Bible & Theology Course for the Laity, DVK, Bangalore

Full Reports on the Bible & Theology Course - 2004

Importance of The Song of Songs

"The Song of Songs" means the greatest of songs, and is a portrayal of the mutual love of the Lord and his people. Taking this relationship in terms of human love, the book depicts the love in married life.

Some people consider the presence of this book in the Bible an embarrassment because of the portrayal of love. Some other people regard this book as the most precious and worthy. Rabbi Aqiba ben Joseph, 2000 years ago, said: "All writings of the Old Testament are holy, but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies." This statement was in the wake of a controversy in Judaism about if or not this book is holy and should be included in the collection of holy writings. The Catholic Church has always accepted the Song of Songs as part of the Holy Scripture.

The Song of Songs is a collection of songs united by their common theme of love. It could be viewed as part of the festivities taking place at weddings. There is no mention of God in the entire book of the Song of Songs. Similarly, there is no religious truth developed; there is no ethical or social concerns; also, there is no hint of worship or faith.

The most predominant interpretation of the Song of Songs is its allegorical (symbolic) interpretation. In Jewish interpretation, the love of God for Israel and the love of Israel for God are conveyed in Song of Songs under the imagery of a strong relationship between a husband and a wife. Christian interpreters developed the allegory of Christ (bridegroom) and the Church (bride). Later, such an interpretation extended to the love between Christ and the individual soul leading to the conception of the spiritual marriage. Some saints like St Ephrem and St Ambrose considered Mary as the real, mystical bride of this book. Such a symbolic and allegoric perspective has been accepted as the only way to understand the Song of Songs. However, these later interpretations seem to be very artificial. It is a fact that the Jews used to sing this song at marriage feasts. A realistic understanding of the Song of Songs enables us to develop a holistic approach to human sexuality appreciating and respecting its various dimensions.

Therefore, it is our duty to understand the Song of Songs as a series of songs celebrating human sexual love as something willed and approved by God. One can clearly notice here the agony and pain of separation of the one from the partner (Songs 3:2, 5:8). The husband and the wife experience that "love is strong as death and passion is fierce as the grave." (Songs 8:6) Thus, the important message of the Song of Songs is its bold presentation of the meaning and beauty of sexual love. However, it does not hold that sexual love is the absolute love. It means that even this sexual love that is "strong as death" is only a relative reality in the sense that this love has to be affirmed and denied, as appropriate, in order to reach out to the absolute source of every form of love. It is to this love that every human being is ultimately called.

Introduction   Biblical understanding   Song of songs   Catholic tradition
Sexual cells: Basics   All embracing reality   Complementarity & Wholeness
Conclusion   Human Sexuality Index

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