Green-Eyed Lovers: A Study of Jealousy in Song of Songs 8:5–7 -- By: Havilah Dharamraj

Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 32:1 (Winter 2018)
Article: Green-Eyed Lovers: A Study of Jealousy in Song of Songs 8:5–7
Author: Havilah Dharamraj


Green-Eyed Lovers: A Study of Jealousy in Song of Songs 8:5–7

Havilah Dharamraj

Havilah Dharamraj is Academic Dean and Professor of Old Testament at South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies in Bangalore, India. Her academic degrees include an MS in biochemistry, an MA in Christianity, and a PhD from the University of Durham, UK. She is author of various articles and the book, Altogether Lovely: A Thematic and Intertextual Reading of the Song of Songs (Fortress, 2018), as well as an editor of South Asia Bible Commentary: A One-Volume Commentary on the Whole Bible (Zondervan, 2015). Dr. Dharamraj serves on the Peer Review Team for Priscilla Papers.

Famously, jealousy is the theme of Shakespeare’s Othello, a plot that turns around a husband tormented by the thought that his wife might be unfaithful to him. This is a theme so common in real life that it makes one pause to ask the question: is a wife also “allowed” to be jealous of her husband? I ask the question from the context of a predominantly Hindu society, one in which it is acceptable for a man to have an “official” wife and family, and in addition, a “little house.” This latter is a secondary setup which houses a mistress and any children born within that relationship—clearly, out of wedlock. With polygamy illegal in India, these alternative arrangements are fairly common, and more often than not, all the parties seem quite content. The man demands that all his women be faithful to him, but the woman understands that she must make do.

In the narratives of the OT, a wife understands and accepts that she may not be the only woman with whom her husband cohabits. Within the extended household, she must make room for other wives, for concubines, and for surrogate wives. Thus, we have the sisters Leah and Rachel vying for Jacob’s affection (Gen 29:31–30:24), trading with each other to spend a night with him (Gen 30:14–17), and even squabbling a bit (Gen 30:15). However, all of this happens backstage—Jacob is not expected to intervene. Then, there is Abimelek, who can claim that Gideon is his father because his mother was Gideon’s concubine (Judg 8:29–31; 9:1–2). Another example is Sarah, who is comfortable with the idea of arranging for her slave Hagar to be a surrogate wife to her husband, Abraham, and takes exception only when she thinks Hagar is moving above her station. Similarly, Rachel and Leah offer their personal handmaids to bear them sons by surrogacy—thus are birthed the twelve tribes of Isra...

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