Song of Songs
For this essay I will perform a close reading of Song of Songs in order to interrogate David Biale's assertion in Eros and the Jews that, unlike other biblical examples, Song of Songs is about female transgression. In Eros and the Jews Biale defines female transgression as "The woman [playing] a sexually aggressive role; she violates boundaries" (Biale 31). I will be close reading a version of Song of Songs from The Jewish Study Bible edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler which includes notes by the editors on the text and which will also be subject to my close reading. To help me close read the text I will be utilising my own loose definition of what female transgression involves. Essentially, I have looked for instances where the female character(s) is(are) not submissive to the male character(s) and/or are open about their own sexuality and desire.
The first verses (1.2-4) of the Song after the title are described in the editors' notes as "the woman expressing the desire for her lover" (Berlin & Brettler 1566). In this section the woman, for me, starts to give hints of her more overt female transgressions that occur later on. In 1.2 (the first line of the Song) she says "Oh, give me of the kisses of your mouth" (Berlin & Brettler 1566). Immediately we are given an example of a lack of submissiveness on the part of the woman as she demands what it is she wants. In 1.3 she goes further expressing why women or "maidens" (Berlin & Brettler 1566) in general love the object of her affection which, while perhaps not female transgression, does subtly express a lack of wanting to own or keep her lover exclusively for herself by acknowledging others' desire for him. The transgression occurs in a reading that the line "Therefore do maidens love you" (Berlin & Brettler 1566) might exclude the woman who is speaking's desire for marriage. She just wants sex.
In 1.6 the editor's notes advise that "The woman describes herself" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). In this description we get the first inklings of male response to her transgressive thoughts in the line "My mother's sons quarrelled with me" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). The woman backs up their quarrelsome worry two lines later by confirming that indeed, "My own vineyard I did not guard" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). In the editor's notes they advise that "vineyard […] often represents both a physical place and the woman's own sexuality" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). Therefore we could read that she was perhaps not a prude.
In 1.7-17 the editor's advise that we are now reading a dialogue between the lovers. In lines 1.9-11 and 1.15-17 we experience the man speaking words and phrases that might be associated with the normal submissive language characteristic of women in other biblical works. The woman's lines (1.12-14) in between these two male spoken sections are heightened in their transgression as a result of the aforementioned submissive male bookends. She says: "While the king was on his couch, My nard gave forth its fragrance, My beloved to me is a bag of myrrh, Lodged between my breasts. My beloved to me is a spray of henna blooms, From the vineyards of En-gedi" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). It doesn't take too much imagination to conceive the overt sexuality on display from the woman in these words.
Between 4.1-16 the editor's notes advise the reader that the man is praising "his lover's beauty and charms" (Berlin & Brettler 1570). While a lot of the description and analogy used in this section by the man is respectful and non-sexual we do see perhaps the woman's flashes of overt female transgression previously described start making their way into his dialogue. 4.3 has the man describing her in the following way: "Your lips are like a crimson thread, Your mouth is lovely. Your brow behind your veil, [Gleams] like a pomegranate split open" (Berlin & Brettler 1570). In 4.5 to 4.6 he goes further saying: "Your breasts are like two fawns, Twins of a gazelle, Browsing among the lilies. When the day blows gently, And the shadows flee, I will betake me to the mount of myrrh, To the hill of frankincense" (Berlin & Brettler 1570-71). At 4.16, just before the half way point of the Song, we hear from the woman again. This time, perhaps in response to her lover's mimicry of her overt sexual desire, she ups the ante, telling him to have sex with her: "Awake, O north wind, Come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, That its perfume may spread. Let my beloved come to his garden, And enjoy its luscious fruits!" (Berlin & Brettler 1572)
After the above words, and the mid-point of the Song, the man responds with the following: "I have come to my garden, My own, my bride; I have plucked my myrrh and spice, Eaten my honey and honeycomb, Drunk my wine and my milk" (Berlin & Brettler 1572). These lines leave it relatively clear to the reader that the woman and man have had sex. Slightly after this at 5.2 we return to what the editors describe as a second nighttime episode that echoes the dreamlike sequence in 3.1-4. During this second sequence at 5.5 the woman displays further female transgression as she opines her desire for more sex: "I rose to let in my beloved; My hands dripped myrrh, My fingers, flowing myrrh, Upon the handles of the bolt, I opened the door for my beloved" (Berlin & Brettler 1572). My interpretation of the male response to this that follows centres around the man having now got what he wanted / ejaculated, and consequently losing his desire before fleeing. The woman describes this at 5.6: "But my beloved had turned and gone. I was faint because of what he said, I sought but found him not; I called but he did not answer" (Berlin & Brettler 1572).
