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The Glory of Kings: A Festschrift for James B. Jordan
Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Christian Encounters Series)
Athanasius
(Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality)
The Four: A Survey of the Gospels
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John
Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
The Song of Songs is about Yahweh and Israel, but the history it allegorizes is not a history of grueling slavery, battle, conquest, exile. All that history is portrayed as light romantic comedy. Which it is: Light romantic comedy is the story of the world.
The crises that the bride suffers in the Song are crises of absence. The lover has gone from her bed, he knocks and then leaves her. Just so, Israel’s national crises are fundamentally crises of Yahweh’s absence. Shiloh becomes Ichabod, the glory leaves the temple for Babylon.
Yahweh’s absence might seem to be unremittingly bad, but the Song indicates otherwise.
But in chapter 5, in one of the narratives about the bridegroom’s absence and the bride’s desperate search, the bride enlists the help of the daughters of Jerusalem in seeking her lover. They’re initially skeptical (5:9), but then join in (6:1).
Just when Yahweh is absent, the daughters of Jerusalem turn from a passive backdrop to active allies to the bride. In John 9 the blind man grows into an apologist when Jesus walks away; so too, Jerusalem wins her daughters to Yahweh when Yahweh leaves her.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 3:36 am
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