Era 6 · The First KingsSong of Songs
Investigation: The Song's Afterlife
Targum, midrash, Origen, Bernard, the Kabbalists and the mystics
No book of the Bible has had more commentaries per verse. Bernard of Clairvaux preached 86 sermons on it and reached only the first verse of chapter 3. Rabbi Akiva called it the holy of holies; the Zohar calls it the song that contains the whole Torah.
| When | Reader | Tradition | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st–2nd c. AD | Rabbi Akiva (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5) | Jewish | "The Holy of Holies" among the Writings |
| c. 240 | Origen, Commentary (10 books) and Homilies | Christian | Bridegroom and bride: the Word and the church, the Word and the soul |
| c. 390 | Gregory of Nyssa, 15 Homilies | Christian | The soul's endless ascent into God |
| c. 6th c. | Song of Songs Rabbah | Jewish | Verse-by-verse midrash: Sinai, the exodus, the temple, the commandments |
| c. 7th–8th c. (debated) | Targum of the Song | Jewish | A history of Israel from the exodus to the messiah |
| 11th c. | Rashi | Jewish | Allegory of Israel in exile longing for God, with attention to plain sense |
| 12th c. | Abraham ibn Ezra | Jewish | Three readings: words, plain story, allegory |
| 1135–1153 | Bernard of Clairvaux, 86 Sermons | Christian | The kiss of the Word; the soul's experience of God's presence and absence |
| c. 1280s | Zohar and Kabbalah | Jewish | The Song as the union of God's aspects; recited on Friday evenings in some communities |
| c. 1578–1584 | John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle | Christian | A poem modeled on the Song: the soul's union with God |
| 1530s | Martin Luther | Christian | Solomon thanks God for his kingdom and people |
| 19th–21st c. | Historical-critical and literary scholarship | Academic | Human love poetry; comparison with Egyptian songs; women's voices |
Liturgy and art
In Judaism the Song is read at Passover (its spring imagery and the Targum's exodus reading), and many Sephardi and Kabbalistic communities recite it before the Sabbath on Friday evening. In Christian liturgy, verses from the Song entered feasts of the Virgin Mary (4:7, 12; 6:10) and services for virgins and the dedication of churches. Medieval and Renaissance art drew the hortus conclusus and the "tower of David" from the Vulgate into Marian imagery.
Keeping the layers distinct
When the site says "the Targum reads 2:8 as the exodus," it reports a late-antique Jewish interpretation. When it says "Origen reads 1:2 as the Word's kiss," it reports a 3rd-century Christian one. Neither claim is about what the poem's first audience heard. The four-layer views in each chapter lesson (poem, ancient world, Jewish reception, Christian reception) keep these apart (S-C10).
What the evidence shows
- Bernard of Clairvaux's 86 sermons on the Song reach only 3:1.Source: Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs (1135–1153)
- Origen wrote a commentary and homilies on the Song (c. 240).Source: Origen, Commentary and Homilies on the Song of Songs (c. 240; Latin by Rufinus and Jerome)
- The Targum's allegory represents the poem's original meaning. It is a later interpretation.Source: Targum of the Song of Songs (Aramaic; date debated, often placed in the 7th–8th centuries)
Continue the journey
Journey of a PassageSong of Songs 2:1–3: The "rose of Sharon" and the lily"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys": the woman speaks of herself (the next verse answers her with a feminine address).More from this lesson
Why this matters to the rest of Scripture
- Hosea 2; Isaiah 62:4–5God as bridegroom of Israel: the root of the Jewish allegory.
- Ephesians 5:25–32; Revelation 19:7–9Christ and the church as bridegroom and bride.