A Study Day in Song of Songs (Handout) ( pdf )

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11. Spend some time thinking through your attitude towards sex. Is it positive or negative? Is it idealistic or realistic? What have been the major influences upon your attitude? 12. Reflect back on all that has been covered. Are there any: (a) things to affirm? (b) thoughts to share? (c) questions to ask? (d) actions to take? Some Books to Follow Up The following selection of books is divided into two categories: (1) commentaries on the Song of Songs, and (2) other books on the Song of Songs. 1. Commentaries on Song of Songs G. Lloyd Carr, The Song of Solomon, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Leicester: IVP, 1984). Still one of the best of the mid-level commentaries. J. Cheryl Exum, Song of Songs: A Commentary, Old Testament Library (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2005). One of the weightier commentaries from a scholar who has contributed much to ‘feminist’ readings of biblical texts and who has written many articles on Song of Songs over the years. Daniel J. Estes, ‘Song of Songs’, in Daniel C. Fredericks and Daniel J. Estes, Ecclesiastes & The Song of Songs, Apollos Old Testament Commentary (Nottingham: Apollos, 2010), 265-444. Currently my favourite commentary on Song of Songs. Duane A. Garrett and Paul R. House, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2004). A large and technical commentary. Tom Gledhill, The Message of the Song of Songs: The Lyrics of Love, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester: IVP, 1994). An excellent exposition, which might be worth buying as a future resource. Richard S. Hess, Song of Songs, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005). A brief (relatively speaking) treatment, excellent on exegesis, but a bit thin on theological significance. Robert W. Jenson, Song of Songs, Interpretation (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2005). A self-consciously ‘theological’ commentary which, however, also takes account of what Jenson calls the ‘overt sense’ of the book as an erotic love poem. Tremper Longman III, Song of Songs, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001). One of the best commentaries written from an evangelical perspective. Longman has also written a much briefer enry on the Song in Philip W. Comfort (ed.), Cornerstone Biblical Commentary, Vol. 6 (Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2006). Christopher Mitchell, The Song of Songs, Concordia Commentary (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2003). LICC • St Peter’s • Vere St • London • W1G 0DQ • 020 7399 9555 • mail@licc.org.uk • www.licc.org.uk
Terrifyingly huge and probably only for the seriously fanatical! The Introduction alone is 543 pages long; Mitchell adopts a typological approach in the equally lengthy commentary section. Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Song of Songs: An Invitation to Intimacy, Preach the Word (Wheaton: Crossway, forthcoming 2012). Due out later this year, I expect this will be an excellent expositional commentary from a natural perspective, with some typological leanings. Iain Provan, Ecclesiastes/Song of Songs, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001). Provan seeks to maintain a distinction between the ‘king’ and the male lover in the Songs, which leads effectively to a view which sees three main characters involved. 2. Books on Song of Songs Daniel Akin, God on Sex: The Creator’s Ideas About Love, Intimacy and Marriage (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2003). Athalya Brenner (ed.), A Feminist Companion to the Song of Songs, The Feminist Companion to the Bible (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993), and Athalya Brenner and Carol R. Fontaine (eds.), Song of Songs: A Feminist Companion to the Bible (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000). Athalya Brenner, The Song of Songs, Old Testament Guides (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989). A bit dated now, but a standard brief overview of scholarship on the Song of Songs. David Clarke, Kiss Me Like You Mean It: Solomon’s Crazy in Love How-To Manual (Grand Rapids: Revell, 2009). Richard M. Davidson, Flame of Yahweh: Sexuality in the Old Testament (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2007). A massive book which looks under all the stones on sexuality in the Old Testament, with the final two lengthy chapters devoted to Song of Songs. David Jeremiah, What the Bible Says About Love, Marriage & Sex: The Song of Songs (San Diego: Turning Point, 2010). Larry L. Lyke, I Will Espouse You Forever: The Song of Songs and the Theology of Love in the Hebrew Bible (Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 2007). Tommy Nelson, The Book of Romance: What Solomon Says About Love, Sex, and Intimacy (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998). Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality, Overtures to Biblical Theology (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978), esp. 144-65, ‘Love’s Lyrics Redeemed’. A classic essay in a classic book. This chapter is also reprinted in the Brenner edited volume above. Carey Ellen Walsh, Exquisite Desire: Religion, the Erotic, and Song of Songs (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000). Highlights the theme of ‘desire’ in Song of Songs, and the various types of poetic imagery used in relation to this. Antony Billington, Head of Theology, LICC 28 May 2012 LICC • St Peter’s • Vere St • London • W1G 0DQ • 020 7399 9555 • mail@licc.org.uk • www.licc.org.uk
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Page 3 and 4: (b) Poetic imagery v Pastoral poetr
Page 5: 3. Invitations to love (2:8-17) 4.

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