Rodel Mar Guban

ABTH-CE
Biblical Theology
Mr. Alvin Molito
A Theology of Human Sexuality in the Song of Songs
Introduction
One article from Christianity Today is entitled So Much More to Sex than Fifty
Shades. According to the article, the cultural norm has become fetishized sexual
behavior that equates good sex with over-the-top pleasure, wild fore-play and
emphoric orgasm. In lieu of the current perversion of the contemporary
understanding of sexuality by the society, I judged it appropriate to write a
theological paper on human sexuality. This paper however, deals mainly in the
theology of sexuality as it was presented by the Song of Songs. Employing a
canonical approach on the main passages, I aim to establish a rough theological
presentation on the subject.i
History of Interpretation
Before going any further to the theological message of the book, it is only
appropriate to touch on the history of interpretations of the Song of Songs. As
Dillard would suggest, perhaps there is no other book that has been read differently
from one period to another than the Songs. This book has been interpreted through
different approaches throughout the history. The leading approach to the Songs is
allegorical for many centuries. In fact, the book was read almost exclusively as an
allegory depending on the interpreter. For the Jewish circles, it is an allusive to
Yahwehs love for Israel and almost as if in a same line of argument, Christian circles
viewed it as a presentation of the relationship of Christ to the Church. (As cited by
Dillard, 2006)
An example of the Jewish traditional interpretation is that of the Targum of
the Song. To cite one example from Song of Songs 1:1-4, Let him kiss me with the
kisses of his mouth for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the
fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the
maidens love you! Take me away with you let us hurry! Let the king bring me into
his chambers., the interpretation would be like this: the passage is a reference to
the exodus. The woman will be Israel and the King is Yahweh, who brings her to His
chambers the Promised Land. This type of interpretation is not exclusive to the
Jew; even Christians have such way of interpreting the book. In 1:13 where it reads,
My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts, Cyril of
Alexandria interprets the breasts as symbols for the Old and New Testaments, the
sachet is Christ, resting between both testaments.

i Kim Gaines Eckert.

Christianitytoday.com.www.christianitytoday.com/women/2014/august/so-much-more-tosex-than-fifty-shades-of-grey.html. (Accessed August 05, 2014)