Word Biblical Commentary: Vol.23B: Song of Songs/Lamentations

MAIN BIBLIOGRAPHY
Commentary Bibliography
General Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
Song of Songs as Scripture
Canonization
The Text of Song of Songs
Date of Composition
Authorship
The Structure and Unity of Song of Songs
A Plurality of Songs in Song of Songs
The Unity of the Song
A Redacted Collection by Multiple Poets?
A Unified Anthology but without Structure?
A Chiastic Structure for Song of Songs
The Poetic Devices of the Song
Speech-Acts and Motifs
Metaphors of Song of Songs
Excursus: Hebrew Poetry
Comparative Texts: Ancient Near Eastern Love Poetry
Mesopotamian Parallels
Egyptian Parallels
Comparison of One Egyptian Text with Song of Songs
Analogies for Song of Songs
Interpretations of the Song
Early Christian and Roman Catholic Allegorizing
The Allegorical Interpretations
Jewish Allegorizing
Protestant Allegorizing
Problems with Allegorizing Interpretations
The Three-Character Interpretations
The Dramatic Interpretations
The Two-Character Interpretations
Problems with Dramatic Interpretations
The Cultic Interpretations
The Wedding Interpretation
The Song as Love Poetry
The Funerary Interpretation
Feminist Readings of the Song
Song of Songs as Subversive to the Prophets
Excursus: Finding an Approach to Lyric Poetry
Song of Songs and Christian Theology
Overview of the Problem
Lessons about Love and Sexuality
The Song as a Rejection of the Ascetic Ideal
Romantic Love
Sexual Morality
Fleeting Joys under the Sun
Tenderness and the Nurturing of a Relationship
A Sense of Yearning
Theological Reflection
Prospective for a Theology: The Transformation of the Soul
A Model for Transformation
The Use of Myth in Relation to Song of Songs
Song of Songs as a Heroic Quest and Transformation
Implications of the Theology of Song of Songs
TEXT AND COMMENTARY
Superscript (1:1)
I. Chorus and Soprano: The Entrance (1:2-4)
II. Soprano: The Virgin's Education I (1:5-6)
III. Soprano and Chorus: Finding the Beloved (1:7-8)
IV. Tenor, Chorus, and Soprano: The First Song of Mutual Love (1:9-2:7)
V. Soprano and Tenor: The Invitation to Depart (2:8-17)
VI. Three Wedding-Night Songs (3:1-4:15)
A. Soprano: The Bride's Anxiety (3:1-5)
B. Chorus: The Bride Comes to the Groom (3:6-11)
C. Tenor: The Flawless Bride I (4:1-15)
VII. Soprano, Tenor, and Chorus: The Consummation (4:16-5:1)
VIII. Three Wedding-Night Songs (5:2-6:10)
A. Soprano, Tenor, and Chorus: Pain and Transformation (5:2-8) 203
B. Chorus and Soprano: The Bride Recovers the Groom (5:9-6:3) 218
C. Tenor and Chorus: The Flawless Bride II (6:4-10)
IX. Soprano, Chorus, and Tenor: Leaving Girlhood
Behind (6:11-7:1 [6:13])
X. Tenor and Soprano: The Second Song of Mutual Love
(7:2 [1]-8:4)
XI. Chorus and Soprano: Claiming the Beloved (8:5-7)
XII. Chorus and Soprano: The Virgin's Education II (8:8-12)
XIII. Tenor, Chorus, and Soprano: The Farewell (8:13-14)
MAIN BIBLIOGRAPHY
Commentary Bibliography
General Bibliography
INTRODUCTION
Considering Lamentations
Authorship and Date
Introductions to the Old Testament
Commentaries, Monographs, and Articles
Conclusion
Liturgical Uses
Place in the
Poetic Form and Meter
Acrostic Format
Poetic Meter
Lamentations and Ancient Near Eastern Parallels
Genre: Lament and Acrostic
Theological Purposes in Lamentations
God, the People of God, and Their Suffering
God and Jerusalem/Zion
God and the Nations
God and Prayer
Conclusion
TEXT AND COMMENTARY
How She Dwells Alone! (1:1-22)
How the Lord Has Clouded the Daughter of Zion! (2:1-22)
I Am the Man (3:1-66)
How the Gold Has Tarnished! (4:1-22)
Remember, O LORD (5:1-22)