TUB
PULPIT EDITED BY THB
VERY REV. H. D. M. SPENCE, D.D., DEAN OF OLOUCESTEr.;
AND BY TH~
REV. JOSEPH S. EXELL, M.A.
SONG OF SOLOMON. ~xposition BY REV. R . .A.. REDFORD, M.A.., LL.B.
~omiletics BY REV. B. C. CAFFIN, M.A., VICAR OF NOR'fHALLERTON, AND RURAL DEA..'!; LATE FELLOW AND TUTOR OF WORCESTER COLLEGE, OX~'ORD.
lt1omilits bJJ l::Tatious fautbors. REV. PROF. J. R, THOMSON, M.A. HEY. S. CONWAY, Il.A. REV. J. D. DAVIES, M.A.
NEW EDITION.
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY LONDON AND NEW YOilK 190i 'l,HE SONG OF SOLOMON.
INTRODUCTION.
THERE is no book of Scripture on which more commentaries have been written and more diversities of opinion expressed than this short poem of eight chapters. That it was held in great veneration by ancient Jewish authorities; that it was received as part of the canon of the Old Testament, not only by_ the Jews but by all the early Christian writers, with very few and insignificant exceptions; that it is acknowledged by those who are entirely disagreed as to its interpretation to possess features of extraordinary literary excellence, and to be not unworthy, as a com- position, of the wise king whose name it bears,-are reasons amply sufficient to justify the largest amount of attention which can be given to it, and to condemn the neglect to which it has been consigned by a great proportion of the Christian Church in modern times. There are difficulties which still beset the interpreter of its meaning; but they are not insuperable.· The ingenuity of theorists must be put aside; the fanatical prejudices of allegorists must be disregarded; the solid facts of the case must be kept in view, such as the undoubted canonicity of the book and the almost universal feeling of both the Jewish and Christian Churches that there is valuable spiritual trnth conveyed in it. Under such conditions it is not impossible to find an intermediate ground on which to stand, on the one side recognizing the distinctly human characteristics of the work, on the other tracing in it the marks of inspiration, so that it shall be retained as a genuine portion of the Word of God. We propose in this Introduction to lay before the reader the results which have been carefully gathered by the ablest modern com- mentators on the questions of authorship and date, form and method, meaning and purpose.
§ 1. AUTHORSHIP AND DATE.
The title is not decisive, "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's." It may be later in· date than the book itself, and added by another band; !IOi!IG OF SOJ.0?40N, ZJ Ii INTRODUCTION TO
but the fact that Solomon is not described by any royal title is in favour of the antiquity of the words, and the opinion of critics is almost unanimous that they may be contemporaneous with the book itself. The meaning undoubtedly is, "The song which Solomon composed," not" The song which celebrates Solomon's love." When we examine the internal evidence, however, we are left in little doubt that the work is at least of the Sulomonic period, and is more likely to have been the production of one whose literary qualities were equal to it than of an author who, while capable of such a masterpiece, still remains unknown. The opinions of the critics vary, as they always do when variation is possible. Some have ventured to place it in the period after the close of the canon; but they have not attempted to solve the enigma, how such a work of genius could come from a people who had by that time lost so much of their original qualities. To attribute it to the Alexandrian school would be entii-ely against both the spirit of it and its linguistic features. The rendency of recent criticism is to go back to the early-view and :connect the work with the age of Solomon. Davidson is- inclined to this, and Ewald decides that it must have emanated from the northern kingdom; and been published soon after the death of Solomon. He withholds his assent to the Solomonic authorship chiefly on the ground of his adherence to the peculiar theory of interpretation which supposes it to describe &n unsuccessful attempt -0n the part of the king to· secure the person of & young shepberdess, faithful to her shepherd-lover. There are many references in the book which indicate· the time. of its composition, and which could scarcely be introduced as they are ·by a· writer at a. later period. The scene is laid partly in the beautiful northern country and partly in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and in both oases there is a. peaceful prosperity and abundance which· corresponds to •the age of the great king. The knowledge of national objects of all kinds and of the whole land of Israel befits the royal pen (see 1 Kings iv. 23; v: 13). The reference in eh. i. 9 to " the steed in ·Pharaoh's chariots " is eminently suitable in Solomon's lips, as also the description of the palanquin as made of the "wood of Lebanon" (eh; iii. 9). The familiarity with a great variety of lovely objects and scenes, the reference to the splendour of the royal household, and the poetic beauty of the language throughout, make it probable that it was the recollection of the early life of the monarch employed by him at a subsequent time to embody Divine truth. The following are some ·of the objects introduced: names of· plants and of animals in thirty-one instances ; works of art in ten ·instances; spices and perfumes, wine of Lebanon, pools of Hebron, forests of Carmel, tents of Kadar, mountains of Gilead, the beauty of Tirzah and Jerusalem, the royal crown, the royal bed of state, the royal body-guard, the royal espousals and the connection of the queen-mother with them. While such allusions do not absolutely prove that King Solomon himself was the author, they confirm the lilcelih~d that it dates from his age, and THE SONG OF SOLOMcnr. lil