The Song of Solomon, as its Hebrew title indicates, is "the best of songs." In it we hear the passionate melody of romantic love. But whose love is described? Is it a couple's love for each other, God's love for Israel or Christ's love for the church? This Old Testament book has fascinated and perplexed interpreters for centuries. They have felt uncomfortable--even embarrassed--when confronted with its strange and erotic imagery. "The Song is a celebration of the nature of humanity---male and female created in God's image for mutual support and enjoyment. There is nothing here of the aggressive male and the reluctant or victimized female. They are one in their desires because their desires are God-given." So writes Lloyd Carr in this introduction and commentary to the Song of Solomon. With his own unique style, Carr skillfully explains the meaning of this ancient love story in a way that can be clearly grasped and applied for Christians living in today's world. The original, unrevised text of this volume has been completely retypeset and printed in a larger, more attractive format with the new cover design for the series.
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About the Author
Carr (Ph. D., Boston University) is professor of biblical and theological studies and chairman of the division of humanities at Gordon College in Massachusetts.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Without wasting time on minutia that doesn't matter, Carr gets to the chase of the issue at hand over and over again throughout this commentary. His material is readable, yet it reflects command of all the issues scholars deal with that seem to matter most. It is a lot smaller than my full commentaries on Song of Songs, but it is still one that I refer to and am usually not disappointed with his review of things.
Here are a few examples of what I mean.
On the dating of the Song of Songs, Carr surveys the major views on the dating of Song of Songs, touching on the concept that more critical scholars hold to dating it to 3rd or 4th century B.C., gives their reasons for this view and the basic criticism of the view (parts of Song of Songs have been discovered in Qumran-and some language is clearly much older). He also covers the idea that some scholars date Song of Songs to the second or third millenium basically because some similar love poetry existed in that time period and explains why it is probably not the answer. He goes on and lays out a view that it may have been written in the time period close to Solomon because of specific grammatical terms that are used in Song of Songs (these terms are transliterated and explained). He covers a range of issues in this 1984 (first edition) copy that include ancient near east literary review, comparison with Hebrew language and it's development, references to Aramaic, Ugaritic, and an overall sense is given when reading him that Carr knows his stuff. He refers the reader to other larger treatments of the subject at hand. BTW-the reviewer on Amazon here who says 'we know now that Song of Songs' was written in the third or fourth century is writing from a narrow perspective and is betrayed by a bias towards scholars who may have a difficult time harmonizing their view with some of Carr's observations. To review Carr, criticize him for his dating issue, but not deal with his reasons for rejecting the view wasn't very good in my opinion and prompted me to write my review.
Another example of Carr: He gives the four major views of Song of Songs: Allegory, Typology, Drama, Natural. He basically says- the book is about what it seems to be about. He takes a more literal view of everything, and skillfully interprets rather difficult terms throughout the book. Carr gives about 14 pages of material with a well written summary of each of the four views. I think he defends his view well, and anyone who is a thoughtful and open reader will have to dig deep to challenge him. In my view, he's a good summary of authors like Longman and Hess (both have fuller commentaries on Song of Songs worth owning).
If you lay open a copy of the Song of Songs, read it through, then look at Carr on anything that seems unclear, he is very helpful, yet can get technical without wasting a lot of time.
His analysis of the structure of the book is as follows:
1:2-2:7 Anticipation
2:8-3:5 Found, and Lost - and Found
3:6-5:1 Consummation
5:2-8:4 Lost - and Found
8:5-14 Affirmation
Technical and very important terms:
Take Song of Songs 5:4. Watchman Nee identifies the hand in 5:4 as the 'nail pierced' hand of Jesus. The same hand that held the head of the woman earlier in the book. Jeanne Guyon cites Job 19 in referencing the 'hand of God' dealing with resistance.
Carr takes a more natural approach admitting 'yad' normally means hand, but then goes on to remind us that 'yad' means pillar in 1 & 2 Samuel and Isaiah (1x in each book). These stone pillars are rounded at the top and were worship devices. The pillars were a 'phallic representation' that sets up the next thing in the book. Without repeating his argument, he basically says these verses are about the couple having sex and that the word 'yad' is a euphemism for the male sexual organ based on ancient context, culture, religious use of the word 'yad' in the bible and the natural or literal reading of the text.
This is typical of Carr.
