The Song of Songs  in Taverns

 

Wilfred C. Smith points out that originally the Song of Songs was a secular love song sung in taverns in the first century A.D. How then did it get a place in the Hebrew Scriputure? Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac described it as depicting the love of God for the Jewish people. But for this, and the attribution of its authorship to Solomon, it probably would not have found a place in the canon. Bernard of Clairvaux interpreted it as the love of Christ for the church. A modem commentary with very elaborate exegesis· relates it to contemporary issues such as the correlation between love and death, women's liberation, and others.

 

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