Returning the King and the Women to the Beginning of the Song of Songs

Abstract

Abstract The male lover portrayed in Song 1:2–4 was once ubiquitously considered to be a king. Recent interpreters, however, have understood the word “king” to be either a hypocorism (a nickname of affection) or an epithet for a “bridegroom.” Earlier interpretation also recognized a group of women in the opening scene, but this too is disappearing today. To address these exclusions, I present a close analysis of the grammar and offer an alternative perspective to what is identified as enallage (a substitution of one grammatical form for another) but which also inadvertently suppresses the women’s presence. Next, I investigate how the Song’s “king” became denuded of his royal meaning, including through a reliance on some dubious interpretations of Akkadian poetry. I also explore literary themes in the Hebrew Bible—women’s celebratory praise and a hitherto undiscovered case of subtle soundplay called “hidden paronomasia”—to show why the Song’s “king” should be understood as a royal personage. Finally, by comparing this scene in the Song to the Sumerian love poem Dumuzi-Inanna G, I show how the Song opens with a prominent ancient Near Eastern motif of love literature—the entrance or bringing of the royal consort into the palace, lauded by a group of rejoicing women.