Bible Review

A recent discussion of the dramatic interpretation is found in G. Lloyd Carr, “Is the Song of Songs a ‘Sacred Marriage’ Drama? Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 22 (1979), pp. 103–114.

For a very sensitive, even lyrical, plea in behalf of a theological reading of the Song by a well-known Jewish intellectual, see André Chouraqui, “The Canticles of Solomon: An Introduction,” Service International de Documentation Judeo-Chrétienne 16 (1983), pp. 4–7

See the article “Allegory” in the Encyclopaedia Judaica.

William W. Hallo, “ ‘As the Seal Upon Thine Arm’: Glyptic Metaphors in the Biblical World,” Ancient Seals and the Bible, edited by Leonard Gorelick and Elizabeth Wiliiams-Fone (Undena Publications: Malibu, California, 1983), pp. 10–13.

Marcia Falk, Love Lyrics from the Bible: A Translation and Literary Study of the Song of Songs (The Almond Press: Sheffield, 1982). For Ms. Falk’s translation without her literary comments but with illustrations by Barry Moser, see her 1977 book. Interestingly enough, when the poet Robert Graves, who is not a Hebrew scholar, turned his attention to the Song of Songs, he chose to render it into lyrical prose, The Song of Songs, illustrated by Hans Erni (William Collins Sons & Co.: London, 1973).

An excellent overview of the methods and the consequence of both of these approaches can be found in Edward Greenstein, “Theories of Modern Bible Translation,” Prooftext 3 (1983), pp. 9–39.