Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>]

Dear Christine,

The author of the pieces you cited takes Solomon in Canticles to be God,
and the vineyard to be the Law. By vineyard I assume the writer means the
woman. This is an allegorical treatment of the Song. Although the author
seems Jewish, allegory was also the dominant Christian mode of interpreting
Canticles for centuries. However, the ideas compared in Christian
allegorical treatments of the Song were different from this focus on the
Law. It is superficially attractive to make a holy allegory of the book,
and it is easy to do so in view of the analogy of Christ as the bridegroom
of the Church, His bride. However, Canticles reads as a paean to human
love, and it seems best to take it for what it is. Love between a man and a
woman is a very important thing; it is the fundamental relationship in the
human family. So it is fitting that God devote a small segment of the Bible
to this reality.

                                Yours,
                                Harold Holmyard