Song of Songs: A Close Reading
This
book puts forward an interpretation of the Canticle which is alert to
the literal sense of the poem. The author thus distances himself both
from the allegorical interpretation and from an interpretation that is
purely secular. According to the author, the Song offers a theological
vision of human love. Barbiero sees the Song as composed in the third
century BC, in the Hellenistic epoch, but also as hugely dependent on
the love poetry of the Ancient Near East, particularly that of Egypt.
Above all, however, the Song was composed in dialogue with the other
books of the Old Testament, especially in contrast with the negative
view of sexuality which they represent. The study pays particular
attention to the structure of the poem and of the individual cantos: for
Barbiero, the Song is a closely unitary work and is only to be
understood as a whole.
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