Song of Songs 7
Song of Songs 7 is the seventh chapter of the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This book is one of the Five Megillot, a collection of short books, together with Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, within the Ketuvim, the third and the last part of the Hebrew Bible. Jewish tradition views Solomon as the author of this book, and this attribution influences the acceptance of this book as a canonical text.
This chapter contains a poem in which the man describes the woman, his lover, and one or more songs in the woman's voice issued as invitations to the man.
Text
The original text is written in Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 13 verses.Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Codex Leningradensis.There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus, and Codex Alexandrinus.
Structure
The Modern English Version (MEV) identifies the speakers in this chapter as:Biblical scholar Athalya Brenner notes that verses 1 to 10 are "probably in a male voice", and 11 to 14 in a female voice. However, Andrew Harper argues that the opening verses contain the praises sung by "the ladies of the hareem".
Male: Third descriptive poem for the female (7:1-9; Masoretic 7:2-10)
A voice, likely of the man, calling to the woman to dance, then describing her body from toe to head in a poem or "waṣf", closing with a response indicating male desire, which is followed perhaps by a "female retort" to round off this passage. This descriptive poem by the man still belongs to a long section concerning the desire and love in the country which continues until 8:4. The man's waṣf and the other ones theologically demonstrate the heart of the Song that values the body as not evil but good even worthy of praise, and respects the body with an appreciative focus. Hess notes that this reflects 'the fundamental value of God's creation as good and the human body as a key part of that creation, whether at the beginning or redeemed in the resurrection '.Verse 5
- "Tresses" : from Hebrew: רהטים, , is only found here in the Bible. Marvin H. Pope describes how it may have developed from a root rhṭ used in connection with water, here as "the coursing of water" evoking the idea of "flowing hair".