Cântico dos Cânticos

THE SONG OF SOLOMON

PREFACE

This book is unique in the Old Testament canon. There is no book in the whole Bible on which more commentaries have been written or more opinions advanced. This is a strange record of the past as compared to its general neglect in the present day. We are glad to observe a few writers discovering its value (See our bibliography for recent works). There is much to learn from these eight short Chapter s.

We have thought much about our approach to the text. How shall we interpret? There are four approaches made by men in their attempt to understand this book. (1) AllegoricalThe literal meaning is almost ignored. In the Jewish use of this method of interpretation it becomes the song of God's love for His people. Christians, beginning with Origen in the Third Century saw in this book the love of Christ for the Christian and the love of the believer for His Lord.

(2) LiteralIf we accept the words at their face value they express a song of human love of a man and woman. (3) LyricalSome have tried unsuccessfully, we believe, to see in the record love lyrics sung at Syrian weddings. (4) CulticWas this once a pagan ritual accommodated to the worship of Jehovah? This interpretation hardly merits mention.

We ask the serious student to read at least an introduction to this book in addition to the one we give in our text.
We have chosen to use a literal interpretation of this book. However, we are also persuaded it has the potential of wonderful analogous comparisons. We do not want to ignore the emphasis of love and communion with our Lord. We shall follow the format of the BIBLE STUDY TEXTBOOKS as found in Ecclesiastes.

Readers unfamiliar with the BIBLE STUDY TEXTBOOKS will wonder what to do with the Thought Questions or the Paraphrase or even the Fact Questions. There is a very definite reason, and we believe a very practical value for this five-fold format:
(1) TEXT: This is the AMERICAN STANDARD TRANSLATION of 1901. We have found this to be a very accurate rendering of the Greek and Hebrew text. Among the many translations, we prefer this one for its faithful adherence to the original.

We ask all readers to contemplate these words as the words of God. Nothing could be more important than a thorough assimilation of every word given us by God through the Holy Spirit! Read it and re-read itthen read it again. It is God speaking to you!
(2) THOUGHT QUESTIONS: We have prepared these from our reading and understanding of the text. Answer every question with your present understanding of the text.

It is not important that you give the same answer to these questions that we do. It is very, very important that you attempt some answer. We are attempting to motivate you into a personal involvement in the meaning of God's Word. We would suggest your answers be kept in a notebook. If you do not knowor you must, guessrecord your response. If after you have read the PARAPHRASE or the COMMENT you wish to change your answer you may do so, but it is vitally important that you express your response to what God has said to you and that you do it in written form.

(3) PARAPHRASE: This is the work of Arthur G. Clarke from his book The Song of Songs published by Walterick Publishers, Kansas City, Kansas. The reader will note that our interpretation is clearly spelled out in identifying the speakers of this book of dialogue. Please, please, read the paraphrase at least twice. Now refer back to the THOUGHT QUESTIONSdo you wish to change an answer, add an answer, or add to an answerDo it!

(4) COMMENT: We want to offer our present understanding of each word in the divine TEXT. We wish to be very careful and thorough. For this reason we have read and reread all we could find on the book of Song of Solomon (see our Bibliography). Our COMMENTS shall be: (a) Critical in the sense that we wish to understand the meaning of each Hebrew word, both in the TEXT and in the CONTEXT. (b) Devotional in the sense that we want to point up the obvious, and oft times the often overlooked application of the TEXT to our lives.

We make no apology for attempting to reach the conscience in our COMMENTS. (c) Expository: We mean that the TEXT shall be analytically considered in such a way that the present day Biblical expositor could use it in his teaching. (d) Homiletical: We believe many sermons could be preached from Song of Solomon in which the fulness of the union and communion of our Lord cold be held up as in no other way. We attempt to offer help in this grand pursuit!

(5) FACT QUESTIONS: The basic purpose of these questions is reading comprehension. They are based upon all you have read from the TEXT through the COMMENT. At times we have posed in this section a question or two for discussion where the point of view is open to opinion. In this section is the largest possibility for personal fulfillment. A full honest attempt on the part of the reader to answer these questions could actually form a commentary of his own on the sacred TEXT.

No higher accomplishment of personal Bible study could be contemplated than a verse-by-verse personal explanation of God's Word on the part of the reader. If the reader will do this he will have a track record of his spiritual growth to which he can refer in times of discouragement or even in times of joy. Your answers to the THOUGHT QUESTIONS can be a preparation and research for your much more complete answers to the FACT QUESTIONS.

