Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Zakovitch, The Song of Songs

NEW BOOK FROM BLOOMSBURY/T&T CLARK:
The Song of Songs
Riddle of Riddles


By: Yair Zakovitch

Published: 20-09-2018
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 136
ISBN: 9780567676139
Imprint: T&T Clark
Series: The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
Volume: 673
Dimensions: 234 x 156 mm
RRP: £85.00
Online price: £76.50
Save £8.50 (10%)

About The Song of Songs
The Hebrew Bible is religious literature, the fundamental interest of which lies in the relations between humankind, especially the people of Israel, and God. The Song of Songs, on the other hand, is interested in the relations between men and women. In this volume Yair Zakovitch examines the presence of the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible, and questions how this enigmatic collection of poetic writings came to be within the Bible.

Zakovitch poses and addresses a range of enticing questions in the eight chapters of this volume, including: what does this erotic poetry have to do with Israel's formative texts? What do the poems tell us about gender relations in those years, and about early Israel's attitudes towards beauty, love, women, and sex? Do we finally get to hear women's voices in the Song, where the rest of the Bible gives a male perspective? How, despite our astonishment, is the Song of Songs nonetheless intrinsically biblical? What does it have in common with the Bible's other books? Was the allegorical interpretation of the Song just an excuse in order to include the book in Scripture?

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