한국침례신학대학교 도서관

Body concealed, body revealed : Shedding comparative light on the body in Song of Songs- [e-book]

서명/저자: Body concealed, body revealed : Shedding comparative light on the body in Song of Songs - [e-book]

학위논문주기: Thesis (Ph.D.) - Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion (Ohio), 2012.

초록/해제: 요약 : Israel's most sublime Song contains some of the most exquisite yet enigmatic poetry in the Hebrew Bible. One of the chief difficulties in interpreting the Song's lyrics is the unusual imagery used to depict the lovers' bodies. Why is the maiden's hair compared to a flock of goats (4:1; 6:5), her neck, nose and breasts likened to a tower (4:4; 7:4; 8:10) and her belly depicted as a heap of wheat (7:2)? Why are the man's cheeks likened to garden beds of spice (5:13) and the eyes of both lovers described as doves (4:1; 5:12)? While most scholars speculate on the significance of these images, a systematic inquiry into the Song's body imagery is curiously absent. Incorporating both exegetical and comparative data, this study seeks to uncover the meaning of these metaphors and explore their possible origins. Instead of attributing similarities with other Near Eastern love literature to dependency, this study views the Song's body imagery in light of a wider tradition shared between cultures, at times common to the genre of human love lyrics. Additional implications include the perception of beauty in ancient Israel and further evidence for the Song's literary unity.