INTRODUCTION

[29] By W. G. Moorehead

[29]W. G. Moorehead, Outline Studies in the Books of the Old Testament, Fleming H. Reveil Company, New York, 1893. Pg. 197.

Angus assigns this book of Scripture to B.C. 1001. The universal voice of antiquity ascribes it to Solomon, and internal evidence confirms this testimony. His songs were a thousand and five, I Kings iv, 32; and this is called the song of songs, because it is the best of them all.
Key-word, Beloved; key verse, vi, 3.
Origen and Jerome tell us that the Jews forbade it to be read by any until he was thirty years old.

It certainly needs a degree of spiritual maturity to enter aright into the holy mystery of love which it celebrates. It is possible to read the song amiss; but to such as have attained spiritual maturity, of what age soever, it is one of the most edifying of the sacred writings.
Love to Jesus Christ becomes, through the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, the strongest passion which can sway the human heart.

Avarice, ambition, love of power may have more of the unnatural vigor attending fever; this carries with it the quiet, enduring energy of health that brings into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Those alone who have experienced the power of this love in its intensity are competent judges whether any language used in expressing it may be exaggerated. If the love of God to us is as incomprehensible as is His eternity and omnipresence, it is not surprising that the love of a grateful heart should struggle and strive to declare itself by appealing to the tenderest ties, by using the boldest imagery; for the love of a believer is but a dim reflection of the measureless love of God.

1. The form of the song is somewhat difficult to determine. A drama it certainly is not, although it has been thus described. It presents little or nothing of the features belonging to the drama. While dialogue is found in it, still it is not of a very sustained kind, nor is it very marked. The feature chiefly lacking is a climax, the culminating finis with which the drama is expected to close.

Its form seems to be that of a pastoral poem, with characters presenting quasi-dramatic action. The personages introduced into it are the bridegroom and king; the bride, or spouse; the daughters of Jerusalem, or the court ladies of Solomon's palace. There is scarcely traceable any plot, nor dramatic unity, although the poem is one. Most of the addresses, instead of being dialogues, are soliloquies, apostrophes, or monologues. It has changing scenes. Sometimes the scene is laid in a garden; at others in the palace; then in the country amid pastoral quiet and beauty; and in Jerusalem amidst the noise of a great city.

This much may be confidently asserted, that it is a song of love in Oriental language and imagery, with rests and pauses and varying scenery and conversation.
2. The design of the song. There are three interpretations of the poem advanced by as many schools of expositors. Each of these may be briefly mentioned.
The first is that of the merely literal and erotic. That is, it is held that the poem celebrates the love of Solomon for a young shepherdess who was a member of an agricultural family consisting of a widowed mother and several sons, who lived at Shulem.

(The name of the place is derived from the spouse, viz., Shulemite.) The young woman, in the course of her pastoral duties, met with a shepherd to whom, in due time, she became espoused. Her brothers violently opposed the union. She was invited by her lover to accompany him to the fields; but her brothers, to prevent the meeting, sent her to take care of the vineyards. Here, she one day encountered King Solomon, who assisted by his court ladies, endeavored to win her love.

But she remained steadfast to her affianced. The king carried her to the city, made her large promises and sought to overcome her scruples by princely presents; but without avail; and her fidelity was finally rewarded by her marriage with the shepherd and gifts from her reconciled brothers.
According to this theory, the scope of the book is to give us an example of virtue in a young woman who encountered and conquered great temptations, and was eventually rewarded.

If this is all, belief in its inspiration must be dismissed; and it has no better right to a place in the Bible than a tale from the Arabian Nights, or the sonnets from Shakespeare. Against this theory there are strong objections: (1) It has been doubted whether there was such a place as Shulem whence the spouse derived her name of the Shulemite. (2) It seems obvious that if we accept this view of the book as true, then we must renounce the belief in Solomon's being the author, for it is altogether unlikely that he could have written so manifest an account of his own defeat.

(3) The vast majority of Bible students see no ground or foundation for the story detailed above. They find no shepherd in it; no bethrothal of the Shulemite with a shepherd; no effort on the part of the king to supplant another in her affections and steal her from him. In short, the story on which the view rests is pure fiction. (4) If it be no more than a love-poem celebrating one of Solomon's amours it is incredible that it should have been incorporated with the other books of the Bible, and for so many centuries held its place with the other inspired books as one of them.

It was in the Old Testament canon when the Septuagint version was made, two hundred and fifty years before the advent of the Saviour; it has kept its place there ever since. If it is only a dissolute love song God would have found a way to cast it out of His Book ages ago, like the Apocraphal books. (5) The strange and strong hold it has had upon some of the most spiritually minded men the world has ever seenmen like Rutherford, McChene, Gill, Stuart, John Trapp, and Thomas Goodwinis inexplicable if the song be nothing more than this hypothesis offers. We must reject this theory.

