Song of Songs
1
8.4
- proper noun
- Literature
:
Cantar de los Cantares
- In many religious discussions, the Song of Songs is often highlighted for its beautiful expressions of love.
Examples
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In fact, we had Song of Songs read at our wedding, and our pastor was thrilled that we chose it.
Blog text (13) -
The Song of Songs follows: the reconciliation, the allegory of love between him and his people.
Academic text (2001) -
The Song of Songs also speaks at length in very sensual language about a mutual loving relationship between adults without an emphasis on offspring.
Blog text (32) -
If arousal itself was sinful, then the Song of Songs, a classic piece of Hebrew erotica, would not be in the Bible.
Blog text (13) -
The origin of many of these metaphors and images is the biblical "Song of Songs" and its later Christian commentaries, which led to the association of Mary and Christ as the bride and bridegroom of those powerful erotic verses and made them tools of the contemplative process and images of the love of God.
Academic text (2001) -
According to Jerome, in the Vulgate, the books of Solomon are organized in order to reflect the upward path toward the birth of Christ, starting with Proverbs, followed by Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, and concluding with Wisdom.
Academic text (2004) -
The Song of Songs is a celebrated collection of love poems traditionally attributed to King Solomon.
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The imagery in the Song of Songs frequently draws parallels between nature and romantic love.
Synonyms
2
7.3
A book of the Old Testament that contains love poems
A book of the Bible made of love poems
A book in the Old Testament that contains love poems
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally composes known words ('song' + 'of' + 'song') and can be interpreted as a poetic superlative ('a song of songs' = the greatest song), so part of its sense is inferable from the constituents. However, its specific identification as the canonical Old Testament book of love poems is cultural/encyclopedic and not predictable from the words alone, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituents is unlikely to recover the full meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
The book Song of Songs gets its name from a Hebrew title that means 'the greatest song' or 'song of songs', using repetition to show strong praise. That image of a very special song explains why the book is a 'book of love poems' often read at weddings.