translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: SNG

label: NET study note

text: Song 8:1-2 may be classified as a “a lover’s wish song” that is similar in content and structure to an ancient Egyptian love song in which the lover longs for greater intimacy with his beloved: “I wish I were her Negro maid who follows at her feet; then the skin of all her limbs would be revealed to me. I wish I were her washerman, if only for a month; then I would be [entranced], washing out the Moringa oils in her diaphanous garments. I wish I were the seal ring, the guardian of her [fingers]; then […]” (The Cairo Love Songs, 25-27, in W. K. Simpson, ed., The Literature of Ancient Egypt , 311). The Egyptian and Hebrew parallels display a similar structure: (1) introductory expression of the lover’s wish to be something/someone in a position of physical closeness with the Beloved; (2) description of the person/thing that is physically close to the Beloved; and (3) concluding description of the resultant greater degree of intimacy with the Beloved. In the Egyptian parallel it is the man who longs for greater closeness; in the Hebrew song it is the woman. The Egyptian love song borders on the sensual; the Hebrew love song is simply romantic. The Beloved expresses her desire for greater freedom to display her affection for Solomon. In ancient Near Eastern cultures the public display of affection between a man and woman was frowned upon – sometimes even punished. For example, in Assyrian laws the punishment for a man kissing a woman in public was to cut off his upper lip. On the other hand, public displays of affection between children and between family members were allowed. Accordingly, the Beloved hyperbolically wished that she and Solomon were children from the same family so she could kiss him anytime she wished without fear of punishment or censure.


text: Continuing the little brother/older sister imagery of 8:1 , the Beloved suggests that if she had been an older sister and he had been her little brother, she would have been able to nurse Solomon. This is a euphemism for her sensual desire to offer her breasts to Solomon in marital lovemaking.


text: There is a phonetic wordplay (paronomasia) between אֶשָּׁקְךָ (’ eshshaqÿkha , “I would kiss you” from נָשַׁק , nashaq , “to kiss”) in 8:1 and אַשְׁקְךָ (’ ashqÿkha , “I would cause you to drink” from שָׁקָה , shaqah , “to drink”) in 8:2 . This wordplay draws attention to the unity of her “wish song” in 8:1-2 . In 8:1 the Beloved expresses her desire to kiss Solomon on the lips when they are outdoors; while in 8:2 she expresses her desire for Solomon to kiss her breasts when they are in the privacy of her home indoors.


text: This statement is a euphemism: the Beloved wished to give her breasts to Solomon, like a mother would give her breast to her nursing baby. This is the climactic point of the “lover’s wish song” of Song 8:1-2 . The Beloved wished that Solomon was her little brother still nursing on her mother’s breast. The Beloved, who had learned from her mother’s example, would bring him inside their home and she would give him her breast: “I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.” The phrase “my pomegranates” is a euphemism for her breasts. Rather than providing milk from her breasts for a nursing baby, the Beloved’s breasts would provide the sensual delight of “spiced wine” and “nectar” for her lover. tc The MT reads the singular noun with 1st person common singular suffix רִמֹּנִי ( rimmoni , “my pomegranate”). However, many Hebrew mss preserve an alternate textual tradition of a plural noun without the 1st person common singular suffix רִמֹּנִים ( rimmonim , “pomegranates”), which is also reflected in the Aramaic Targum. However, LXX ῥοῶν μου ( {rown mou, “the nectar of my pomegranates”) reflects both the plural noun and the 1st person common singular suffix. Therefore, R. Gordis suggests that MT רִמֹּנִי is an apocopated plural with a 1st person common singular suffix: “my pomegranates.”


text: The imagery of v. 6 is romantic: (1) His mother originally conceived him with his father under the apple tree, (2) his mother gave birth to him under the apple tree, and (3) the Beloved had now awakened him to love under the same apple tree. The cycle of life and love had come around full circle under the apple tree. While his mother had awakened his eyes to life, the Beloved had awakened him to love. His parents had made love under the apple tree to conceive him in love, and now Solomon and his Beloved were making love under the same apple tree of love.


text: In the ancient Near East חוֹתָם ( khotam , “seal”) was used to denote ownership and was thus very valuable ( Jer 22:24 ; Hag 2:23 ; Eccl 17:22). Seals were used to make a stamp impression to identify the object as the property of the seal’s owner ( HALOT 300 s.v. I חוֹתָם ). Seals were made of semi-precious stone upon which was engraved a unique design and an inscription, e.g., LMLK [PN] “belonging to king […].” The impression could be placed upon wet clay of a jar or on a writing tablet by rolling the seal across the clay. Because it was a valuable possession its owner would take careful precautions to not lose it and would keep it close to him at all times.


