The Song of Songs and the Eros of God: a Study in Biblical Intertextuality
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OXFORD THEOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS Editorial Committee M. McC. ADAMS J. BARTON N. J. BIGGAR M. J. EDWARDS P. S. FIDDES D. N. J. MACCULLOCH C. C. ROWLAND OXFORD THEOLOGICAL MONOGRAPHS DURANDUS OF ST POURÇAIN A Dominican Theologian in the Shadow of Aquinas Isabel Iribarren (2005) THE TROUBLES OF TEMPLELESS JUDAH Jill Middlemas (2005) TIME AND ETERNTIY IN MID-THIRTEENTH-CENTURY THOUGHT Rory Fox (2006) THE SPECIFICATION OF HUMAN ACTIONS IN ST THOMAS AQUINAS Joseph Pilsner (2006) THE WORLDVIEW OF PERSONALISM Origins and Early Development Jan Olof Bengtsson (2006) THE EUSEBIANS The Polemic of Athanasius of Alexandria and the Construction of the ‘Arian Controversy’ David M. Gwynn (2006) CHRIST AS MEDIATOR A study of the Theologies of Eusebius of Caesarea, Marcellus of Ancyra, and Anthanasius of Alexandria Jon M. Robertson (2007) RIGHTEOUS JEHU AND HIS EVIL HEIRS The Deuteronomist’s Negative Perspective on Dynastic Succession David T. Lamb (2007) SEXUAL & MARITAL METAPHORS IN HOSEA, JEREMIAH, ISAIAH, AND EZEKIEL Sharon Moughtin-Mumby (2008) THE SOTERIOLOGY OF LEO THE GREAT Bernard Green (2008) ANTI-ARMINIANS The Anglican Reformed Tradition from Charles II to George I Stephen Hampton (2008) THE THEOLOGICAL EPISTEMOLOGY OF AUGUSTINE’S DE TRINITATE Luigi Gioia (2008) THE SONG OF SONGS AND THE EROS OF GOD A Study in Biblical Intertextuality EDMÉE KINGSMILL SLG 1 3 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Edmée Kingsmill 2009 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data available Typeset by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk Printed and Bound in the UK on acid-free paper by MPG Books Group, Bodmin and King’s Lynn ISBN 978–0–19–957724–8 13579108642 To my Sisters of the Love of God and in memory of Mother Jane This page intentionally left blank Preface When I joined the Community of the Sisters of the Love of God in 1966, the Monastic Diurnal, which we then used, was rich in verses from the Song of Songs, notably the ‘Common of Feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary’, in which all the antiphons came from the Song. But it was the 1960s, and revision was in the air, influenced in the Community by what I describe in the Introduc- tion as the ‘friend’ type of response to God. Over the next ten years or so all trace of the Song would be eliminated from our worship. In the same years I noticed, while reading theological journals and the like, that the modern interpretation of the Song requires the use of the adjective ‘erotic’ in the same breath as any reference to it. I recall a Sister showing me an article she had written in which she referred to the Song as being ‘full of erotic imagery’. ‘If the Song was full of erotic imagery’, I said to her, ‘it would arouse my erotic imagination, and it doesn’t.’ She thought for a moment and, agreeing, scored out the phrase. Thus when, after twenty years in the Community, I was unexpectedly given leave by my Superior to pursue full-time study, and told to choose a subject, the Song immediately presented itself. I planned to learn Latin and Greek in order to study the Patristic commentaries, and I spent several profitable years, on and off, in the classes of the Dominicans at Blackfriars. But I was soon led to the writings of Gershom Scholem, and I recall sitting in the Bodleian Library in a state of near-ecstasy while reading the chapter ‘The Age of Shiur Komah Speculation and a Passage in Origen’ in his book Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition. Consequently, although con- tinuing to regard any attempt to learn Hebrew as an impossibility, I visited Leo Baeck College to meet Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet––which proved decisive. ‘How do you know’, he asked, after quoting the Hebrew title of the Song––Shir ha-Shirim asher liShlomo––‘that all those shshs don’t mean something?’ The same capacity for the unusual decision led my Superior to agree to my going to Leo Baeck College as a student, where I spent five immensely fruitful terms, 1987–9. To that time I owe several friendships, in particular that of Dr Joanna Weinberg whose critical acumen and profound understanding of the Rabbinic literature have continued to be available to me. Other acknow- ledgements, up to the time of submitting a D.Phil. thesis in 2003, are recorded in that work. Here I can only mention the most important help I have received during the last six years of preparing this book for publication. viii Preface Dr Jeremy Hughes has continued to give me the benefit of his exceptional knowledge of Semitic languages, and although our approach to the subject is fundamentally different, my debt to him is immeasurable. Christopher Morray-Jones has been crucial to my study of early Jewish mysticism, above all by sending me the typescript of his ‘Merkabah Mysticism in Rabbinic and Hekhalot Literature’, now published in The Mystery of God, written in con- junction with Christopher Rowland––another friend who has been a great help to me at various times. Juliane Kerkhecker, whom I first met when I joined her Latin class, has become a most valued friend. I owe a very great deal to her help in checking languages for me. But where would all this have got me without help in using a computer? I was lucky indeed to find Absolute Computers in Headington where I met Pat and Mike Rogerson, from whom I have received endless kindness and instant help whenever a problem has arisen. Our IT expert, Rachel Severn, has been on the spot these past few years, and has patiently borne being interrupted whenever a crisis occurred. I could not have managed without her. Neither could I have managed without Bob Muller of the Society of Biblical Litera- ture, who has supplied fonts and given indispensable help whenever applied to. One of the joys of living in Oxford are its great libraries, and I have been particularly grateful for the help given by the staff of the Bodleian, the library of the Oriental Institute, and the Theology Faculty Library. I should also like to thank Diarmaid Macculloch who, as Chairman of the Oxford Theological Monographs series, has punctuated the last few years with gentle and encouraging enquiries about the progress of the work which I have very much appreciated. There are others, too numerous to mention, who have helped me at one time or another, but the person to whom I am most indebted is Professor John Barton. First, he responded to my request to support an application to study for an Oxford thesis, and then supervised that thesis with a judgement I soon learnt to trust implicitly. During these last six years he has always been available when needed, but it is the comments he wrote after reading the manuscript of this book for which I can never be sufficiently thankful. Finally, it is impossible to express the debt I owe to my Community for allowing me to do something not normally considered to be part of our vocation. I am especially grateful to Mother Rosemary without whose consent and encouragement I could not have undertaken a doctoral thesis. The Superior, who originally allowed me to study, departed this life long ago. But it is to her, together with my Community, that I dedicate this book. Fairacres Oxford Contents Abbreviations xiii Translation xv Introduction 1 1. The title and the question of dating 6 2. Rabbi Akiva 8 3. The question of canonicity 12 4. Origen 14 5. The ‘Bride’ and ‘Friend’ distinction 17 6. Bridal imagery in the ascendant 19 7. The rise of the ‘Friend’ psychology 22 8. From Luther to Herder 25 9. From Herder to the present 26 10. The question of provenance 35 11. The author 39 12. Some clarifications 42 Conclusion 44 1. The Eros Strand in Wisdom 46 1....which belongs to Solomon 46 2. A wisdom book 47 3. Correspondences with the book of Ben Sira (i) 14: 20–7 49 4. Ben Sira (ii) 24: 13–21 50 5. Ben Sira (iii) 24: 8–12 52 6. Correspondences with the book of Proverbs (i) 5: 18–19 54 7. Proverbs (ii) 7: 12–18 57 8.