Song of Songs

The Song of Songs is a biblical collection of love poems celebrating desire and beauty through the voices of a woman and her beloved. It is also known as the Song of Solomon.

Allegorical interpretation: A method of reading a text as expressing meanings beyond its literal narrative. Jewish and Christian interpreters have read the lovers as figures for God and a people.
Hebrew poetry: Poetry composed in Hebrew, often marked by parallel lines, imagery, and rhythm. The Song’s meaning depends on poetic patterns rather than a continuous plot.
Passover: A Jewish festival commemorating the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. The Song is traditionally read in many Jewish communities during this festival.
Allegory: A narrative or image whose elements represent a second, more abstract meaning. A wholly allegorical reading differs from taking the lovers and their desire literally.
Jewish biblical interpretation: The traditions and methods through which Jewish communities interpret the Hebrew Bible. Rabbinic readings place the poems within Israel’s relationship with God.
Biblical Hebrew: The form of Hebrew used in the Hebrew Bible. Wordplay and rare expressions in this language shape translation and interpretation.
Canticle of Canticles: The traditional Latin title for the biblical Song of Songs. This title appears in Christian liturgy and in translations influenced by the Vulgate.
Wisdom literature: Biblical writing concerned with knowledge, conduct, and the order of human life. The Song’s placement among wisdom books contrasts with its lack of explicit instruction.
Christian biblical interpretation: The traditions and methods through which Christian communities interpret the Bible. Christian readings often understand the lovers as Christ and the Church.
Hebrew Bible: The collection of sacred writings that forms the Jewish scriptural canon. The Song is a distinctive book within this collection.

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PsalmsCompared with: Its poetic focus on human love differs from the Psalms’ broad range of prayer and worship.