.

â—� Song 1:8 . . If you yourself do not know, most beautiful among women; go forth on the trail of the flock, and pasture your young goats by the tents of the shepherds.

That would not only provide Shulah a measure of security, but also protect her reputation because our Romeo no doubt solemnly charged his men to keep their pea-pickin' paws off her just as Boaz did in the book of Ruth. (Ruth 2:9)
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[font=Verdana]This next section in the song appears to me a grandiose day dream wherein Shulah imagines herself utterly irresistible and gives herself quite a variety of compliments. I mean, just look at some of this language.

â—� Song 1:9 . . I liken you, my darling, to a mare harnessed to one of the chariots of Pharaoh.

Well; I think we can safely assume that the horses pulling Pharaoh's chariot were well above the quality of your average nag-- the picture of equine health; blue ribbon stock; i.e. the best of the best.

â—� Song 1:10 . .Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels.

Those are an interesting compliments. It's stating, in so many words, that the earrings didn't enhance Shulamite's cheeks, nor the necklace her neck. In other words: the jewelry didn't improve Shulamite's appearance, no, she made the jewelry look better.

There's an old saying that goes something like this: Clothes make the man. Well; I propose a new saying: Women make the jewelry.

â—� Song 1:11 . . We will make you earrings of gold, studded with silver.

You know, it's one thing to walk into a jewelry store and select something from a display case, but quite another to special-order a piece.

I have to say something personal to the single guys out there.

When you finally get around to proposing to your best girl, for heaven's sake don't offer her your mother's ring. No, get one for your girl's very own. Hand-me-downs, regardless of their sentimental value, make no one feel special.

I inadvertently caught a clip of Kim Kardashian planning her wedding wherein she remarked "I want it to be all about me." Well; your marriage won't be all about your bride if you drag your mother into it. Just saying.
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[font=Verdana]â—� Song 1:12 . .While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.

To be "at table" doesn't necessarily refer an item of furniture. The Hebrew word also suffices for just sitting around in a circle, e.g. a picnic. It appears to me that the herders mentioned in verse 8 were on a lunch break.

The Hebrew word for Shulah's perfume identifies an aromatic called nard; commonly translated spikenard. Whether the girl was actually wearing perfume is kind of hard to tell. She may have been imagining this: I mean, who takes care for their grooming while driving sheep and goats?

â—� Song 1:13-14 . . My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.

I'm not really sure how many guys would feel all that manly about themselves being thought of as a little bag of potpourri but at least he'd know that his best girl was happy with him resting his head in that area.

The Hebrew word for Shulah's myrrh shows up for the first time in the Bible at Ex 30:23 where it's a principal ingredient in the recipe for a special holy oil. Myrrh is an aromatic resin. Shulah was a farm girl; I doubt that she could afford any myrrh of her own;

â—� Song 1:14 . . My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.

En Gedi first appears in the Bible as a community at Josh 16:52. Though kind of rocky, it was an attractive oasis due to its abundance of fresh water. The area is a nature preserve now.

I'm guessing that they valued a bouquet of Henna flowers in Shulah's day like we value red roses in ours.

Now we switch to the king's thoughts.

â—� Song 1:15 . . How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.

A humorous ladies tank top that caught my attention some time ago had words on it that said "Tell me I'm beautiful, and buy me a donut."

There are girls who will never once in their entire lives have a guy tell them "Oh how beautiful you are". I'm guessing that Shulah may have been one of those girls.
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[font=verdana]â—� Song 1:16 . . How handsome you are, my beloved, and so pleasant! Indeed, our couch is luxuriant.

The Hebrew word for "luxuriant" actually means verdant, defined by Webster's as green with growing plants; in other words: fertile; which is just the opposite of a land that's so arid, and its soil so bad, that nothing but scrub can grow there.

The absence of vegetation I would think precludes the possibility of meadows, glades, and/or woodlands where you could string a hammock in a shaded area protected from the Sun and just kick back and relax; listening to the sounds of nature-- a breeze in the tree tops, a bubbling brook, chirping birds, and buzzing bugs.

Wise city managers are careful to design tracts with parks in mind because they provide people a pleasant escape from the weary round of life.

â—� Song 1:17 . .The beams of our house are cedars; our rafters are firs.

That is make-believe at its best.

Beams and rafters are the primary structural members of a roof; which when viewed from indoors becomes the ceiling. Ceilings, no matter how ornate, are not what I would call comforting. They're impersonal, and they're cold, and after a while they become quite dull.

But when Shulah is with her lover, that same ceiling becomes to her a forest, i.e. a grove. Shiloh's nearness makes all the difference. He changes Shulah's perspective of what would otherwise be the interior of a very insipid wooden box.
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[font=Verdana]â—� Song 2:1a . . I am a rose of Sharon

Apparently nobody really knows the species of flower meant by a rose in that passage. Some say it's the narcissus, and other say it's the saffron. Personally I prefer the saffron because of it's full bloom, and it's very blue color.

â—� Song 2:1b . . a lily of the valleys.

Again, the species of flower is only a guess. The emphasis here is actually upon the color rather than the species, i.e. white. For that reason, I suspect that the rose and the lily are the self same flower because the narcissus is a white flower that looks very much like a lily.

I also suspect that the flower spoken of in that passage is a wild flower rather than a cultivated species; which no doubt speaks of Shulah's natural beauty. Some girls need quite a bit of make-up to look pretty and alluring, but she didn't. Shulah was quite a stand-out.

â—� Song 2:2 . . Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.

That's quite a compliment. No doubt lots of girls in Jerusalem rivaled Shulah's beauty, but they might just as well have been concealing themselves with full burkas.

My love must be a kind of blind love,
I can't see anyone but you

Are the stars out tonight?
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright,
I only have eyes for you.

The moon may be high,
But I can't see a thing in the sky,
I only have eyes for you.

I don't know if we're in a garden,
Or on a crowded avenue.
Maybe millions of people go by,
But they all disappear from view,
And I only have eyes for you.[/font]
[font=Georgia](Harry Warren and Al Dubin)[/font]

[font=Verdana]That's one of the all-time great loves songs, recorded by The Flamingos in 1959.
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[font=Verdana]â—� Song 2:3a . . Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men.

The Hebrew word for "apple" is somewhat vague. It's possibly a generic term that can pertain to any number of fruit-bearing trees, e.g. oranges, quince, citron, etc which are trees that produce fruits that not only taste good, but smell pretty good too when they're cut open.

Seeing as how Song is a fantasy rather than a fact, we could make Shulah's "apple" tree any species we want, including cherries, which produce not only tasty fruit, but also lovely blossoms too. The exact species isn't all that important. What really matters is the contrast.

Fruit trees produce food, while woodland trees as a rule don't produce any really useful nourishment; unless you're maybe a beaver, a chipmunk, or an insect.

â—� Song 2:3b . . I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

The flesh of fruit is typically soft compared to nuts and seeds, which are usually hard.

Most guys would rather be thought of as an oak's acorn than a fruit. But an oak tree-- whose lumber is certainly far more sturdy than that of most fruit trees --isn't romantic. Oaks are brutish-- like oxen --and who really wants to snuggle with bovines.
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