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Song of Songs A Patristic Commentary THE SONG OF SONGS FR. TADROS Y. MALATY 2005 Translated by FERIAL MOAWAD English Text Revised by: RAFIK & MARY NICOLA, NAGUI ABDELSAYED & LINDA RAGHEB St. George’s Coptic Orthodox Church Sporting - Alexandria INTRODUCTION TO THE SONG OF SONGS STATUS AMONG THE JEWS The Jewish faith has handed down the Old Testament books to the Christian Church, and Song of Songs is no exception. This book holds a special status among the other books because of its symbolic style announcing the mutual love between God and His Church, or between God and the human soul as a member of the Church. The Hebrew edition of the Torah, which Ezra the scribe gathered in the fifth century B.C., contained this book. Like the other books of the Septuagint, it was translated into Greek in the third century B.C., without any doubt of its spiritual meanings. During the time of our Lord Jesus Christ, Rabbi Shammai tried to exclude Song of Songs from the Holy Bible because of his desire to interpret the book literally. However, the canonicity of this book was confirmed by both the Jewish Traditional Hillel School and the council at Jamnia 1 (95-100 A.D.). In the year 135 A.D., Rabbi Akiba emphasized the importance of this book. He said, “The book is all holy; in fact, the book of Song of Songs is the holiest book. The whole world did not give us a more important book.” In the Targum (means ‘translation’), “The songs and chants which Solomon, the prophet and king of Israel, had uttered through the Holy Spirit before God, were ten, but this song was the best.” The Midrash emphasized that: “The book of Song of Songs is the best song presented to God through the Holy Spirit. It is a song which God praises us and we praise Him!” DIVINE INSPIRATION Perhaps some may wonder why the divine inspiration used this courting style to express the mutual love between God and His Church. Through the divine inspiration, God speaks to us with the same style in a colloquial manner. Moreover, He also uses the same expressions we use, so that the inspiration is not foreign to us. 1 James Hastings: Dictionary of the Bible, N.Y., p. 930. 2 When the Jews came back from the Babylonian captivity, they were unable to understand the Hebrew language of their fathers. Therefore, some of the books of the Bible were orally translated into Aramaic, and then the Aramaic was translated in writing and was called “Targum.” 3 The Midrash: This name is derived from the Hebrew verb “darash” or “daras” which means “investigate” or “search out,” i.e. to. discover or develop a thought not apparent on the surface. In the rabbinical literature, Midrash means the study of the sacred text in general, but more particularly a commentary, or an explanation of a homiletic character. (See our book: “Tradition and Orthodoxy.” 1979, ch. 8, p. 29. (in Arabic) 5 For example, although the Bible mentions that at certain times the Lord became angry, relentless and sorrowful, God cannot become angry (because He is full of love), relentless (because He is all-knowing) or sorrowful (because He does not suffer). However, when the Bible discusses the wrath of God, He wants to declare to us that when we sin, we fall under God’s judgment. Such action is the natural consequence of our sins because we stray from God’s love. In the same manner, the divine inspiration uses human expressions. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (Ps. 34:15-16). Does this mean that God has physical features? Here, the Psalmist talks about God’s care for us with the same language we use! Also, when the Holy Bible mentions God’s throne, does this mean that God has a limited throne to sit upon? All these were written so we may understand God’s kingdom, glory, and splendor, according to our language and human expressions! The divine inspiration speaks to us in a similar manner about the deepest part of our spiritual life: our unity with God through the mysterious spiritual love. Therefore, He uses human language in expressing love between a bride and groom. Our relationship with Him is not based on carnal love but on symbols that carry the depth of the mysteries of this unutterable love. This figurative style of writing is not unique, for all the Gentiles have used it in their writings on the divine passion. The soul is embraced in God’s bosom to live with Him and to satisfy all her needs. This interpretation of the divine love as a spiritual marital love that binds the soul with God is not strange in the Bible, but has been used by both the prophets of the Old Testament as well as the Disciples of the New Testament. We shall see this when we discuss the “The Heavenly Wedding Banquet.” NOT ABOUT CARNAL LOVE The expression of this book cannot be applied to the carnal love, and it cannot agree with what some have said that it is a song which Solomon sung when he married Pharaoh’s daughter. Here are some examples: 1 “Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth, for Your love is better than wine” (Song 1:2) . Thus the bride is communing with her Groom, but she asks for the kisses of someone else’s mouth (“his mouth”). However, she declares that his love (“your love”) is better than wine. How can a bride ask that someone else beside her groom kiss her, while she is communing with her groom? This is impossible to be applied to the carnal love. This is the conversing of the Church with her Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. She asks for the kisses of the Father (i.e., His plan for salvation), which was fulfilled through the practical love of the Son. For the Bible says, “The Only-Begotten Son, who 1 Fr. Abdel-Messih El-Nekhely: “Lights on the Song of Songs.” p. 22-23 (in Arabic) 6 is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). “Because of the fragrance of Your good ointments, Your name is ointment poured forth; therefore, the virgins love You” (Song 1:3) . The bride adores the fragrance of her bridegroom and that his name is ointment poured forth. She declares that the virgins love him. How can a bride rejoice when the other virgins love her bridegroom? The bride here again symbolizes the Church, who wants all believers (all virgins), to love her Bridegroom. “Lead me away! We will run after You” (Song 1:4) . After she started talking in a singular form, she switched to the plural form. Is the speaker here singular or plural? If they were a group, then how can they meet and make love with only one? How can a bride ask her bridegroom to lead her, but take others with her to make love to him? From these examples, we discover that this book was not meant to express physical love between a bride and her bridegroom, but rather it explains a divine love binding God with His Church. AUTHOR AND TITLE Solomon wrote this book, and he also wrote many songs (1 Kings 4:32). This book was named “Song of Songs” to show that repeating the word “song” refers to its superiority over the other songs. This resembles the similar phrases such as “King of kings,” “Lord of lords,” “Holy of holies,” “Sabbath of Sabbaths,” “Heaven of heavens,” “vanity of vanities,” “slave of slaves,” etc. 1 CHARACTERISTICS 1. Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes After Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes, and recognized the reality that the earthly life is “vanity of vanities,” he then experienced the heavenly life and described it as the “Song of songs.” In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon declared that abundance of knowledge does not satisfy the soul. In Song of Songs, the soul is completely satisfied with the divine love and does not need anything else besides Him. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon mentioned that there is nothing new under the sun, but in the book of Song of Songs the soul, entering God’s bosom, opens new horizons. 2. Allegorical Interpretation The Jews understood that this book symbolizes the relationship between God (the Bridegroom) with His people (the bride), until the coming of the Messiah. The Christians 1 Rev. 7:14, 19:16,; 1Tim. 6:15; Eccl. 1:2; Deut. 10:17; Gen. 9:35 7 understood that this book represents the relationship between the Messiah the Savior and His bride, the Church. The Christians took three approaches in explaining the symbolic interpretations of this book, and all these approaches compliment and supplement one another. These are: Origen, St. Jerome , St. Augustine and others see that this book refers to the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church (i.e., the community of believers). St. Gregory of Nyssa and Bernard of Clairvaux relate that this book expresses the relationship between the Lord Christ and the human soul, on a personal level. Origen took this approach for his interpretation, along with the previous approach. 1 Some Catholics interpret this book as addressing the divine incarnation, and relate the bride to being the Virgin St. Mary, the Theotokos . Truly, since the believer tastes the mutual love between God and the catholic (universal) Church, he sees it as a personal love touching his life personally.
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