The above situation develops further at 5.7 as the woman ventures into town to search for him but, instead of finding her lover, she is beaten by the town's watchmen: "I met the watchmen, Who patrol the town; They struck me, they bruised me. The guards of the walls, Stripped me of my mantle" (Berlin & Brettler 1572). This mirrors previous male attitudes to female transgression earlier in the Song and reaffirms the prevalent way of thinking around female transgression that normally occurs in biblical writing. At 6.2 the woman laments as she describes how her lover is now off flirting with other women: "My beloved has gone down to his garden, To the beds of spices, To browse in the gardens, And to pick lilies" (Berlin & Brettler 1573). She doesn't fold however and displays the surprising confidence she still has in him despite what has happened by affirming that he is only browsing: "He browses among the lilies" (Berlin & Brettler 1574). This certainty and strength that he won't cheat flags a return to the female transgression the woman displayed previously. Ultimately, at 6.9 and beyond, he returns and confirms she need not worry: "Only one is my dove, My perfect one" (Berlin & Brettler 1574).
There are further examples of female transgression in the woman's display of her own desire during the remainder of the Song along with similar examples of the male response previously described. The Song ends with the woman's final invitation to her lover: "O you who linger in the garden, A lover is listening; Let me hear your voice. 'Hurry my beloved, Swift as a gazelle or a young stag, To the hills of spices!'" (Berlin & Brettler 1577) Given the close reading I have provided it is fair to agree with David Biale's statement that Song of Songs, unlike other biblical examples, is about female transgression. The female voice, so unnecessarily quelled throughout most other biblical texts, is given free reign in Song of Songs. Perhaps because of the suppression elsewhere, the transgressive female voice in Songs is even more spectacular than it might be otherwise. A fact emphasised further by that declaration to the man in the last lines of the poem: "Let me hear your voice" (Berlin & Brettler 1577).
Bibliography
1. Biale, David. Eros and the Jews: from Biblical Israel to Contemporary America. Univ. of Calif. Press, 1997.
2. Berlin, Adele, and Marc Zvi Brettler. The Jewish Study Bible: Torah, Neviim, Kethuvim. Oxford University Press, 2014.
The first verses (1.2-4) of the Song after the title are described in the editors' notes as "the woman expressing the desire for her lover" (Berlin & Brettler 1566). In this section the woman, for me, starts to give hints of her more overt female transgressions that occur later on. In 1.2 (the first line of the Song) she says "Oh, give me of the kisses of your mouth" (Berlin & Brettler 1566). Immediately we are given an example of a lack of submissiveness on the part of the woman as she demands what it is she wants. In 1.3 she goes further expressing why women or "maidens" (Berlin & Brettler 1566) in general love the object of her affection which, while perhaps not female transgression, does subtly express a lack of wanting to own or keep her lover exclusively for herself by acknowledging others' desire for him. The transgression occurs in a reading that the line "Therefore do maidens love you" (Berlin & Brettler 1566) might exclude the woman who is speaking's desire for marriage. She just wants sex.
In 1.6 the editor's notes advise that "The woman describes herself" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). In this description we get the first inklings of male response to her transgressive thoughts in the line "My mother's sons quarrelled with me" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). The woman backs up their quarrelsome worry two lines later by confirming that indeed, "My own vineyard I did not guard" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). In the editor's notes they advise that "vineyard […] often represents both a physical place and the woman's own sexuality" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). Therefore we could read that she was perhaps not a prude.
In 1.7-17 the editor's advise that we are now reading a dialogue between the lovers. In lines 1.9-11 and 1.15-17 we experience the man speaking words and phrases that might be associated with the normal submissive language characteristic of women in other biblical works. The woman's lines (1.12-14) in between these two male spoken sections are heightened in their transgression as a result of the aforementioned submissive male bookends. She says: "While the king was on his couch, My nard gave forth its fragrance, My beloved to me is a bag of myrrh, Lodged between my breasts. My beloved to me is a spray of henna blooms, From the vineyards of En-gedi" (Berlin & Brettler 1567). It doesn't take too much imagination to conceive the overt sexuality on display from the woman in these words.
