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LITERARY STRUCTURING IN THE SONG OF SONGS

David A. Dorsey
Evangelical School of Theology
121 S. College Street, Myerstown, PA 17067, USA

The literary structure of the Song of Songs has been the subject of
considerable scholarly controversy over the centuries (see Pope
1977:40-54 for a summary); and there is still no consensus regarding
either the book’s unity or the number of constituent units/songs that
comprise it. Many commentators despair of finding any organizational
scheme at all. Haupt (1902:205), for example, sees the book as
’simply a collection of popular love-ditties, and these erotic songs are
not at all complete-neither are they given in their proper order’.
Haupt characterizes the structure of Canticles as one of ’charming
confusion’, a description that finds favor with Pope (1977:54) and
others.
Among those who attempt to isolate the individual songs that
make up the book there is little agreement. Pope (1977:40-54)
surveys a sampling of analyses: Kessler sees 4 divisions in the book;
Robert, 5; Delitzsch, 6 two-scene acts; Exum, 6 single units; Buzy, 7;
Ang6nieux, 8; Cannon, 13; Bettan, 18; Schmidt, 19;Jastrow, 23 (and
some fragments); Eissfeldt, 25; Gordis, 28; and so forth, with one

analysis identifying 44 parts. While the recent trend appears to favor

fewer, rather than more, units (cf. Shea 1980; Webster 1982; Goulder
1986), a consensus seems far off.
Of the macrostructural studies devoted to Canticles the analyses
of J. Cheryl Exum (1973) and William Shea (1980) are in my opinion
the most successful. Exum seeks to determine the parameters of the
book’s individual poems by identifying repetitions of key phrases,
words, and motifs, and by analyzing the contextual coherence of the
poems. She delineates six literary units in the book, arranged in a
modified chiasm:

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Shea (1980) concurs with the broad outline of Exum’s analysis,

modifying it in two ways: (1) he proposed slight adjustments of unit
boundaries; and (2) he sees the six units as forming a chiasm. His
resulting scheme:

Both these analyses are well-argued and have much to commend

them; nevertheless each has its weaknesses. Neither, for example,
identifies 3.1-5 as a discrete unit despite the fact that the concluding
refrains in 2.16-17 and 3.5 would appear to bracket this material and
set if off as a unit. Exum’s decision not to identify the refrain in
7.11 [10] as a unit-ender is questionable, as are two of Shea’s
boundaries, viz. 2.2 and 4.16.
A close scrutiny of the book’s literary architecture leads to the
conclusion that there is indeed an overall structural scheme. The
Song’s lyrics appear to have been deliberately crafted and/or ordered
to form seven (rather than six) cycles or poems. The end-points of
these seven cycles are marked by refrains or concluding lines (2.6-7;
2.16-17; 3.5; 4.16-5.1; 7.11[10]; 8.3-4; 8.14; the refrain in 6.3 is
exceptional); and scene shifts (the book has six of them) announce
the beginnings of each new cycle (2.8; 3.1; 3.6; 5.2; 7.12 [11] ; 8.5).
Each of the units thus identified exhibits an internal cohesion. Six of
the seven feature internal structures that are chiastic; and all but two
are septenary. The seven constituent units of the book form a very
obvious chiasm, at the center of which is, quite fittingly, 3.6-5.1, the
Wedding Scene (if indeed it is that) and the book’s dramatic high-
point (4.16-5.1).

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1. Opening Wordsof Mutual Love and Desire (1.2-2.7)

Exum is essentially correct in identifying 1.2-2.6 as the Song’s first
major literary unit-although there is no convincing reason to
exclude 2.7 from the unit: it logically closes the segment, and 2.8
introduces the book’s second scene (Fox 1985: 107; Murphy 1949:
384-85). The unit commences in 1.2 with the two lovers apart and
with the young woman expressing her desire to be with her beloved;
it continues with exchanges of expressions of admiration and desire;
and it concludes with the two lovers united, in 2.4-7, with a refrain
marking the completion of the unit. The rhythm introduced here,
following the sequence, lovers separated-expressions of desire-lovers
united, will be used throughout the book as the pattern of each cycle
(except the last; see below).
That 1.2-2.7 was intended to function as a discrete unit is