Personally I find any commentary of Song of Songs that fails to take into account the style and linguistic approach of similar material from the ancient world, to be unconvincing. I do think that we ought to bear in mind the New Testament clearly argues that marriage is a reference to Christ and the Church. I think that ought to drive us to see parallels and meaning in the Song of Songs. But we ought to be careful that we don't end up sexualizing our view of the Church and Christ. Therefore, analogies shouldn't be pushed too hard or in too much detail in my view.
This doesn't negate the interesting and sometimes well thought out views of authors who allegorize or use typology throughout. Some of their thoughts are noble and can be very helpful. But the method of handling scripture they employ is difficult to defend, unless the reader has a personal revelation from the Lord as some of these authors claim they have had personally.
I think it's very important to listen to the voices that have sought to find Christ in the pages of Song of Solomon. Many who write on this topic today (see Mike Bickle as an example) have acknowledged the literal or natural view in the introductions of their writings. Yet, the grasp of ancient context must not be abandoned when so much scholarship has given us a better understanding of things today than were held by students of the bible 3 or 4 centuries ago.
So if you are going after the true message of the Song of Songs, I would encourage you to use Carr. He's well written and interacts with ancient literature in a way that allows us to see his key reasons for the decisions he makes with the meaning of critical nouns in this book. That can turn the entire meaning on it's head, and so careful attention to the intended meaning of the nouns is crucial.
Here are a few examples of what I mean.
On the dating of the Song of Songs, Carr surveys the major views on the dating of Song of Songs, touching on the concept that more critical scholars hold to dating it to 3rd or 4th century B.C., gives their reasons for this view and the basic criticism of the view (parts of Song of Songs have been discovered in Qumran-and some language is clearly much older). He also covers the idea that some scholars date Song of Songs to the second or third millenium basically because some similar love poetry existed in that time period and explains why it is probably not the answer. He goes on and lays out a view that it may have been written in the time period close to Solomon because of specific grammatical terms that are used in Song of Songs (these terms are transliterated and explained). He covers a range of issues in this 1984 (first edition) copy that include ancient near east literary review, comparison with Hebrew language and it's development, references to Aramaic, Ugaritic, and an overall sense is given when reading him that Carr knows his stuff. He refers the reader to other larger treatments of the subject at hand. BTW-the reviewer on Amazon here who says 'we know now that Song of Songs' was written in the third or fourth century is writing from a narrow perspective and is betrayed by a bias towards scholars who may have a difficult time harmonizing their view with some of Carr's observations. To review Carr, criticize him for his dating issue, but not deal with his reasons for rejecting the view wasn't very good in my opinion and prompted me to write my review.
Another example of Carr: He gives the four major views of Song of Songs: Allegory, Typology, Drama, Natural. He basically says- the book is about what it seems to be about. He takes a more literal view of everything, and skillfully interprets rather difficult terms throughout the book. Carr gives about 14 pages of material with a well written summary of each of the four views. I think he defends his view well, and anyone who is a thoughtful and open reader will have to dig deep to challenge him. In my view, he's a good summary of authors like Longman and Hess (both have fuller commentaries on Song of Songs worth owning).
If you lay open a copy of the Song of Songs, read it through, then look at Carr on anything that seems unclear, he is very helpful, yet can get technical without wasting a lot of time.
His analysis of the structure of the book is as follows:
1:2-2:7 Anticipation
2:8-3:5 Found, and Lost - and Found
3:6-5:1 Consummation
5:2-8:4 Lost - and Found
8:5-14 Affirmation
Technical and very important terms:
Take Song of Songs 5:4. Watchman Nee identifies the hand in 5:4 as the 'nail pierced' hand of Jesus. The same hand that held the head of the woman earlier in the book. Jeanne Guyon cites Job 19 in referencing the 'hand of God' dealing with resistance.
Carr takes a more natural approach admitting 'yad' normally means hand, but then goes on to remind us that 'yad' means pillar in 1 & 2 Samuel and Isaiah (1x in each book). These stone pillars are rounded at the top and were worship devices. The pillars were a 'phallic representation' that sets up the next thing in the book. Without repeating his argument, he basically says these verses are about the couple having sex and that the word 'yad' is a euphemism for the male sexual organ based on ancient context, culture, religious use of the word 'yad' in the bible and the natural or literal reading of the text.
This is typical of Carr.
