Review of Benjamin

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Review of Benjamin Chapter 11 Song of Solomon
By Linda Kawentel
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• The Song of Solomon is also known as the Song of
  Songs
• The Hebrew title Song of Songs is a
  superlative that means the best song
• Solomon is the patron of the Song of Solomon.
  Benjamin explains that the Song is not the work
  of Solomon, but a legacy of generations of
  lovers. Solomon appears today in the title
  because ancient Israel honored him as a patron of
  the teaching traditions that Israel shared with
  Egypt and Mesopotamia

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According to Benjamin, what the Song of Solomon
is NOT

• A song The words song, psalm, or poem
  describe a technique, not a genre
• An allegory which assigns a particular moral
  value to each character
• About marriage
• About Yahweh and Israel
• A drama

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So what is the Song of Solomon About?

• The Song of Solomon belongs to the genre erotica
  
• Cultures develop erotic traditions to teach
  people how to make love, and to motivate them to
  make love
• Seldom are the patterns of sexual behavior the
  same throughout different cultures. Therefore,
  the Song of Songs is meant to teach sexual
  patterns to the Hebrew culture and motivate the
  Hebrews to engage in sexual activity
• Erotica is not pornography. Erotic traditions
  promote healthy and balanced physical
  relationships, pornography promotes physical abuse

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Literary techniques

• Proposition an invitation to make love, and a
  promise that it will be a sensual delight. There
  are at least ten in the Song of Solomon. For
  example, Song 12-3 states, Let him kiss meFor
  your love is better than wine, your anointing
  oils are fragrant, your name is perfume poured
  out.
• Tour-burlesque an erotic catalog for the parts
  of the human body, which describes one feature at
  a time. At each stop on the tour, one lover
  describes a part of the others anatomy using
  erotic images. It appeals to one or more of the
  senses of the audience. For example, Song 41
  reads, Your eyes are doves behind your veil.

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More Literary Techniques

• Erotic fantasy a story that anticipates or
  remembers a sexual encounter. There are three
  parts to an erotic fantasy a plot with a crisis,
  a climax, and a denouement. Benjamin identifies
  at least seven erotic fantasies in the Song of
  Solomon. For example, Song 611-12 says, I came
  down to the nut garden to look at the fresh
  growth of the valley, to see if the vines were in
  bloom, if the pomegranates had blossomed. Before
  I knew it, my heart had made me the blessed one
  of my kinswomen.

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More Literary Techniques

• Tease a riddle with two meanings. One meaning
  is always sexual. Sometimes the riddle has a
  solution, sometimes it does not. Benjamin
  believes there are at least five teases in the
  Song of Solomon. For example, Song 215 states,
  Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that damage
  the vineyards for our vineyards are in bloom!
• Boast a literary technique that compares lovers
  and declares one to be unique. There are at
  least two boasts in the Song of Solomon. For
  example, Song 6 8-9 reads, There are sixty
  queens, eighty concubines, and maidens without
  number One alone is my chosen one, the dear one
  of her parent. The daughters saw her and
  declared her fortunate, the queens and
  concubines, and they sang her praises

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Questions to think about?

• Do you agree with Benjamin that the Song of
  Solomon is just genre erotica, not having a
  deeper meaning concerning the union between
  Yahweh and Israel? Is it just a song encouraging
  people to cherish their sexual lives?
• Do cultures today use genre erotica to motivate
  people to engage in sexual activity? How do
  todays love songs differ?
• What do you think accounts for the songs name
  the Song of Songs, meaning the best song? What
  is it about the song that someone would think it
  the best song? Do you agree?