supported by the section’s internal coherence. First, the material is

structured into a heptad by the seven-fold alternation of speakers,
between the young woman and the young man: woman, 1.2-7; man,
8-11; woman, 12-14; man, 15; woman, 16-17; man, 2.1-2 (reading ’at,
with BHS, in 2.1); woman, 3-7.
Second, these seven speeches form a chiasm, which effectively ties
the entire unit together. The first and last speeches are both lengthy,
and both are spoken by the young woman (1.2-7; 2.3-7). In the first
she expresses her desire to be with him in his home; in the last she
and her beloved are united in intimacy in his home. Both contain
asides to the ’daughters of Jerusalem’, who are not mentioned
elsewhere in the cycle (1.5; 2.7). In both she states that ’he has
brought me into’ (hevi’am~ a house/chambers (1.2; 2.4). A theme-
word in both is ’love’ (’ahab/’ahaba), occurring three times in the
first, three times in the last, and nowhere else in the unit. Other
lexical correspondences also occur (e.g. ’wine’ [yayt&dquo;n]).
The second and penultimate speeches (1.8-11; 2.1-2) likewise echo
one another: they both present the young man’s words of admiration
for the young woman, in both cases emphasizing the uniqueness of
her beauty by means of comparison.
The third and third-to-last speeches (1.12-14; 16-17) are shorter
expressions of admiration and desire spoken by the young woman.
These two speeches are linked by references to his/their ’couch’
(meseb [cf. later Hebrew; Fox 1985: 105]; teres), and perhaps also by
the theme of fragrance.
At the center stands the young man’s admiration of her beauty:

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’Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your
eyes like doves’ (1.15).
are
The structure of the entire unit could be represented as follows:
1. Young woman’s long speech expressing her desire to be with her
lover in his home (1.2-7)
a. Aside to the ’daughters of Jerusalem’
b. ’He has brought me into (hebi’ani) his chambers’
c. Theme-word: ’love (’ahab)
d. Mention of ’wine’ (yayin) (1.2, 4)
2. His words of admiration for her: her uniqueness among all
women; use of comparisons (1.8-11)
3. Young woman’s short speech of admiration and desire,
with the theme of fragrance (nard, myrrh, henna blossoms)
and reference to ’his couch’ (1.12-14)
4. His admiration of her beauty (1.15)
5. Young woman’s short speech of admiration and desire,
with the possible theme of fragrance (cedar, pine), and
reference to ’our couch’ ’l.16-17)
6. His words of admiration for her: her uniqueness among all
women; use of comparisons (2.1-2).
7. Young woman’s long speech expressing her desire to be with her °

lover in his home (2.3-7)

a. Aside to the ’daughters of Jerusalem’
b. ’He has brought me into (hebi’ani) the house of
wine’
c. Theme-word: ’love’ (’ahaba)
d. Mention of ’wine’ (2.4)

2. His Invitation join Him in the Countryside (2.8-17)

to Her to

Songs of Songs 2.8 introduces the beginning of the second unit of the
Song. The commencement of the new unit is marked by a sudden
shift in scene: the young woman is now in her home, from where she
sees her beloved approaching. The previous unit featured the young
woman desiring to be brought into the home of her beloved (1.4, 12,

17; 2.4). Now she is in her home and he is coming there to invite her
out of her home to join him in the countryside. This certainly must
be considered ’Scene Two’ of the Song. There is also a shift in the
main speaker. In the first unit the young woman was the central
speaker, expressing her yearning to be with him. Now it is the young
man who is the central speaker, expressing his desire for her to come
and be with him.

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The extent of this unit is easily determined, since it represents a

single episode. The unit commences with the young woman
describing her beloved as he approaches her home and peers in. It
continues with his invitation to her to come out into the countryside
with him (vv. 10-15); and it concludes with the happy refrain, ’My
lover is mine and I am his... ’ (2.16-17), which is very similar to the
concluding refrain of the final song (8.14). The movement is, again,
from the lovers apart, to expression of desire, to union.
Underscoring the unity, a symmetrical structure is used. The unit
is arranged into three parts, composed of an inclusion formed by the
young woman’s two speeches (vv. 8-10a, 16-17), bracketing a central
speech by the young man (vv. lOb-15). The opening and closing
speeches of the young woman are made to correspond by the
repetition of the words ’my beloved’ (dodi), ’gazelle’ (sebi), ’fawn of a
deer’ l’oper ha’ ayyalim), and ’mountains’ (harim).
Forming the center of the unit, the young man’s speech falls into
two parts. The first is framed by the invitation, ’Arise my darling, my
beautiful one!’ (vv. 10, 13), and contains seven statements (seven
subjects + predicates) about the arrival of spring (vv. 10-13). The
second part (vv. 14-15) echoes the first, repeating items such as qol
(’voice’; 2x), the root rad (’to see’; 3x), gama’(’to hear’), semadar,
and words for ’dove’ (Fox 1985:112).
The entire unit is analyzed as follows:
A. Her descriptionof him, a gazelle leaping upon the mountains,
coming towards her home: 7 participles (2.8-9)
(dodi, ~ebi, toper ha’ayyalîm, harim)
B. His invitation (2.10-15)
1. Invitation, featuring the arrival of spring (w. 10-13)
framed by ’Arise my darling! Come with me, my
beautiful one!’ in vv. 10, 13), with 7 clauses depicting the
arrival of spring (2.10-13).
2. Invitation, echoing the previous one in 2.10-13, by the
repetition of q,51 (’voice’; 2x), the root ra’a (’to see’; 3x),
sama‘ (’to hear’), semadar, and words for ’dove’ (2.14-15).
A.’ Her description of their union, referring to him as a gazelle
upon the mountains (2.16-17).
(dodi, ~ebi, ’oper ha’ayyalim, harim)

