Tag: song of songs
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The Divine Pursuit: Seeking Love and Holiness in the Song of Songs (Part 11)
Love Awakened (Song 8) The conclusion of the poetic saga that is Song of Songs calls the reader back to several key themes introduced previously in the poem: Frustrated Longing (8:1-4) – Throughout the Song, the young woman has expressed a deep desire to be united with her beloved, and at the same time frustration…
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The Divine Pursuit: Seeking Love and Holiness in the Song of Songs (Part 10)
A Garden Reunion (Song 6:1-7:13) In chapters 6-7, the woman finds her lover again in an idyllic garden setting. The poem shifts to the man’s perspective as he heaps praise upon his beloved and revels in her physical beauty. These chapters are perhaps the most sexually explicit of all; the lovers are enraptured with one…
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[New Podcast Episode!] Theologizing Life: A Theology of the Song of Songs
New episode dropped today! In celebration of Valentine’s Day, Anthony and I discuss the beautiful message of the Song of Songs. If this episode piques your interest, make sure you check out my blog series on Song of Songs, The Divine Pursuit.
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The Divine Pursuit: Seeking Love and Holiness in the Song of Songs (Part 9)
I began this project over a year and a half ago in the summer of 2020, intending for it to be a quick, enlightening exercise to help me read and process Song of Songs. While Songs has delivered in the first department – it is a profoundly fascinating book of the Bible – working through…
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The Divine Pursuit: Seeking Love and Holiness in the Song of Songs (Part 8)
Another Frantic Search (Song 5:2-8) Song 5:2-8 begins a lengthy poem which bookends what many scholars understand to be a distinct poetic unit beginning with Song 3:1-5 and ending with 6:3. There are obvious similarities between the poems in 3:1-5 and 5:2-8, but more notable are the contrasts. Here’s what I mean: 3:1-5 5:2-8 1.…
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The Divine Pursuit: Seeking Love and Holiness in the Song of Songs (Part 7)
Together Again (Song 4:1-5:1) I took a 6-month hiatus from the Song of Songs, but, fear not, I have returned. Last December, I walked through Song 3:6-11, which depicts a bride and her groom excitedly approaching one another on their wedding day. I suggested that the beautiful moment of unity shared between the two lovers…
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The Divine Pursuit: Seeking Love and Holiness in the Song of Songs (part 6)
“Who Is She?” (3:6-11) This section of the Song seems straightforward on the surface, but the diversity of wildly different interpretations among biblical scholars signals that this may not be the case at all. As with most of the poems in the Song, all is not as it seems. Before we dive in, let’s take…
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The Divine Pursuit: Seeking Love and Holiness in the Song of Songs (part 5)
Read Part 4 here “Have You Seen This Man?” (Song 3:1-5) Chapters 1 and 2 introduce the reader to the two lovers in the Song and establish (in no uncertain terms) that, 1.) the man and the woman adore one another and are hopelessly lovesick for each other, and 2.) the man and the woman…
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The Divine Pursuit: Seeking Love and Holiness in the Song of Songs (Part 4)
Read Part 3 “Heaven Meets Earth Like” . . . (Song 2:1-17) Chapter 2 opens with the woman’s words: “I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.” The first home my wife and I moved into in Warsaw, Indiana had a large backyard that was overrun with rose of Sharon. It is…
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The Divine Pursuit: Seeking Love and Holiness in the Song of Songs
Part 3: Love is Lovely (Song 1:1-17) View part 2 here. Structure The first section of the Song of Songs establishes a “He-She-Chorus” structure which frames the narrative of the story from three different points of view: those of a woman, a man, and a chorus of observers. The man and the woman express their…