Song of Songs (New International Commentary on the Old Testament

The New International Commentary on the Old Testament

by Tremper Longman III

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.

Genres: Theology, Reference, Old Testament, Biblical Studies, Christian

238 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 2001

About the author

Tremper Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Before coming to Westmont, he taught at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia for eighteen years. He has authored or coauthored numerous books, including An Introduction to the Old Testament, How to Read Proverbs, and commentaries on Daniel, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Jeremiah and Lamentations, and Song of Songs.

Reviews

[Travis Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best introduction on the Song that I have read.

[Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Longman has written a solid commentary on the Song of Songs, interpreting the various metaphors and euphamisms with insightful clarity, and without falling into the eisegetical pitfalls of many other scholars who have found all sorts of ingenious references, sometimes even to activities forbidden in other parts of the biblical canon. I think he does, however, press the "initiative" role of the woman too far when he understands it as evidence for egalitarian marriage in Scripture.

In his introduction, he convincingly argues for what he calls the "natural" interpretation of the book, that it concerns human sexual relations, over against the more traditional analogical interpretation. He still finds room for a typological application to Christ and the Church, since marriage is the primary biblical metaphor for God's relationship to His people. I do wish, though, that he had brought forward more suggestions on how to draw such typological conclusions. He also argues convincingly that the Song is ananthology of loosely connected poems without any overarching narrative.

The book is highly informative without being overly technical, as other volumes in this series are. I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to any seeking to understand this often-neglected book of biblical wisdom.

[Jared Criswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used this commentary to teach the Song of Songs to my College Ministry. I agree with the approach to interpret the book as an anthology of poems rather than as a discernible narrative, as the narrative option is forced to create an overarching story not easily constructed from the material itself. The introductory/pre-commentary section is priceless material in my opinion and is worth consulting even apart from the verse by verse commentary, and it contains helpful historical background, and an in-depth history of interpretation. While the commentary is insightful and incredibly helpful in understanding the likely intentions of each poem, Longman admits in some places that he presses the images into a mold of reading the book as more sexually explicit than is obvious on the surface, and sometimes even under the surface. I agree that the Song contains sexually explicit imagery because it is about sexual intimacy as a primary subject, but he admits in some key texts that he is taking liberty at a textual ambiguity or crossroads in favor of a more “taboo” reading. Overall a good and helpful commentary on a book that is so often avoided, to the detriment of the people of God.

[Nathan Marone]

A rather enjoyable commentary!

Longman takes the stance that Song of Songs is an anthology of love poems. He rejects an allegorical interpretation of the book, and he does not think that we can trace a narrative throughout. In my estimation, Longman is quite persuasive on these points. This one is worth it for the 70-page introduction alone.

For the commentary itself, Longman does a nice job of sorting through technical translation issues while at the same time enjoying the playfulness of the poetry itself. He is not afraid to let the Song be very erotic in places and he's also more than willing to admit when we simply don't know how to translate something well or how to understand a certain simile found in the poetry.

I walked away with a better appreciation for the Song of Songs. And I think that's one of the higher compliments you can pay to a commentator.

[Sam Jolman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tremper did a great job of pointing out the way the church avoids eroticism and sexuality by making Song of Songs an allegory. In Tremper’s words, Song of Songs is an Erotic Psalter and making it anything else violates the authorial intent. I loved this to the last page.

[Lukas Güthler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Longman falls short in interpreting the song in a naturalist, rationalist way of thinking while masterfully exegeting the Hebrew poetry. It's as if he's exegeting the Song as poetry while applying it as prose. This is an impossibility.

[Laura Urban · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is everything a commentary should be. It was absolutely revolutionary to my understanding of this book of the Bible. I so highly recommend it.

[Calley · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEST treatment of the book as a whole, the original language and most practically applicable as well.

MUST READ to understand the book and the theology of sex as a whole.

[Robert Tessmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if you happen to disagree with some of the author's conclusions, and I disagreed with very little, the commentary accomplishes exactly what it set out to be.

[Matt Braymiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am coming to the close of a class on the Song that I've been teaching for the last few months. I chose a number of sources to assist in gaining a deeper understanding of this often neglected book of the Bible.

Longman does an exceptional job of making the Song accessible to the reader. His introduction is one of the better ones available. I found this to be a very beneficial source in my study. If I were to limit myself to three sources, I'd choose Murphy along with Longman and Garrett (WBC).

[Heather Denigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun book -- both to watch translation in action and because of some of the curious and hilarious interpretations that Longman discards. I enjoyed the footnotes. I'm not quite sure of Longman's overall attitude towards the Biblical book itself; he seems to question its unity at times. Honestly, I've had over a decade of sermons preached from an anthropological viewpoint and it's slightly wearing.
Started reading this on our honeymoon. I had heard that Song of Songs was given to newlyweds to help them out. It's not a manual, just FYI. (Longman also notes that it's not a manual.) All in all, great fun.

[Michael Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with most of the NICOT series, this book is not overly technical and is accessible and readable for the non-Hebrew-literate reader. He takes a thoroughly non-dramatic, literalist approach to the book and is not afraid to bring out the more erotic nuances of the poem in his exegesis.

[Roy · Rating 1 out of 5]

A horrible waste of money.

1. He's obsessed with sex, pre-marital, and otherwise.

2. He lowers the Song to the level of the love/sex songs of the pagans surrounding Israel.

3. There is nothing here about what the Spirit has to say to the Church of Christ in any era.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and insightful commentary on this wonderful book of the Bible.

[Stephanie Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

EXCELLENT commentary on one of the most confusing books of the Bible!

[Lu Tsun · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great commentary from the literary approach. The survey of scholarly works is concise and excellent.