The second view we mention which has been put forward as an explanation of the design of the book is called the moral. The song is regarded as a description of wedded love in the exercise of its highest and purest affections. In this interpretation no spiritual sense is attached to the poem. The great moral sentiments relating to the holy estate of marriage alone are intended to be inculcated. The foundation for this opinion rests on the union of Solomon with the daughter of Pharaoh. It is held that the poem sings the praises of that princess, and celebrates the happiness the king enjoyed in union with her.

There are very grave objections which may be urged against this theory. We may safely assert that the Egyptian princess is not meant at all nor can be meant by the Shulemite. Some of the difficulties that lie against it may be stated. The delicate daughter of the haughty Pharaoh could not in any supposable manner have ever been the sunburnt keeper of the vineyards, as the spouse is described to have been, ch.

Cântico dos Cânticos 1:6. She could not have been unveiled and beaten by the watchman of Jerusalem, v, 7. She could not have come from the snowy heights of Lebanon when she had no occasion to be within one hundred and twenty miles of its base, Cântico dos Cânticos 4:8.

And it is very unlikely that she conducted Solomon into her mother's house, which was in Egypt, Cântico dos Cânticos 3:4.

Moreover, on this theory it is impossible to account for the remarkable situation of the spouse. She is found wandering through the streets of the great city by night; is smitten by watchmen; her veil is torn rudely from her face, the gravest insult that could be offered an Eastern woman. In fact, her whole conduct is utterly irreconcilable with the Oriental ideas of womanly seclusion and modesty.

If this spouse is a veritable woman, having the experience here ascribed to her, then her character is altogether incompatible with Eastern habits of decorum, and is questionable.
The third view is, that the song is an allegory, that under the guise of human love, the love which passes between two loyal and faithful hearts, is set forth the intimate, tender relationship existing between Christ and His people.

The frame, we may reverently say, is human conjugal affection. But through this thin, skillfully carved lattice-work there glance out upon us the joy and bliss, the rapture and ecstasy, the strange, tender wondrous play of the deep abiding love of Jesus for His own, and reciprocally, theirs for Him. The Chaldee Targum, the oldest Jewish commentary on the book, entitles it, The Songs and Hymns which Solomon the Prophet, King of Israel, Delivered by the Spirit of Prophecy, before Jehovah, the Lord of the Whole Earth.

The great body of Christians have always regarded it as a symbolical exhibition of the relations subsisting between the Lord and His people. From first to last, orthodox believers hold it bears the stamp of the allegory. In support of this view the following arguments may be urged: (1) It best accounts for the position of the book in the canon of Scripture. (2) It accords with the instincts of the spiritually-minded.

(3) The names of its principal characters indicate that it is an allegoryShalomoh, Solomon, the peaceful one, the prince of peace, and Shulamith, also the peaceful one, but femininethe daughter of peace. These names are believed to be as suggestive, as significant, as Bunyan's Christian and Christiana, or Faithful and Hopeful. Read in this light, we perceive how appropriately the book represents Jesus as the peaceful one, the peace-bringer, and His people as the sharers of His peace, those to whom He gives peace.

(4) The fancifulness of some of the scenes and situations render a literal interpretation absurd and impossible. See, for example, Cântico dos Cânticos 2:14-17; Cântico dos Cânticos 3:1-4; Cântico dos Cânticos 6:4-7; Cântico dos Cânticos 4:8.

The Shulemite is in the clefts of the rock, in the concealments of the precipices; the bridegroom is in the garden, beyond the mountains, in the distant fields. The bride sleeps, the lover knocks at her door in the stillness of the nightwithdraws when he receives no answer to his call. She in her remorse arises and wanders about the streets of the city. The rapid transitions, the remarkable situations indicate that the poem is an allegory.

(5) This interpretation harmonizes best with the Old Testament representations of the relation between God and His people. This relation is often set forth as one of wedlock. The prophets, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, in particular, make the marriage covenant existing between the Lord and Israel the ground of their passionate appeals. Nor is the New Testament silent as to the relation. The union and reciprocal love of Christ and the church are described in language closely akin to that of the song, He is the Bridegroom who hath the Bride.

They rejoice in each other. Their delights are mutual, identical, Matt. ix, 15; João 3:29; 2 Coríntios 11:2; Efésios 5:25-32; Apocalipse 19:7-9; Apocalipse 21:7-27.