3. Her Dream of Him and Their Union

(3.1-5)
In 3.1 the book’s third scene is introduced. It is night. The young
woman is in her bed (dreaming?). She yearns for her lover, gets up

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and goes out into the city to search for him, finds him, and brings
him back to her home, where they are united.
As with the previous unit, the parameters of this unit are clear
because the poetic lines in it present a single, unified episode, moving
from her yearning for her absent beloved, to her desire to go out and
search for him, to her finding him and their union, concluded by the
refrain in 3.5, ’Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you... ’, which is
identical to the refrain used to close the Song’s first unit (2.7).
The internal structure of 3.1-5 molds the section into a cohesive
whole. In addition to a linear plot-line, beginning with the two lovers
apart and concluding with them together, the episode has been
designed so that it is symmetrical (and apparently septenary):
1. Introduction: in her bedroom she yearns for her absent lover (1)
2. She goes out of her home without him, to search for him (2)
3. She is found (ma~a’) by the watchmen (3a)
~

4. Her question: ’Have you seen the one I love’ (3b)

3’. She finds (??za~a’) her lover (4a)
2’. She returns to her home with her lover (4b)
1’. Conclusion (they are together in the bedroom); closing refrain (5)

·
’
,
’ .
’ &dquo;’

4. Their Wedding (3.6-5.1)

The book’s next scene shift occurs in 3.6. It is now daytime, and we
areviewing the approach of the young woman’s entourage coming up
from the wilderness. Just as the second unit began with a vivid
description of someone approaching, so does the fourth unit, with
hinneh, ’look!’ being used in both. In the second unit it was the young
man approaching; now it is the young woman: ’Who is this (zo’t,
feminine singular) coming up from the wilderness?’ (3.6). The
pronoun zo’t most likely refers to the young woman who is
approaching in the wedding palanquin (’appiryon, v. 9, upon which
an Israelite bride, not the groom, rode to the wedding; cf. later
Hebrew usage of this term; contrary to Fox 1985:125-26). With this
rhetorical question we are transported into Scene Four of the
Song.
Exum’s (1973) delineation of this unit, as beginning in 3.6 and
ending with 5.1, is convincing. The splendid vision of the approaching
bride flows naturally into the young man’s words of admiration and
desire for her (4.1-15), and is completed by the description of their
union, in 4.16-5.1. The end is marked by the poet’s own concluding
words, ’Eat, 0 friend, and drink; drink your fill, 0 lovers’ (5.1).

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Again the internal structure functions to unify the unit. As with

