The Old Testament Love Songs And Their Use In The
New Testament

G. Lloyd Carr*

During my preliminary work on the Song of Solomon it soon became evident that the major problem I would have to face was the vexed question of how this book was to be interpreted. H. H. Rowley’s old but still very valuable essay sets out the options clearly in some detail, and Brevard Childs’ recent Introduction provides a handy summary.1 It is not my purpose here to examine all these options in detail, but for the sake of putting this material in perspective a brief summary of the positions is in order.

Historically, the most common interpretive approach to the Song has been that of allegory/typology. For the rabbinic scholars the lover/beloved exchanges were understood to describe the relationship between Yahweh and Israel (or Wisdom and the wise man), and every detail of the text was understood to explicate that relationship. Until recently, the majority of Christian commentators have also used this method for dealing with the text. Here, however, the relationship between Christ and the Church or the individual believer takes precedence. A classic example, popular among certain circles of American Christianity, is the little chorus based on Song 2:4: “He brought me into the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.2 I will return to this question later in the presentation.

About a hundred years ago the idea, apparently first suggested by Origen about A.D: 250, that the Song was a drama suddenly was revived and received considerable attention, first from Franz Delitzsch in his commentary and then by numerous other writers. A number of variations on this perspective have been proposed, such as Calvin Seerveld’s oratorio and Meek’s or Kramer’s development of the ritual-drama concept.3 Pope also develops this basic point of view. As I have dealt with this issue elsewhere I will not pursue it here, except to note that

*G. Lloyd Carr is professor of Biblical and theological studies at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.

JETS 24:2 (June 1981) p. 98

I have not been persuaded of the validity of the dramatic interpretation.4

A third option is that the Song of Solomon is a collection of love songs, perhaps related to a marriage ritual,5 or, more simply, expressing the deep human love between a man and a woman. This “natural” interpretation has found many proponents and is the one I propose as correct. That assumption, however, needs some examination and is the reason that this paper was developed.

The problem can be focused by an examination of the love-song genre in the Biblical materials. Love songs are ubiquitous. Whether the lyrics be “I love ya, I love ya, yeah, yeah, yeah” or the more sedate “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” every generation of every society has its love-song tradition. Again, detailed development of the nature of the genre is impossible here, but a summary of the major elements can be made relatively quickly:6

1. While the third person is used of the beloved when a third party is addressed or present, the bulk of the material is in the “I-thou” formulation.

2. The most common theme, expressed in a variety of ways, is the joy and excitement the lovers find in each other’s presence. Of course separation, caused by some outside person or situa...