שולמית .:. Shulamit .:. Shulmanitu .:. Canticle 6:10

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As Rabbi Akiva taught :

"All the books of the Bible are holy,
but the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies"

[Yadayim 3:5] (1st Century CE)
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This incorporates the text of the Vulgate, Septuagint and Hebrew versions of the Song of Songs otherwise known as The Canticles or The Song of Solomon.

The verses are displayed in both Modern Hebrew and Palaeo-Hebrew / Phoenician letters.

The King James translation of the spoken word is followed by a more literal version which unveils levels of meaning which would otherwise be lost in translation.

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(from a commentary on Shir HaShirim 6:10 by Robert Graves, in "The Song of Songs".)

"Akiba will have recognized the Canticles for what it was: a pastoral drama sung at weddings and incorporating ancient folk songs.

"Akiba may himself have been married to the singing of the Canticles.

"But he must certainly also have known of the New year marriage rites performed in the Temple; the Bridegroom having been Solomon, or one of his royal descendants, and the Bride a representative of the battle-goddess Anatha for whom he had built the enormous Temple called in Kings "The House of the Forest of Lebanon".

"Lebanon is mentioned in the Canticles often enough for the sword-dance to have honoured Anatha long before it honoured Shulmanitu.

"Her worship was widespread. The Phoenicians called her Taanith or Neith; the Egyptians, Anath; the Babylonians, Ishtar; the Syrians, Astarte; and the Athenians, Athene.

"The Syrian bride's dance still performed dangerously with a sword in one hand and a scarf in the other, clearly belongs to Canaanite matriarchal tradition; an ancient warning to the bridegroom that, unless he respects her, she will treat him as Jael had treated Sisera, or Judith, Holofernes.

"In the Canticles the Bridegroom confesses himself scared and compared her to an army in battle order."

SOURCE:

"The Song of Songs"
by Robert Graves
with illustrations by Hans Erni
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Publisher: Clarkson N. Potter
December 1973
ISBN-10: 051750801X
ISBN-13: 978-0517508015

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quae est ista
quae progreditur
quasi aurora consurgens

pulchra ut luna
electa ut sol
terribilis ut acies ordinata

.:.

τις αυτη η εκκυπτουσα ωσει ορθρος
καλη ως σεληνη
εκλεκτη ως ο ηλιος
θαμβος ως τεταγμεναι

.:.

Tags:

Shir haShirim, Shulamite, Shulmanitu, Canticles, Bilqis, Sheba, Levanah, sword dance, Kallah, Jael, Judith

ענת

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