the previous units, this one too exhibits linear development,
beginning with the two lovers apart and ending with them together.
But, also like the previous cycles, this one features a well-conceived
symmetrical design, with the sub-units crafted and/or ordered to
form a seven-part chiasm. On either side of the central sub-unit (the
young man’s summary statement of his beloved’s beauty; 4.7) are
expressions by the young man regarding his desire that he/she come
to or from the mountains (4.6, 8). These are flanked in turn by two
sub-units (4.1-5; 9-15) in which the young man admires the physical
attributes of the young woman, enumerating seven items in each;
and mentioning in each her eyes, lips, neck, and breasts. The entire
unit is then framed by the introductory vision of the approaching
bride-to-be, with the wafting fragrances of myrrh, etc. (3.6-11)-with
the two lovers apart, and by the concluding climax, with their union
and the repetition of the motif of wafting fragrances of myrrh, etc.
(4.16-5.1). The structure of the entire unit can be represented as
follows:
1. Introduction: the young woman approaching in the wedding
litter, with its wafting fragrances, myrrh (3.6-11 ): 7 items mentioned:
litter; sedan chair (same as litter?); pillars; base; seat; interior; and
crown
2. His admiration of her (4.1-5): 7 of her body parts (her eyes,
hair, teeth, lips, cheeks, neck, breasts)
3. His desire to go to the mountain (har) of myrrh, to the
hill of frankincense (lebonâ) (4.6)
4. Summary statement of her beauty (4.7)
3’. His desire that she come with him from the mountains
(har), from Lebanon (lebanon)-from 7 lofty places
(4.8)
2’. His admiration of her (4.9-15): 7 of her body parts, etc. (her
eyes, neck, breasts [reading Hebrew dad, with versions], oils
[?], lips, garments)
1’. Conclusion: their union; motif of wafting fragrances; myrrh
(4.16-5.1)
Interestingly, the central sub-unit, the young man’s summary
statement of his beloved’s beauty, is quite similar to the center of the
first unit, also consisting of the young man’s summary statement of
her beauty (1.15). In both instances these sub-units are the shortest
in their units, as is the central sub-unit in the third unit (3.3b).

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5. Her Dream, and Their Expressions of

Admiration for One Another (5.2-7.11 [10])
In 5.2 comes another shift in scene. This unit begins, as did the third,
at night, with the young woman dreaming (?) in her bed. As in the
third unit, she goes out to search for her lover in the city streets and
meets the watchmen. What is more difficult in this unit, however, is
to determine its end. Exum (1973) identifies the end at 6.3, which
contains the refrain, ’I am my lover’s and my lover is mine; he feeds
among the lilies’, which corresponds to part of the refrain used to end
the second unit (2.16-17). The occurrence of a refrain here
admittedly suggests that the unit has come to its end; but the next
verses do not introduce a new scene; they simply continue the scene
with more words of mutual admiration.
Shea (1980) sees the unit as extending to 7.11 (EVV 10), where the
refrain, ’I am my beloved’s and his desire is for me’, would mark the
unit’s end. The entirety of 5.2-7.11 (10) does indeed appear to be tied
together on two counts: (1) The series of questions asked by the
fi~iends-‘How...?’ (5.9); ’Where... ?’ (6.1); ’Who... ?’ (6.10); and
’Why...?’ (7.1; EVV 6.13), would seem to integrate the section. (2)
The cohesion of 5.2-7.11(10), which exhibits a tight, intricately
interrelated internal structure, strongly suggests that it is designed to
be a single major literary unit.
The section’s unifying structure is a seven-fold chiasm. The
central unit presents the young man’s praise for the beauty of his
beloved’s face (6.4-9). On either side of this center is a brief
recounting by the young woman (6.1-3; 6.10-7.1a [EVV 6.10-13a]) of
a trip that her lover or she has taken, ’going down’ (yarad) to a

’garden’ (gan, ginnâ) filled with flowers. Each is introduced by a

question (6.1, 10). Flanking these two speeches of the young woman
are two wasf type praises (5.10-16; 7.1b-7 [EVV 6.13b-7.6]), each
introduced by a question beginning with ma (5.10; 7.1b [6.13b]. The
first is the young woman’s praise of her beloved’s body, from the
head down; the second is his praise of her body, from the feet up. In
both, ten body parts are selected for praise, including, in both, the
head (ro’s’~, hair, eyes ( ‘enayim), belly, and legs. Framing the entire
unit is her dream and search for her absent lover at the beginning
(5.2-8) and the description of their union (7.8-11 [EVV. 7-10]) at the
end. Thus this unit, like the others, begins with the lovers separated
and ends with them united. The structure of the entire unit is
represented as follows:

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1. Separation: her dream and search for her missing lover (5.2-8)
2. Wasf. her praise of his body, from the head down: 10 parts, including
head (ro’~), hair, eyes (enayim), belly, legs (5.10-16)
*
introduced by a question beginning with mi
3. Her lover has ’gone down’ (yarad) into the gardens (6.2-3)
(introduced by a question)
4. His praise of the beauty of her face (6.4-9)
3’. She ’goes down’ (yarad) into the gardens (6.10-7.1a [EVV. 6.10-
13a])
(introduced by a question)
2’. Wasf his praise of her body, from the feet up: 10 parts, including
head (ro’§), hair, eyes (‘enayim), belly, legs (7.1b-7 [EVV 6.13b- 7.6])
*
by a question beginning with ma
introduced
1’. Their union (7.8-11 [EVV. 7-10])

