Creative love

There are few agreements among scholars about the structure of the Song of Songs, but many commentators recognize that the opening section is 1:2-2:7, a series of seven alternating speeches between teh beloved and the lover.

Seven! That makes one curious if there is a more-than-numerological parallel with Genesis 1. As usual, some of the parallels are stronger than others.

A. 1:2-7: The bride longs for a kiss, describes herself as black from the sun (v. 6). The reference to the sun might connect this with Day 1, or the play with darkness and blackness. The parallels here are meager.

B. 1:8-11: The lover speaks to his darling, telling her where to find him and complimenting her adorned cheeks and neck. Not much firmament here, it seems.

It gets better, though.

C. 1:12-14: The bride describes the king at table, the fragrance of her perfume, and describes the king as a cluster of henna blossoms in a vineyard. The connection with Day 3’s “table” of land, spread with grain and fruit, is fairly strong.

D. 1:15: At the center of the passage (which is a chiasm), the lover is astonished as the beauty of his beloved, twice repeating “Wow! You are beautiful!” He compares her eyes to doves. Eyes are the light of the body, and connect with the lights of the firmament.

C’. 1:16-2:1: The bride compliments her lover on his beauty, and describes the pleasantness of their meeting place. The cedars and cypresses that spring from the land on Day 3 have been formed into a nest for the lovers.

B’. 2:2: The lover describes his bride as a flower among the thorns. She is the new Eve, an Eve who remains a lily or lotus though she is in a world of brambles.

A’. 2:3-7: In this Sabbatical speech, the bride takes a rest in the shade of her apple-tree lover, who brings her to his “house of wine” and raises his banner over her. She finds her apple tree, and “sits down” in His shade – “sit down” is yashavti , which contains shabat .