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The Surprises of Song of Songs - Coggle Diagram
The Surprises of Song of Songs
Erotic Imagery
Body
The body is highlightened throughout the entire verse. Especially when the couple is describing each other, they do so in very passionate and sexual terms.
“Your breasts are like two fawns/ twins of a gazelle/ that feed among the lillies” 4:5
“Your lips are like a crimson thread” 4:3
“His body is ivory work,/ encrusted with sapphires” 5:14
Desire
Both the woman and man express their desire for each other through the passage. This hasn’t been seen before in the texts we have read. The focus of sex in Genesis and Exodus was the necessity for procreation. This was how masculinity was defined. However, in the Song of Songs, the lovers use erotic language to show their desire for each other.
“With great delight I sat in his shadow,/ and his fruit was sweet to my taste” 2:3
You are stately as a palm tree,/ and your breasts are like its clusters./ I say I will climb the palm tree/ and lay hold of its branches” 7:7
“I am my beloved’s,/ and his desire is for me” 7:10
“I held him, and would not let him go/ until I brought him into my mother’s house,/ and into the chamber of her that conceived me” 3:4
Assertive Sexuality
Unlike other excerpts and writing from Ancient Israel, the woman in this poem is straightforward with her sexuality. She is not a passive partner in the sexual relationship. Instead, she is proactive in what she wants and is insistent on her desire.
“
I will seek him whom my soul loves./ I sought him but found him not” 3:2
The women searches the streets of the city alone for her lover. She goes up to people asking if they have seen him.
”Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth” 1:2
“Upon my bed at night/ I sought him whom my soul loves” 3:1
Female Narrator
While the excerpts we have read from the Hebrew Bible are focused on men and their role as Israelites, it is rare that a female is given the same consideration. However, in Song of Songs, the woman is the narrator of this poem. She talks about her thoughts and feelings, and her desires with her lover. This is surprising given the patriarchal nature of the Bible.
“I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys” 2:1
“I am black and beautiful” 1:5