text: It was a common practice in the ancient world to compare intense feelings to death. The point of the expression “love is as strong as death” means that love is extremely strong. The expression “love is as cruel as Sheol” may simply mean that love can be profoundly cruel. For example: “His soul was vexed to death,” means that he could not stand it any longer ( Judg 16:16 ). “I do well to be angry to death,” means that he was extremely angry ( Jonah 4:9 ). “My soul is sorrowful to death,” means that he was exceedingly sorrowful ( Matt 26:38 = Mark 14:34 ) (D. W. Thomas, “A Consideration of Some Unusual Ways of Expressing the Superlative in Hebrew,” VT 3 [1953]: 220-21).


text: The Beloved’s brothers knew that once a couple is betrothed, sexual temptations would be at their greatest. Thus, in v. 9 they devise a plan to protect the purity of their sister: If she is a virtuous young woman, they would reward her; however, if she is prone to temptation, they will restrain her and guard her from promiscuity.


text: The simile if she is a wall draws a comparison between the impregnability of a city fortified with a strong outer wall and a virtuous young woman who successfully resists any assaults against her virginity. The term חוֹמָה ( khomah , “wall”) often refers to an outside fortress wall that protects the city from enemy military attacks (e.g., Lev 25:29-30 ; Josh 6:5 ; 1 Kgs 3:1 ; Neh 2:8; 12:27 ; Jer 1:8; 15:20 ).


text: The term טִירָה ( tirah , “battlement, turret”) refers to the row of stones along the top of a fortress wall, set for the defense and stability of the wall ( Ezek 46:23 ; cf. HALOT 374 s.v. טִירָה ). This structure is connected with military operations set in defense of a siege.


text: The verb צוּר ( tsur , “to surround, encircle, enclose”) is often used in military contexts in reference to the siege or defense of a fortress city: (1) setting up military positions (siege walls) to surround a besieged city (e.g., Isa 29:3 ); (2) encircling and laying siege to a city (e.g., Deut 20:12, 19 ; 2 Sam 11:1 ; 1 Kgs 15:27; 16:17; 20:1 ; 2 Kgs 6:24-25; 17:5; 19:9; 24:11 ; 1 Chr 20:1 ; Isa 21:2; 29:3 ; Jer 21:4, 9; 32:2; 37:5; 39:1 ; Ezek 4:3 ; Dan 1:1 ); (3) enclosing a city with sentries (e.g., Isa 29:3 ); (4) shutting a person within a city ( 1 Sam 23:8 ; 2 Sam 20:15 ; 2 Kgs 16:5 ); and (5) barricading a city door shut to prevent the city from being broken into and conquered (e.g., Song 8:7 ) ( HALOT 1015 s.v. I צור ).


text: An interesting semantic parallel involving the “door/bar” motif in ancient Near Eastern texts comes from an Assyrian charm against an enemy: “If he is a door, I will open your mouth; but if he is a bar, I will open your tongue.” Obviously, the line in the Song is not an incantation; the formula is used in a love motif. Cited by J. Ebeling, “Aus dem Tagewerk eines assyrischen Zauberpriesters,” MAOG 5 (1931): 19.


text: The noun מִגְדָּל ( migdal , “tower”) can refer to the watchtowers of a fortified city ( 2 Kgs 17:9; 18:8 ; 2 Chr 26:9 ), projecting median towers along the fortified city wall which were crucial to the defense of the city ( 2 Chr 14:6; 26:15; 32:5 ), or fortress towers in the countryside set for the defense of the land ( Judg 9:52 ; 2 Chr 27:4 ; Ezek 27:11 ) ( HALOT 544 s.v. I מִגְדָּל ). The Beloved mixes metaphors by describing her breasts with a comparison of sense and a comparison of sight: (1) Comparison of sense: She successfully defended her virginity and sexual purity from seduction, as fortress towers defended the city. (2) Comparison of sight: Just as the fortress towers along a city wall projected out at the corners of the wall, the Beloved’s breasts finally developed into beautiful “towers” (see 8:8 when she had no breasts as a young girl).


text: The term כֶּרֶם ( kerem , “vineyard”) is used literally in 8:11 in reference to Solomon’s physical vineyard, but in 8:12 it is used figuratively (hypocatastasis) in reference to the Beloved: כַּרְמִי ( karmi , “my vineyard”). Throughout the Song, the term כֶּרֶם (“vineyard”) is used figuratively ( Song 1:6; 2:15; 8:12 ). In 8:12 it is used in reference to either (1) herself, (2) her choice of whom to give herself to in love, or (3) her physical body. In contrast to Solomon’s physical vineyard, whose fruit can be bought and sold ( 8:11 ), she is not for sale: She will only give herself freely to the one whom she chooses to love.