Troublesome Topic: Why Did the Rabbis Say This Song Is a Picture of God and Israel?

I know I am going about this all wrong. The true power of symbolism is simply felt, it is not found through analysis. One could also say that, if symbolism is to be felt, not analyzed, there is nothing to debate; the meaning of the imagery is obvious to you or it isn’t. Period. In reality it impacts everyone in a unique way and each person would express it slightly differently, but the impact will always take the culturally attuned readers in a similar direction. Therefore, the teachers and experts in religious matters shortly after Solomon’s day would have felt the impact of The Song, but they would not have debated it. They called it “Solomon’s Song of Songs” because they experienced the kind of impact it was designed to impart.

However, down the road, after an unknown number of years, or decades, someone brought up something that they could debate (and the religious leader of Israel loved, and still love, to debate). Someone saw a second layer of interpretation in The Song. He may have said it something like this: “We all know what the imagery of The Song means, there is no debate about it, however, I see a hidden layer of meaning that I want to share with you to see if you agree with me or not. I think that many of the things said about Solomon can be said about YHVH (read Adonai), and many of the things said about the Shulammite can be said of Israel. What say you?”  And the debate was on. This was indeed something they could debate. While jokes should not be explained, and symbolism should not be debated, a secondary layer of possible meaning in the symbolism would be up for debate because it would not be obvious; it would have to be thought about. The initial, gut level, immediate reaction is not really up for debate even though we each react slightly differently; but something you have to think about and weigh before giving your agreement would indeed be debatable. In my opinion that is why the Rabbis talked about The Song as a picture of the relationship between God and Israel.

Attempting to force the issue and make the primary meaning of The Song relate to God and the Church creates problems, inconsistencies and the need to “throw out” certain statements. However, taking The Song to be a set of images having to do with the entirety of a husband and wife relationship, with a secondary layer of meaning in which some of what is said relates strictly to spiritual issues, fits together perfectly without inconsistencies. This conforms to my rule of seeking first the most obvious meaning to the original audience—and it is beautiful.

The next lesson is: A Healthy Marriage is Refreshing