Song of Songs (NICOT)
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Author: Longman, Tremper
ISBN-10: 0802825435 | ISBN-13: 9780802825438
Binding: Hardcover
List Price: $38.00
Westminster Bookstore: $24.82
- 35% Off
|
|
|
Publisher Description: Relationships are a wonderful, mysterious, often elusive, sometimes painful part of the human experience. The most intimate of all human relationships, according to the Bible, is that between a husband and a wife. It is no surprise, therefore, that there is a book of the Bible, the Song of Songs, that focuses on this relationship. What is surprising is how little attention is given to the Song of Songs by scholars, by the church, and by readers of the Bible. With this volume Tremper Longman III unpacks for modern people what this ancient love poem says about the male-female relationship — and, by analogy, about God's love for his people. Longman's superb study begins with a thorough introduction to the Song of Songs and its background. Longman discusses the book's title, authorship, date, literary style, language, structure, cultural milieu, and theological content. He also canvasses the long history of interpretation of the Song of Songs, a history too often characterized by repression of the text. In the commentary itself, Longman structures the Song of Songs according to its twenty-three poetic units and explains its message verse by verse. The exposition is made clearer by Longman's adoption of an anthropological approach to the text and by his frequent comparisons of the Song of Songs with other ancient Near Eastern literature. Learned yet highly accessible, innovative yet fully informed by past scholarship, this commentary shows the beautiful Song of Songs to be a timeless celebration of human love and sexuality. |
|
The wisdom books of the Old Testament have long been a source of headaches for readers and teachers of the Scriptures. Because of little historical detail and scant authorial evidence, many battle not only with the message of this body of biblical literature, but also with the span of time in which they were written. The Song of Songs, as part of the wisdom literature, is not immune to these complex matters. Its message seems to be a love poem with apparently no application for the church. And it is difficult to determine whether the poem was composed by Solomon, for him, or to him. The author provides a pathway towards understanding issues related to the style, composition, and structure of the Song of Songs. He then offers a helpful verse-by-verse commentary around 23 poems in the Song. In the end, Longman believes the Song of Songs reminds us of the proper role of sex in marriage, focusing our attention on the unfulfilled yearnings only to be satisfied in the consummate state, when Christ consummates his kingdom and blesses his people. All in all, this is an indispensable commentary for any student of the Scriptures interested in understanding this difficult book. - Jeff Waddington - Westminster Bookstore Staff
|
