Week 25 Song of Solomon
I’ve never really thought much about the title of the book. But when a book calls itself a “Song” then it’s a pretty good guess that that’s what it is.
It’s called Song of Songs. Or maybe Solomon’s Song of Songs.
Sometimes it’s called Canticles (“canticle” in English means song).
I think the reason I got to thinking about this was because in the bible version that I’m reading there are a bunch of subheadings in italics that identify who is saying what. And there are Three Characters: the Beloved. The Friends. And the Lover.
The Lover is a guy
The Beloved is a girl
The Friends are – maybe – observers. Responders.
So this year the Song of Solomon started to look more like it’s a song. The words of a piece of music.
I wondered what it would be like to see a young woman appear on a stage. there’s a quartet of instruments. She sings let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.
A choir or chorus is spotlighted: we rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine.
Then a guy is on stage replying to the girl: your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of pearls.
Back and forth. The girl. The guy. The chorus.
Seeing and hearing a bit of musical theatre vs. reading the script? A totally different experience.
Note: quotes from Song of Solomon 1:2 4 16 (NIV)