UoG professor publishes unique new book on the Hebrew Bible
A University of Gloucestershire professor offers fresh perspectives around the only the poem of its kind in the Hebrew Bible in a unique new book.
Professor Philip Esler (University of Gloucestershire) and Professor Anselm Hagedorn (University of Osnabrück) are the editors of a new book on the Song of Songs in the Hebrew Bible entitled The Voices of the Song: The Diversity of the Bible’s Only Love Poem.
The book includes a series of new paintings by the University’s Professor Angus Pryor, Executive Dean for Research and Head of the School of Arts, Culture and Environment, including a striking image on the front cover, to illustrate the iconic poem.
The book is part of a long-term cross-disciplinary research collaboration between Professor Esler (main image), Professor Hagedorn and Professor Pryor offering a new interpretation of the Song of Songs.
The project 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 Song of Songs, probably written between 530 and 200 BCE, constitutes poetry of such high-quality as to make it one of the most important literary texts of the last three millennia.
Published by De Gruyter Brill in Paderborn, Germany, the new book contains essays originally delivered at a conference in Cheltenham by leading researchers from the UK, Germany, Finland, the United States and Canada.
Professor Esler, Portland Chair in New Testament Studies, said: “The book offers an array of new approaches to the Song of Songs, which set the work more firmly in relation to its ancient context, the natural world, and theological, literary and bodily engagements, and its artistic representation.”
Professor Pryor said: “My interaction with Song of Songs researchers has allowed me to create new paintings that generate knowledge through visual narrative. I thus align myself with the great painterly tradition of using biblical texts for inspiration and to bring them to new audiences.”
Professor Hagedorn, Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism, said: “A unique feature of the book is its inclusion of eight new paintings on the Song by Professor Angus Pryor, specifically created for this collaborative project, one of which, The Dove in the Cleft of the Rock, appears on the cover.”
Professor Esler, whose first career was as a solicitor and barrister in Sydney, Australia, was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to the study of religion and research by the University of Helsinki, the oldest and largest institution of academic education and research in Finland.
He specialises in the social scientific interpretation of biblical and extra-biblical texts and ancient legal papyri, and in biblical theology, and the Bible and the visual arts.
His extensive range of published articles and books also includes New Testament Theology: Communion and Community, Babatha’s Orchard: An Ancient Jewish Family Tale Retold, Ethiopian Christianity: History, Theology, Practice and 2 Corinthians: A Social Identity Commentary.