Between 4.1-16 the editor's notes advise the reader that the man is praising "his lover's beauty and charms" (Berlin & Brettler 1570). While a lot of the description and analogy used in this section by the man is respectful and non-sexual we do see perhaps the woman's flashes of overt female transgression previously described start making their way into his dialogue. 4.3 has the man describing her in the following way: "Your lips are like a crimson thread, Your mouth is lovely. Your brow behind your veil, [Gleams] like a pomegranate split open" (Berlin & Brettler 1570). In 4.5 to 4.6 he goes further saying: "Your breasts are like two fawns, Twins of a gazelle, Browsing among the lilies. When the day blows gently, And the shadows flee, I will betake me to the mount of myrrh, To the hill of frankincense" (Berlin & Brettler 1570-71). At 4.16, just before the half way point of the Song, we hear from the woman again. This time, perhaps in response to her lover's mimicry of her overt sexual desire, she ups the ante, telling him to have sex with her: "Awake, O north wind, Come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, That its perfume may spread. Let my beloved come to his garden, And enjoy its luscious fruits!" (Berlin & Brettler 1572)
After the above words, and the mid-point of the Song, the man responds with the following: "I have come to my garden, My own, my bride; I have plucked my myrrh and spice, Eaten my honey and honeycomb, Drunk my wine and my milk" (Berlin & Brettler 1572). These lines leave it relatively clear to the reader that the woman and man have had sex. Slightly after this at 5.2 we return to what the editors describe as a second nighttime episode that echoes the dreamlike sequence in 3.1-4. During this second sequence at 5.5 the woman displays further female transgression as she opines her desire for more sex: "I rose to let in my beloved; My hands dripped myrrh, My fingers, flowing myrrh, Upon the handles of the bolt, I opened the door for my beloved" (Berlin & Brettler 1572). My interpretation of the male response to this that follows centres around the man having now got what he wanted / ejaculated, and consequently losing his desire before fleeing. The woman describes this at 5.6: "But my beloved had turned and gone. I was faint because of what he said, I sought but found him not; I called but he did not answer" (Berlin & Brettler 1572).
The above situation develops further at 5.7 as the woman ventures into town to search for him but, instead of finding her lover, she is beaten by the town's watchmen: "I met the watchmen, Who patrol the town; They struck me, they bruised me. The guards of the walls, Stripped me of my mantle" (Berlin & Brettler 1572). This mirrors previous male attitudes to female transgression earlier in the Song and reaffirms the prevalent way of thinking around female transgression that normally occurs in biblical writing. At 6.2 the woman laments as she describes how her lover is now off flirting with other women: "My beloved has gone down to his garden, To the beds of spices, To browse in the gardens, And to pick lilies" (Berlin & Brettler 1573). She doesn't fold however and displays the surprising confidence she still has in him despite what has happened by affirming that he is only browsing: "He browses among the lilies" (Berlin & Brettler 1574). This certainty and strength that he won't cheat flags a return to the female transgression the woman displayed previously. Ultimately, at 6.9 and beyond, he returns and confirms she need not worry: "Only one is my dove, My perfect one" (Berlin & Brettler 1574).
There are further examples of female transgression in the woman's display of her own desire during the remainder of the Song along with similar examples of the male response previously described. The Song ends with the woman's final invitation to her lover: "O you who linger in the garden, A lover is listening; Let me hear your voice. 'Hurry my beloved, Swift as a gazelle or a young stag, To the hills of spices!'" (Berlin & Brettler 1577) Given the close reading I have provided it is fair to agree with David Biale's statement that Song of Songs, unlike other biblical examples, is about female transgression. The female voice, so unnecessarily quelled throughout most other biblical texts, is given free reign in Song of Songs. Perhaps because of the suppression elsewhere, the transgressive female voice in Songs is even more spectacular than it might be otherwise. A fact emphasised further by that declaration to the man in the last lines of the poem: "Let me hear your voice" (Berlin & Brettler 1577).
Bibliography
1. Biale, David. Eros and the Jews: from Biblical Israel to Contemporary America. Univ. of Calif. Press, 1997.
2. Berlin, Adele, and Marc Zvi Brettler. The Jewish Study Bible: Torah, Neviim, Kethuvim. Oxford University Press, 2014.
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