6. Her Invitation to Him to Join Her in the Countryside

(7.12[11]-8.4)
With 7.12 (EVV 7.11) comes another shift of scene. It is now
springtime, and the young woman is excitedly inviting her beloved to
go with her into the countryside where she would give him her love.
The unit begins with the imperative leka, ’Come!’, and with an
expression of the young woman’s desire to be with her beloved. It
ends with their union, the unit’s closure marked by the refrain, ’His
left arm is under my head, and his right hand embraces me; I charge
you, I daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles... ’ (8.3-4). (This
refrain also marks the end of the first unit, 2.6-7, and, in modified
form, the third unit, 3.5.)
This short unit falls into three parts: (1) her invitation to him to
accompany her into the countryside (7.12-14 [11-13]); (2) her wish
that he were her brother, so that she could bring him into her house
and be playful with him and no one would object (8.1-2); (3) closing
refrain: their union (8.3-4). This unit does not appear to be chiastic;
it simply moves in linear fashion (A-B-C; or more accurately, A-A’-
B) from the young woman’s two expressions of her yearning to be
intimate with her beloved, to their union.
The two short speeches correspond. In the first the young woman
yearns to take him out into the countryside; in the second is the
complement: she would bring him into her home. In both sub-units
she is the sole speaker and the initiator. In both, the express reason
for her wished-for trip is that she could give him her love (away from

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prying or disapproving eyes). In both speeches the words natan,

’give’, and rimmonim, ’pomegranates’, occur.

7. Closing Words of Love and Desire (8.5-14)

In 8.5 comes the Song’s final scene shift. We are suddenly
transported back to the edge of the wilderness, where we view the
approach of the young woman. The unit begins, as the fourth unit
did, with the introductory question, ’Who is this coming up from the
wilderness?’ (8.5). This is followed by a series of exchanges
reminiscent of the first unit, alternating between the young man and
the young woman. The end of the unit is marked by a variation of the
refrain that closes the second unit (2.17): ’Make haste, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle or like a young stag on the spice-laden
mountains’ (8.14).
This final unit, a notoriously difficult section to exegete, is tied
together by its internal structure, which can be analyzed as a chiastic
heptad. It begins with the single line (5a) that calls attention to the
young woman who is ’coming up’ (’old) from the wilderness. It
concludes with a single sentence (14) focusing on the young man who
is also apparently involved in upward (?) travel in equally irregular
terrain, in this case upon ’the mountains of spices’. Both end with the
individual ’upon’ (a~ something or someone. Both mention the
’beloved’ (dod). If the second is a depiction of intimacy through
symbolic language-which it almost certainly is, then both lines
portray the lovers as united.
The second sub-unit (5b) shifts from the (arid, virtually treeless)
wilderness to a more verdant scene, under an apple tree. BHS,
following the Syriac, is probably correct in understanding these
words as addressed by the young man. He speaks of ’awakening’ his
beloved under the very tree where her own mother conceived her.
This short verse finds its counterpart in the equally short penultimate
unit, v. 13, where the young man is again the speaker. Here as well
the scene is one of verdure: ’in the gardens’. In both a third party is
mentioned (’your mother’; ’my friends,’). In both he speaks of the one
stimulating the senses of the other (he awakens her; she causes him
to hear her).
The third and the third-to-last sub-units (vv. 6-7, 11-12) are both
longer speeches of the young woman. In the first she asks to be a seal
upon his heart and arm, which would mark him as belonging to her
(v. 6); and she speaks of the power and intensity of love, which is

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beyond all financial reckoning (v. 7). This is apparently echoed in the
matching unit, which, while difficult to exegete, does appear to touch
on these same two points: (1) possession: she belongs to him; the sum
of a thousand shekels of silver that he collects from those who tend
his vineyards she (poetically speaking) gives to him, (joyfully)
showing that her vineyard, herself, likewise belongs to him. (2)
financial value of love: the thousand shekels of silver-a very high
price-she, seemingly without a thought, happily, would give to him
to show him that she is his. In the first unit she speaks of a token that
would indicate that she owns him; in the second is the complement: a
token that would show that he owns her.
The center of this final unit is the extremely obscure stanza about
the sister and her breasts (vv. 8-10), which is so difficult that even the
identity of the speaker(s) is uncertain.
The structure of 8.5-14 is as follows:
1. Introduction: the young woman coming up from the wilderness, united
with her beloved (5a)
a. Lovers are united
b. Picture of travel through rugged, undulating terrain
c. Ends with her leaning ’upon’ (‘al) him
d. A single sentence
2. His (?) speech: he ’awakens her’ under the apple tree (5b)
a. Verdant scene (’under the apple tree’)

