SOLOMON'S SONG, one of the three canon ical volumes—the other two being Proverbs and Ecclesstes—which have come down to us by tra dition as the production of the son of David.
The Title of the Book ana' its Signification.— The title of this book in the Hebrew is n+-own which is literally translated by the Sept. cro- ma cia,acircup; Vulg. canticum canticorum, and in the A. V. song of songs. Now, according to the He brew usage, which has its analogy in Greek, Latin, etc., of expressing the superlative in substantives denoting quality, by the construction of the same noun in the genitive, either with or without the article, song of songs denotes the finest, the most beautiful, or the most excellent song. For in stances of this construction without the article comp. wimp nay, servant of servants—i.e. most abject semant, Gen. ix. 25 ; mr-0 wip, holy of holies—i.e. most holy, Exod. xxix. 37 ; xxx. to ; Num. iii. 32 ; and the Greek SeAceia &Aaiun', ' " TC.11, ' with the article see wcwn ,nw, the wpm EOp heaven of heavens—i.e. the highest heaven, Deut.
x. ; n,n5Nn 4r6N, the God of gods ; 4rIN nun, the Lord of lords, Deut. x. 17 ; Kings viii. 27 ; 2 Chron. 5 ; 8, to, and the Greek 6 BacriXek TWP gacrcXwomov,K6pzos 7-Czy twpzeawrow, I Tim. vi. 15 ; Gesenius, Gram. sec. 119, 2 ; Ewald, _Lehr. sec. 313 c. Hence the explanation of the Midrash Jalkut 0,1'VZ i'613M;11 In1L.VVI 1,V, the song which is celebrated and sublime amozq songs— which is followed by Rashi, Rashbam, Ibn Ezra, Luther, and most modern commentators and lexi cographers. The assertion of Kleuker, etc., that this interpretation of the Rabbins is more owing to their preconceived notion about the sublime con tents of the book than to the real meaning of these words, is refuted by Rashbam and other Rabbins, who refer to the above-named examples to corro borate the superlative signification of this phrase, and not to the contents of the book. Hengsten berg's opinion that this poem is called by the su perlative name—viz. most excellent song—because the subject-matter of it is the most glorious one, the heavenly Solomon, has no foundation whatever in the phrase itself, since the word TV, which the Sept. translates 654), crew, denotes any kind of song, either sacred or profane (Is. xxiii. 16 ; x.xiv. 9 ; Prov. xxv. 20 ; Eccles. vii. 5 with Ps. xxxiii. 3 ; xl. 3, al.) Other explanations of the title song of songs'—i.e. a song from the songs of Solomon
(Midrash Raba on the Son,T of Songs ; Kimchi, etc.), a collection of songs' (Kleuker), a chain of songs, a string of songs,' comparing 1%9 with the Chaldee -ot;j, rmo, Greek aegolz, chain (Velthusen, Paulus, Good, etc.)—are alike contrary to the brew usage of the word -ow and to the construe tion tp-ovri -ow. That the Rabbinical explana• tion of this title is grammatically the only admis sible one is admitted even by those who regard this book as a collection of separate songs (ex. gr. Dopke, Magnus, Noyes, etc.) 2. Deszkn and Method of the Book.—The design of this charming poem is to teach us a lesson ot practical righteousness by the record of an extm ordinary example of virtue in aoyoung maiden in humble life who encountered and conquered the greatest temptations from the most exalted person age in the land. The simple story divested of its poetic form is as follows :—A village girl, the daughter of a widowed mother of Shulam, is be trothed to a young shepherd, whom she met whilst tending the flock. Fearing lest the frequent meet ings of these lovers should be the occasion of scandal, the brothers of the Shulamite employ her in the vineyard on their farm. Whilst on the way to this vineyard she one day falls in with the cor t?se of King Solomon, who is on a spring visit to the country. Struck with her great beauty the king captures her, conveys her to his royal pavilion, then conducts her to Jerusalem in great pomp, in the hope of dazzling and overcoming her with his splendour, and eventually lodges her in his harem. But all is in vain. True to her virtuous love, she resists all the allurements of the exalted sovereign, spurns all his promises to elevate her to the highest rank, and in the midst of the gay scenes assures her humble shepherd, who followed her to the capital, that her affections are sacredly and inviol ably pledged to him. Solomon, convinced at last that all his advances are in vain, allovv-s her to quit the royal residence. Hand in hand the two faith ful lovers return to her native place, and on theit way home visit the tree under which their love spark was first kindled, and there renew their vows of constancy and fidelity. On their arrival they are welcomed by their companion shepherds, and sbe is rewarded by her brothers for her exemplary virtue.