The sudden pronominal changes indicate that the song is an allegory. Draw me, we will run after thee. The King hath brought me into His chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in thee, Cântico dos Cânticos 1:4. The bride's name is not that of a single individual, but is collective. She is the daughter of Zion.

3.

The teaching of the Song we hold is the following:

(1)

The bridegroom is the Messiah, the Redeemer.

(2)

The bride, His people.

(3)

The daughters of Jerusalem, are the friends of both, João 3:29.

(4) The Song describes the love which exists between them. The fountain of all love for Christ is His love to us. To know His love is to love Him in return, 1 João 4:19.

(5) The time when the Song has its fulfillment is always. But it is believed that it will have a peculiar accomplishment in that day when the Jews are again restored to God's favor and fellowshipand for the second time the marriage bond is ratified and sealed, never again to be violated, Hosea 1-2; Romanos 11:26-29.

(6) Traits of Christ's love. It is unconditional, chap. Cântico dos Cânticos 1:2-6; comp. Romanos 5:8. Irresistible, Cântico dos Cânticos 2:8; comp.

1 John iv, 10. Intense, ii, 9, 10; comp. João 14:1-3. Sheltering and protective, Cântico dos Cânticos 2:14-15; comp. Salmos 91:1-6.

Exacting, Cântico dos Cânticos 5:2; comp. Efésios 4:1-2. Jealous, Cântico dos Cânticos 5:6; comp. Apocalipse 3:20.

(7) Traits of a believer's love. It is self-depreciating, Cântico dos Cânticos 1:5. Eager for communion, Cântico dos Cânticos 2:1-7. Sometimes interrupted, Cântico dos Cânticos 3:1.

Sorrowful, Cântico dos Cânticos 5:6-7. Intermittent, Cântico dos Cânticos 5:1-2. Self-sacrificing, Cântico dos Cânticos 3:2-3.

4. Structure and summary of contents: (Moody Stewart) Canto One.Subject, the bride seeking and finding the king.

1.

O rei procurou, cap. Cântico dos Cânticos 1:2-8 .

2.

O rei encontrou, Cântico dos Cânticos 1:9 ; Cântico dos Cânticos 2:7 .

Canto Dois.Assunto, a noiva adormecida acordou.

1.

Chamada para conhecer o noivo, Cântico dos Cânticos 2:8-15 .

2.

Resposta da noiva, Cântico dos Cânticos 2:16 ; Canção do Cântico dos Cânticos 3 ; Cântico dos Cânticos 2:5 .

Canto Três.Assunto, o noivo com a noiva.

1.

O rei em sua carruagem nupcial, Cântico dos Cânticos 3:6-11 .

2.

A beleza da noiva, Cântico dos Cânticos 4:1-7 .

3.

O jardim das especiarias, Cântico dos Cânticos 4:8 ; Cântico dos Cânticos 5:2 .

Canto Quatro. Assunto, retirada e reaparição do noivo.

1.

Sono e tristeza, Cântico dos Cânticos 5:3 ; Cântico dos Cânticos 6:3 .

2.

A volta do noivo, Cântico dos Cânticos 6:4-10 .

3.

Glória da noiva, Cântico dos Cânticos 6:11 ; Cântico dos Cânticos 7:10 .

4.

Jardim nos campos, Cântico dos Cânticos 7:11 ; Cântico dos Cânticos 8:4 .

Canto Cinco.Assunto, a irmãzinha, Cântico dos Cânticos 8:5-14 .

A HISTÓRIA EM ESBOÇO

Citamos novamente Arthur G. Clarke. Os detalhes da bela história aqui revelada podem ser reunidos apenas na própria Canção. É principalmente do ponto de vista da própria donzela sulamita e funciona mais ou menos assim. Lá vivia em Suném (também conhecido como Shulem) uma família humilde consistindo de uma mãe viúva com dois ou mais filhos e uma filha virtuosa mais jovem, a donzela da Canção. A família parece ter tido uma ocupação dupla.

Além de pastorear rebanhos, eles cuidavam de certas vinhas, que podem ter possuído ou mantido simplesmente como arrendatários.
Durante o curso de seus deveres de cuidar dos filhotes do rebanho, a donzela conheceu um jovem pastor. Eles se conheceram um dia por volta do meio-dia enquanto descansavam seus rebanhos em um bosque perto da casa da menina. Foi aqui, à sombra de uma certa árvore, que se tornou local de encontros amorosos, que o pastor declarou pela primeira vez o seu amor e encontrou, para sua alegria, uma resposta no coração da donzela.

