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The Religiosity of the Book of Song of Songs in Context

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The Religiosity of the Book of Song of Songs in Context THE RELIGIOSITY OF THE BOOK OF SONG OF SONGS IN CONTEXT by PIETER VAN DER ZWAN submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject OLD TESTAMENT at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF E H SCHEFFLER MARCH 2012 in loving memory of YVONNE VAN JAARSVELD (22 July 1957 – 11 August 1999) who taught me ִּכי- ַע ָּזה ַכ ָּמוֶת ַא ֲה ָּבה ABSTRACT Despite its chequered interpretational history, the book of Shîr ha-Shîrîm (Song of Songs) in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament has still not come to its fullest religious potential. The reason is that it has mainly served relatively closed religious traditions defined by the exclusion of those that have reacted against it. As the text of Song of Songs itself does not explicitly testify to any religiosity, these communities have understood it religiously by projecting their own predetermined needs and beliefs onto it. The text does, however, suggest several layers in the history of its formation, representing different levels of consciousness and stages of religiosity. In the postmodern globalising context where the importance of interfaith understanding is increasingly realised and the nature of human religiosity is constantly redefined in terms of ever-broadening horizons, the religiosity of the book has been stretched as wide as possible by also taking into consideration the ancient contextual influences which could have left their traces on the unconscious mind of its author(s) and redactor(s). To this end, the transpersonal psychological theory of Kenneth Wilber as interpreted by Michael Washburn has been used. Wilber’s inclusive view of religiosity respects all its forms as developmentally appropriate expressions of experiences of the divine which should all be taken seriously. The explicit “absence” of the divine in Song of Songs has been so conspicuous that it has ironically made it more present and led to a greater search for the Ineffable whose whispering and footprints are discernible in relation to the level of consciousness. Exploring the religiosity of Song of Songs in this way then becomes an exercise in being more sensitive to the presence of the divine in all other areas of life as well. Traditional polarities such as sexuality and religiosity are dissolved at the same time and proven to coincide as two aspects of the same experience. Not only does erotic love open one’s eyes to the divine in nature as the body of God, but one also encounters the divine in the body. Key terms Song of Songs – religiosity – sex and religion – transpersonal psychology – consciousness – Near East – Hebrew Bible/Old Testament – postmodern philosophies – Shîr ha-Shîrîm – erotic love 1 THE RELIGIOSITY OF THE BOOK OF SONG OF SONGS IN CONTEXT by PIETER VAN DER ZWAN CONTENTS Page CHAPTER ONE: PRE-TEXTS: INTRODUCTION 1 1 PROBLEM STATEMENT 1 2 BACKGROUND: TRADITIONAL SOLUTIONS 1 2.1 SETTING THE SCENE 1 2.2 CULTIC INTERPRETATIONS 3 2.3 ALLEGORICAL AND TYPOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS 4 2.4 LITERAL INTERPRETATIONS 7 2.5 MYSTICAL INTERPRETATIONS 8 3 THE CONCEPT OF RELIGION 10 3.1 DEFINITIONS OF RELIGION 10 3.2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGION 13 3.3 RELIGION IN TERMS OF CONSCIOUSNESS 13 3.3.1 Pre-egoic stage 17 3.3.1.1 Pre-egoic stage: Sensoriphysical 17 3.3.1.2 Pre-egoic stage: Fantasmic-emotional 19 3.3.1.3 Pre-egoic stage: Representational mind 20 3.3.2 Egoic stage 20 3.3.2.1 Egoic stage: Rule or role mind 20 3.3.2.2 Egoic stage: Formal-reflective 20 3.3.2.3 Egoic stage: Vision-logic 20 3.3.3 Trans-egoic stage 21 3.3.3.1 Trans-egoic stage: Psychic 21 3.3.3.2 Trans-egoic stage: Subtle 21 3.3.3.3 Trans-egoic stage: Causal 21 4 HYPOTHESIS OR ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO THE RELIGIOSITY OF SONG OF SONGS 22 5 METHODOLOGY 22 6 RATIONALE: PSYCHOLOGY AS HERMENEUTICAL TOOL FOR BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION 24 7 CHAPTER OUTLINE 26 CHAPTER TWO: INTERTEXT: THE ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN BACKGROUND 29 1 METHODOLOGICAL REMARKS ON STUDYING CULTURE 29 2 DIFFERENT AGES 32 2.1 PREHISTORY OF THE LEVANT 34 3 MESOPOTAMIA 43 3.1 SUMERIA 44 3.2 AKKADIA BEFORE BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA 53 3.2.1 Babylonia 58 3.2.2 Assyria 60 4 SYRO-PALESTINE 63 4.1 UGARIT AND ITS SURROUNDINGS 63 4.2 ISRAEL 67 5 ARABIA 76 6 EGYPT 88 7 CONCLUSION 95 CHAPTER THREE: TEXT: EXEGETICAL REFLECTIONS ON SONG OF SONGS 96 1 INTRODUCTION: ASPECTS OF MULTILEVELLED RELIGIOSITY 