The Song of Songs, or How Greek Sex Became Jewish Love

Institute of Jewish Studies UCL

How Greek ideas influenced the Song of Songs and turned it into a celebration of romantic love

The Song of Songs is an anomaly in the Hebrew Bible. Its celebration of romantic love is so unexpected that ancient readers read it allegorically, as the love between God and Israel. Modern readers generally take it more literally, but struggle to understand its language and metaphors. Much of the difficulty is alleviated when we realize the Hellenistic influence on the Song, and see how cleverly it has reshaped Greek ideas into traditional Jewish literature.An online lecture by Adele Berlin, Professor Emerita of Biblical Studies at the University of Maryland. Her interests lie primarily in the literary nature of the Hebrew Bible and in how it has been interpreted through the ages. An interpreter herself, Berlin has written commentaries on the books of Zephaniah, Lamentations, Esther, and Psalms 120-150. She co-edited, with Marc Brettler, The Jewish Study Bible, now in its second edition, and co-edited, with Jeffrey Tigay, the recently published The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Volume 1: Ancient Israel, from Its Beginnings through 332 BCE. She is now at work on a commentary on Song of Songs.

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The Song of Songs, or How Greek Sex Became Jewish Love

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