A new interpretation of the Song of Songs

This project brings together researchers in the UK (Professors Philip Esler, Angus Pryor and Melissa Raphael) and Germany (Professor Anselm Hagedorn) to offer a new interpretation of the Song of Songs that fuses historical, theological and artistic dimensions.

Hero image: Aharon April Song of Songs-Last, source commons.wikimedia.org

The Song of Songs is the Hebrew Bible’s only love poem, probably written between 530 and 200 BCE, and constitutes poetry of such high quality as to make it one of the most important literary texts of the last three millennia, which is central to two major religions and has an iconic cultural status.

Probably written between 530 and 200 BCE, the Song of Songs is the Hebrew Bible’s only love poem and has been a focus of theological and artistic attention for centuries and of historical examination in modern times.

This project offers a new interpretation of the Song of Songs that integrates a fresh approach to what it conveyed to its original Israelite audience in their ancient context, with theological and cultural insights and artistic representation built on that investigation.

The team of researchers have applied for grant funding to inaugurate the project. They plan to hold conferences in Cheltenham and Osnabrück and to produce a number of publications on the Song. Angus Pryor is planning a series of six, 2 x 2 meter canvases on the work.

Project leads: Philip Esler and Angus Prior

This research forms part of the research priority area, Culture, Continuity & Transformation.