96 1.1 HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT 97 1.1.1 Entering 97 1.1.2 Exiting 100 1.2 VERTICAL MOVEMENT 101 1.3 CONCEPTION, BIRTH AND NEW LIFE 102 2 PRE-EGOIC STAGE 103 2.1 PRE-EGOIC STAGE: ARCHAIC LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY 103 2.1.1 Narcissism 103 2.1.2 Sensuality 105 2.1.2.1 Aural sensuality 106 2.1.2.2 Visual sensuality 107 2.1.2.3 Gustatory sensuality 108 2.1.2.4 Tactile sensuality 109 2.1.2.5 Olfactory sensuality 109 2.1.3 The body 110 2.1.4 Physical functions 117 2.1.5 The four elements 118 2.1.5.1 Earth 119 2.1.5.2 Water 119 2.1.5.3 Air 120 2.1.5.4 Fire 121 2.1.6 Emotionality 122 2.1.7 States of consciousness 123 2.1.8 Supports, containers and vehicles 125 2.2 PRE-EGOIC STAGE: MAGICAL LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY 128 2.2.1 Linguistic evidence 128 2.2.2 Animism 130 2.2.3 Matriarchal age 130 2.2.4 Sacred scrolls 134 2.2.5 Totemism 136 2.2.5.1 Gemstones and minerals 137 2.2.5.2 Plants 139 2.2.5.3 Animals 155 2.2.6 Jungian “archetypes” 163 2.3 PRE-EGOIC STAGE: CULTIC-MYTHIC LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY 164 2.3.1 Love personified 164 2.3.2 Remnants from the sacred marriage cult 165 2.3.3 Planetary associations 167 2.3.4 Nocturnal terrors 168 2.3.5 Anthropomorphic representation 169 2.3.6 Deities 170 2.3.7 Ritual song 172 2.3.8 Allegorical interpretations 172 2.3.9 Incantations or oaths 173 2.3.10 Change and resistance 175 2.3.11 Holy places 176 2.3.11.1 Valleys 176 2.3.11.2 Deserts 176 2.3.11.3 Mountains 177 2.3.11.4 Cities 180 2.3.12 Contrast 181 2.3.13 Conflict 183 2.3.14 Smells 184 3 EGOIC STAGE 185 3.1 EGOIC STAGE: RATIONAL LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY 185 3.1.1 Dualistic thinking 185 3.1.2 Naturalism 186 3.1.3 Gender clarity 188 4 TRANS-EGOIC STAGE 188 4.1 TRANS-EGOIC STAGE: PSYCHIC LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY 188 4.1.1 Inclusivity 188 4.1.2 Eschatological dimension: Beyond this life 188 4.1.3 Dissolution of conflict 190 4.1.4 Peace 191 4.2 TRANS-EGOIC STAGE: SUBTLE AND CAUSAL LEVELS OF RELIGIOSITY 192 CHAPTER FOUR: CONTEXT: (POST)MODERN REFLECTIONS ON SEX AND RELIGIOSITY 193 1 SETTING THE SCENE 193 2 ALL SEX, NO RELIGION: SIGMUND FREUD (1856-1939) 193 3 ARCHETYPES AND SYMBOLS: CARL GUSTAV JUNG (1875-1961) 197 4 SEX, DEATH AND RELIGION: GEORGES BATAILLE (1897-1962) 199 5 SEX AND WORK: HERBERT MARCUSE (1898-1979) 205 6 SEX, KNOWLEDGE AND POWER: MICHEL FOUCAULT (1926-1984) 208 7 ALL PLEASURE, NO RELIGION: MICHEL ONFRAY (b. 1959) 219 8 NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF RELIGIOSITY AND SEXUALITY 224 9 TWO WORLD VIEWS 228 10 CONCLUSION 229 CHAPTER FIVE: SUBTEXT(S): EMBRACING SONG OF SONGS 1 INTRODUCTION 232 1.1 OVERVIEW OF CHAPTERS 232 1.2 THE NATURE OF RELIGIOSITY 236 2 PRE-EGOIC STAGE 238 2.1 PRE-EGOIC STAGE: THE ARCHAIC LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY 238 2.1.1 The nature of sexuality 239 2.1.2 Sensuality 240 2.2 PRE-EGOIC STAGE: THE MAGICAL LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY 241 2.2.1 Bodily breath as soul 242 2.2.2 Totemism 242 2.2.2.1 The religiosity of stones, seals and minerals 243 2.2.2.2 The religiosity of plants 244 2.2.2.3 The religiosity of animals 244 2.2.3 Jungian “archetypes” 245 2.3 PRE-EGOIC STAGE: THE MYTHICAL LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY 245 2.3.1 Bodies as reminders of the gods 246 2.3.2 Gods alluded to 246 2.3.3 Celestial bodies as deities 247 2.3.4 Oaths 247 2.3.5 Holy places 247 2.3.6 Canonicity 248 2.3.7 Pesach and its connection with Song of Songs 250 2.3.8 Sabbatical peace and its connection with Song of Songs 250 3 EGOIC STAGE 251 3.1 THE RATIONAL LEVEL OF RELIGIOSITY 251 3.1.1 Writing and masculinity 251 3.1.2 Ideology and critique 252 3.1.3 Sensuality and sobriety? 252 3.1.4 Lack of dogma 253 3.1.5 Personal spiritual significance 255 4 TRANS-EGOIC STAGE 255 4.1 TRANS-EGOIC STAGE: THE CENTAURIC AND PSYCHIC LEVELS OF RELIGIOSITY 255 4.1.1 Inclusive universality despite uniqueness 255 4.1.2 Mystical dissolution of dichotomies 258 4.1.3 Towards androgyny 259 4.1.4 Regaining and integrating various levels of consciousness 260 4.1.5 Death, desire and longing for lost belonging 261 4.2 TRANS-EGOIC STAGE: THE SUBTLE AND CAUSAL LEVELS OF RELIGIOSITY 262 5 CONCLUSION 263 REFERENCES 265 CHAPTER ONE Pre-texts: Introduction This chapter deals with “pre-texts” in the sense of the preconceptions and agenda regarding the religiosity, or rather, religiosities of the book of Song of Songs or Shîr ha-Shîrîm, according to the text of Biblia Hebraica Quinta (Schenker, De Waard, Dirksen, Goldman, Schäfer & Sæbø 2004) and its historical interpretations.
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