I am remarkably in possession of this, and I could not in any way be more pleased. I have no idea when I’ll get to it but when I do I’d like to explore in depth chapters of interest.
I too have a copy of that which I haven’t gotten around to reading. I’m fascinated by the Psalms and the way they resonate so deeply, but just haven’t had the time to dive in. One day.
Ah, but the Psalms are special.
They were the first part of the Bible that captured my imagination.
Even today, nearly 50 years later, I can still appreciate the sentiments, imagery, and language.
My long-term goal is to read them in the original, and I am slowly but surely working toward that goal. It won’t be next year or even the year after but eventually…
Stephen’s recent thread about suggested books for those new to the Bible got me thinking of commentaries I’d read, which in truth have not been all that many, and ones I’d like to have. ** you do not have permission to see this link ** is certainly the one I’m most interested in. Although it may be some time before I am able to locate a copy that does not require Chapter 7, once I am able to, I’ll begin to share what should be another interesting journey.
It doesn’t help that it was just published.
Ah I didn’t notice the publication date. Then there’s hope. The usual procedure seems to be to issue the hardcover and then the next year the paperback. With these Academic publications my only counsel is patience. The Winepress of the Lord grinds slowly.
BJH1960 said
In spring when I hear the cooing sound of the δεκαοχτούρα (the Eurasian collared dove) I am often reminded of some of the loveliest verses in scripture: Song 2:10-13.
Yeah! And that reminds me of one of Pablo Neruda’s most beautiful poems. I quote only the last verse for length.
Mis palabras llovieron sobre ti acariciándote.
Amé desde hace tiempo tu cuerpo de nácar soleado.
Hasta te creo dueña del universo.
Te traeré de las montañas flores alegres, copihues,
avellanas oscuras, y cestas silvestres de besos.
Quiero hacer contigo
lo que la primavera hace con los cerezos.
being translated thusly-
My words rained over you, stroking you.
A long time I have loved the sunned mother-of-pearl of your body.
I go so far as to think that you own the universe.
I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.
I want
to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.
-Poema 14: Juegas todos los días con la luz del universo
Poem 14: Every day you play with the light of the universe.
from Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Such beauty.
“I will bring you happy flowers from the mountains, bluebells,
dark hazels, and rustic baskets of kisses.”
“Every day you play with the light of the universe.”
That last one I could dwell on all the day long.
Good poetry reminds me of what life should be: an experience – the only way to live is to be engaged in living.
Is that your translation?
I would dearly like to have met the woman to whom Neruda wrote that poem!
Good poetry reminds me of what life should be: an experience – the only way to live is to be engaged in living.
Is that your translation?
No not really. I checked my reading against a couple online versions, selecting the phrases I preferred. But the power of Neruda’s language is his concreteness.
There are just not many ways you can translate
Quiero hacer contigo
lo que la primavera hace con los cerezos.
I want
to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees.
but wow!
(Just by way of experimentation I ran that last line through an AI translator and it came up with the identical reading. Even the robots cannot improve on perfection!)
I’ve really enjoyed this thread so I’m pleased to have something to contribute.
I’m reading ** you do not have permission to see this link **, by Susan Haskins a scholar and art historian. The book traces views of Mary Magdalen in literature and art from the NT to the present day. Hippolytus of Rome (c. 165 – c. 235 AD) wrote the earliest surviving Christian commentary on the Song of Songs. It was written in the early third century and survives only in scattered fragments.
Hippolytus identified the forlorn lover of Song 3 with Mary Magdalen and her longing for the missing Jesus after the Resurrection.
Upon my bed at night
I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
I will rise now and go about the city,
in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.’
I sought him, but found him not.
The sentinels found me,
as they went about in the city.
‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
Scarcely had I passed them,
when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go...
Haskins speculates that Hippolytus’ commentary on this passage is the ultimate source of the idea of a, ahem, “special” relationship between Mary and Jesus that so seized the imagination of later commentators and interpreters like the gnostics. Both Jews and Christians early on took a mystical interpretation of the Song, and Haskins cautions against assigning motives to Hippolytus we can’t ever know, but you would have to be almost deliberately purblind to ignore the eroticism of this text.
Perhaps we can take counsel here from our Hindu friends who when asked will tell you that the greatest image of spiritual love is sexual ecstasy! How so? Because that is the moment when you are most taken out of your “self” and merged into the Self. The Children of Abraham (Jews, Christians, Muslims) have always had a hard time with this idea. Like Augustine, sex is fine with them as long as you don’t enjoy it.
Sometimes it amuses me to imagine growing up in a tradition with no Fall and capable of depictions like ** you do not have permission to see this link **. Not on bordellos but on Temples!
Upon my bed at night…
I held him, and would not let him go...
What lines!
One of the things I’m interested in doing is to explore the Hebrew of the Song of Songs.
I’ve got ** you do not have permission to see this link **, which I’d like to eventually get to, but I expect it’ll be difficult and slow-going.
Perhaps, I might start reading ** you do not have permission to see this link ** and afterwards summarizing them.
Haskins speculates that Hippolytus’ commentary on this passage is the ultimate source of the idea of a, ahem, “special” relationship between Mary and Jesus that so seized the imagination of later commentators and interpreters like the gnostics. Both Jews and Christians early on took a mystical interpretation of the Song, and Haskins cautions against assigning motives to Hippolytus we can’t ever know, but you would have to be almost deliberately purblind to ignore the eroticism of this text.
Interesting.
Making an erotic text canonical definitely presents challenges for interpretation.
The Children of Abraham (Jews, Christians, Muslims) have always had a hard time with this idea. Like Augustine, sex is fine with them as long as you don’t enjoy it.
My impression is that Christianity is the outlier here.
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Of course, we’re talking about heterosexual married couples.
I did a bit of research and have some bad news on ** you do not have permission to see this link ** by Adele Berlin from Hermeneia we were lusting over a bit earlier. They currently have no plans to issue an affordable paperback version. The current policy of Fortress Press is only to issue translations sans critical apparatus on hard to find deuterocanonical books / apocrypha and pseudepigrapha. This is why you can find a cheap copy of the Book of Enoch but not the Song. The feeling is that translation of canonical books is well worn ground not justifying the price of publication. Oh well. The needs and wants of the interested non-specialist simply don’t enter their calculations.
I support the author, when I’m allowed to. If there is a book I wish to read and my attempts to acquire it by proper methods are frustrated then I am perforce* left to resort to… other methods.
*Hey, I got to use ‘perforce’ in a sentence! How often does that happen?
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