NICOT: Song of Songs

Relationships are a wonderful, mysterious, often elusive, sometimes painful
part of the human experience. The most intimate of all human relationships,
according to the Bible, is that between a husband and a wife. It is no
surprise, therefore, that there is a book of the Bible, the Song of Songs, that
focuses on this relationship. What is surprising is how little attention is
given to the Song of Songs by scholars, by the church, and by readers of the
Bible. With this volume Tremper Longman unpacks for modern people what
this ancient love poem says about the male-female relationship - and, by
analogy, about God's love for his people. Longman's superb study begins with a
thorough introduction to the Song of Songs and its background. Longman
discusses the book's title, authorship, date, literary style, language,
structure, cultural milieu, and theological content. He also canvasses the long
history of interpretation of the Song of Songs, a history too often
characterized by repression of the text. In the commentary itself, Longman
structures the Song of Songs according to its twenty-three poetic units and
explains its message verse by verse. The exposition is made clearer by
Longman's adoption of an anthropological approach to the text and by his
frequent comparisons of the Song of Songs with other ancient Near Eastern
literature.'In the Old Testament we read GodÉs word as it was spoken to
his people Israel. Today, thousands of years later, we hear in these
thirty-nine books his inspired and authoritative message for us.' These twin
convictions, shared by all of the contributors to The New International
Commentary on the Old Testament, define the goal of this ambitious series
of commentaries. For those many modern readers who find the Old Testament to be
strange and foreign soil, the NICOT series serves as an authoritative guide
bridging the cultural gap between today's world and the world of ancient
Israel. Each NICOT volume aims to help us hear GodÉs word as clearly as
possible.'Faithful to the format of this fine series, [Longman's]
extensive introduction treats questions of authorship, literary style, the
history of interpretation, and other features that are specific to this
particular biblical book. The commentary itself takes the literary
characteristics of the book seriously and engages the thinking of other
scholars in its explanation. The rich metaphors that fill the poems are
carefully examined and their obvious sexual connotations are delicately
interpreted. The book is highly recommended.' - The Bible
TodaySeries: New International Commentary on the Old
Testament.Recommended € 37,90