Personally I find any commentary of Song of Songs that fails to take into account the style and linguistic approach of similar material from the ancient world, to be unconvincing. I do think that we ought to bear in mind the New Testament clearly argues that marriage is a reference to Christ and the Church. I think that ought to drive us to see parallels and meaning in the Song of Songs. But we ought to be careful that we don't end up sexualizing our view of the Church and Christ. Therefore, analogies shouldn't be pushed too hard or in too much detail in my view.
This doesn't negate the interesting and sometimes well thought out views of authors who allegorize or use typology throughout. Some of their thoughts are noble and can be very helpful. But the method of handling scripture they employ is difficult to defend, unless the reader has a personal revelation from the Lord as some of these authors claim they have had personally.
I think it's very important to listen to the voices that have sought to find Christ in the pages of Song of Solomon. Many who write on this topic today (see Mike Bickle as an example) have acknowledged the literal or natural view in the introductions of their writings. Yet, the grasp of ancient context must not be abandoned when so much scholarship has given us a better understanding of things today than were held by students of the bible 3 or 4 centuries ago.
So if you are going after the true message of the Song of Songs, I would encourage you to use Carr. He's well written and interacts with ancient literature in a way that allows us to see his key reasons for the decisions he makes with the meaning of critical nouns in this book. That can turn the entire meaning on it's head, and so careful attention to the intended meaning of the nouns is crucial.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
G. Lloyd Carr's study of the Song of Songs (Canticles, Song of Solomon) does a great job of rescuing it from overly symbolic interpretations. Instead, says Carr, the Song is about just what it appears to be about. Sex, romance, and love. Carr unpacks the various images of flowers, gardens, grape vines, and spices, putting them into the context of Old Testament Israel's culture. He also forthrightly explores the explicit imagery of breasts, thighs, and sexual expression the book displays. Carr's book is short, pithy, but packed with enough information for the scholar. Written in the mid-1980s, it still seems fresh and frank and wonderfully edifying. My only reason for not giving five stars? I wanted it longer!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The introduction alone is worth the price of the book. On the interpretation he discusses: allegory, typology, drama, and natural. Mercifully, he adopts the natural interpretation; it is ANE love poetry. The commentary itself is semi-technical with a lot of word studies. The Hebrew and Greek are transliterated. Footnotes are used (rather than endnotes), and these are helpful. Because he refers to the way Hebrew words are used in other parts of the OT, the book is also quite educational, I found a sense of beauty about the book, that was uplifting. He also refers to the LXX which was useful. The intro goes to p72 and at 192 pages the book is long enough to be useful. The new larger format of the Tyndale OT commentaries is superb. First published in 1984 it might be a little dated, but for its price it is a bargain. I will see pomegranates in a new light now.
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First Sentence:
AMONG the books of the Bible, the Song of Solomon is one of the smallest, most difficult, yet one of the most popular with both Jews and Christians. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
last colon, opening colon, next colon, first colon, second colon, two cola Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old Testament, Subject Study, Near East, New Testament, Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, Rabbi Aqiba, Ibn Ezra, Macmillan Bible Atlas New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
AMONG the books of the Bible, the Song of Solomon is one of the smallest, most difficult, yet one of the most popular with both Jews and Christians. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
last colon, opening colon, next colon, first colon, second colon, two cola Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old Testament, Subject Study, Near East, New Testament, Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, Rabbi Aqiba, Ibn Ezra, Macmillan Bible Atlas New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 31
books:
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44
books
cite this book:
See all 44 books citing this book
- Song of Songs by Marvin H. Pope on 6 pages
- An Introduction to the Old Testament by Mr. Edward J. Young in Front Matter, page 18, and page 36
- Introduction to the Old Testament by R. K. Harrison on page 18, page 36, and page 43
- Interpreting the Bible by Mr. A. Berkeley Mickelsen on page 21, and page 24
- Song of Songs (Old Testament Library) by J. Cheryl Exum on page 44, and page 135
See all 31 books this book cites
- God on Sex: The Creator's Ideas about Love, Intimacy, and Marriage by Daniel L. Akin on 6 pages
- The Song of Songs (Berit Olam Series) by Dianne Bergant on 5 pages
- Intimacy Ignited: Conversations Couple to Couple: Fire Up Your Sex Life with the Song of Solomon by Linda Dillow in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God: What Every Christian Husband Needs to Know by C. J. Mahaney on page 13, page 88, and Back Matter
- Living the Story: Biblical Spirituality for Everyday Christians by R. Paul Stevens on page 83, page 84, and page 85
See all 44 books citing this book
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