Juros mútuos de fidelidade parecem ter sido trocados.
De acordo com o costume oriental, após a morte de seu pai, os irmãos da donzela, que eram mais velhos, assumiram a responsabilidade com a mãe de providenciar o casamento de sua irmã no devido tempo. Os irmãos não viam com bons olhos a crescente intimidade do jovem casal e faziam esforços para impedir sua comunhão. O objetivo, sem dúvida, era proteger a reputação da irmã e da família.

A mãe parece ter adotado uma visão mais indulgente, não apenas encorajando os jovens, mas mais tarde, no mesmo local sagrado, confirmando os votos dos amantes por meio de uma promessa mais formal de noivado.
Em um lindo dia de primavera, a donzela sai para visitar um jardim de nozes em um vale favorito. Ela deseja apreciar a visão do verde fresco de sua bela paisagem. De repente e inesperadamente, ela encontra o rei Salomão com sua comitiva voltando de uma excursão aos territórios do norte, onde ele possuía jardins e vinhedos.

Os olhos atentos do rei se fixam na donzela e, impressionado com sua beleza incomum, seu coração muito suscetível imediatamente determina torná-la membro de seu já grande harém. É provável que ela tenha fugido, mas por ordem real é capturada e entregue aos cuidados das damas da corte, depois transportada para uma residência real ou, como alguns pensam, para o pavilhão do rei em um acampamento próximo.

(Em algum ponto da história, a cena muda do campo para Jerusalém, mas exatamente onde não pode ser afirmado positivamente. Muito depende da verdadeira interpretação do Cântico dos Cânticos 4:8 . Uma solução poderia ser mais facilmente encontrada se fosse conhecida com certeza se a donzela estava ou não no cortejo descrito no Cântico dos Cânticos 3:6-11 .)

Não é de todo improvável que seja então que Salomão a leve para Jerusalém, onde ela é entregue aos cuidados das mulheres. Em meio aos esplendores do palácio real, o rei renova suas atenções. A sulamita primeiro recebe promessas de joias, e quando esta oferta falha em seu propósito, mais tarde é oferecido a ela um avanço na posição entre as damas do círculo da corte. Sua determinação, no entanto, é inabalável.

Ela preserva sua dignidade de donzela e permanece leal ao seu prometido amante pastor, de quem foi separada involuntariamente. Todas as lisonjas do rei, incentivos oferecidos e todos os luxos da vida na corte não significam nada para a alma pura desta donzela do campo. Seus pensamentos constantemente se concentram em seu amado ausente. Seu coração está cheio dele e só dele.
Salomão finalmente percebe o fracasso total de seus avanços importunos.

É algo novo em suas experiências com o belo sexo. Impressionado com tal virtude e constância, ele concede permissão à sulamita para voltar para casa. Alegremente ela manda avisar seu amado para vir e acompanhá-la até lá. A este convite o pastor responde com entusiasmo.

A história termina com uma descrição comovente da jornada de volta para casa. Os leitores podem ouvir, por assim dizer, trechos da conversa dos amantes quando eles se aproximam de casa. Eles passam por locais familiares e relembram experiências passadas. Ao longo da Canção, o casamento formal é visto apenas em perspectiva, a menos que a passagem Cântico dos Cânticos 4:8 para Cântico dos Cânticos 5:1 realmente pertença cronologicamente ao final do livro. Sobre este ponto ver comentários in loco.

BIBLIOGRAFIA

Clarke, Arthur G. The Song of Songs, Kansas City: Walterick Publishers.

Cook, FC (Editado) O Comentário da Bíblia Sagrada, vol. 4. Nova York: Filhos de Charles Scribner, 1903.

Delitzsch, Franz. Comentário sobre O Cântico dos Cânticos e Eclesiastes. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950.

Ellicott, Charles John. Comentário de Ellicott sobre toda a Bíblia, vol. 4. Grand Rapids: Editora Zondervan.

Glickman, S. Craig. Uma Canção para os Amantes. Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1976.

Harper, AF Eclesiastes, Song of SolomonBeacon Bible Commentary, vol. III. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City.

Leale, Thomas H. Um comentário homilético sobre o livro de Eclesiastes. Nova York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1892.

Mason, Clarence E., Jr. Canção de amor. Chicago: Moody Press, 1976.

Nee, vigia. Canção das canções. Fort Washington: Cruzada da Literatura Cristã, 1965.

Penn-Lewis, Jessie. Teus Ocultos. Fort Washington: Cruzada da Literatura Cristã.

Simpson, AB A vida amorosa do Senhor. Harrisburg: Christian Publications, Inc. (reimpressão) 1974.

Uma Exposição da Bíblia. Hartford: SS Scranton Co., 1907.