b. He stimulates her senses: he ’awakens’ her

c. Short speech (9 words)
3. Her speech: ownership; value and intensity of love (6-7)
a. She would be a seal upon his heart and arm, demonstrating
that he belongs to her (6)
b. Love is powerful, beyond all financial reckoning (7)
c. Longer speech (6 lines)
4. Center: the sister and her breasts (8-10)
3’. Her speech: ownership and value of vineyards (11-12)
a. She would give him 1000 shekels, demonstrating that her

’vineyard’, like the others, belongs to him

b. The extravagant amount of money is treated lightly, as if it is
of no importance compared with her love
c. Longer speech (5 lines)
2’. His speech: she ’causes him to hear’ in the garden (13)
a. Verdant scene (’in the garden’)
b. She stimulates his senses: she ’causes him to hear’
c. Short (6 words)

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1’. Concluding refrain: the young man upon the spice mountains (united
with hisbeloved) (14)
a. Lovers are united
b. Picture of travel through rugged, undulating terrain
c. Ends with him ’upon’ l’al) the mountains
d. A single sentence

Interrelationships of the Song’s Major Units

8. The

Canticles, then, is composed of a total of seven major literary units.

Each unit begins with the two lovers apart, followed by expressions
of desire, and concludes with the two together. The one exception is
the final unit, which, fittingly, both begins and ends with the two
together.
These seven major literary units are not arranged in a linear
scheme, but symmetrically: A-B-C-D-C’-B’-A’. Exum (1973) and
Shea (1980) had already sensed some kind of symmetry in the book’s
overall structure, and their conclusions require only minor adjustments.
The correspondence between 1.2-2.7 and 8.5-14 has been long
noted, by Exum, Shea and others. The links between the two units
are manifold. In both, a seven-fold unit is achieved primarily by the
alternation of speakers. In both, the young woman’s brother(s?)
appear to belittle her-although both these sections are difficult (1.6;
8.8-9). In both, she expresses self-assurance regarding her beauty
(1.5; 8.10). In both, the vineyards of others and the young woman’s
own vineyard are compared (1.6; 8.11-12). In both, the apple tree is
mentioned as a place of lovemaking (2.3; 8.5). In the first, she holds
him as a sachet of myrrh between her breasts (1.13); in the last, she
would have him place her like a seal over his heart (8.6). In both, her
breasts (,§addayim) are mentioned (1.18; 8.8?, 10). In both, Solomon
is mentioned by name (1.5; 8.11)-and nowhere else in the book,
except in its central unit. The identical refrain (’His left arm... ’)
marks the end of the first unit and the beginning of the last unit.
The second and penultimate units (2.8-17; 7.12[11]-8.4) have also
been designed to correspond to one another. Unlike all the other
units of the Song, for example, these have, not seven, but only three
(or four?) sub-units each. Both feature an invitation to come out into
the countryside, in a manner complementing one another: in the
first, he invites her; in the second she invites him. In both, the
flowers and the grapevines are mentioned (2.12-13; 7.13 [12]), and
the vineyards are said to be in bloom (2.15; 7.13[12]). The first

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begins with the young man coming to her home; the second
concludes with the young woman wishing to bring him to her home
(2.9; 8.2). The refrain, ’His left arm... ’ directly precedes the
beginning of the first unit and closes the second unit. The refrain,
’My lover is mine and I am his’, which ends the first unit is mirrored
by the similar refrain immediately preceding the beginning of the
second unit: ’I am my lover’s, and his desire is for me’ (2.16;
7.11[10]).
The third and fifth units (3.1-5; 5.2-7.11 [ 10] ), despite their
differences in length, obviously correspond in that they each features
an episode about the young woman’s nighttime dream (?) in her bed,
her lover’s absence, her going out to search for him in the streets, and
her being found by the watchmen of the city (3.1-4; 5.2-7). A number
of identical lexical items occur in each episode. The refrain
immediately preceding the beginning of the first unit (’My lover is
mine... ’, 2.16) recurs in a modified form as the conclusion of the
second (7.11 [ 10] ).
This leaves 3.6-5.1, the wedding and exchanges of words of
admiration, as the Song’s central unit. That this unit was designed to
function as the book’s center seems likely on several counts:
(1) The dramatic conclusion in 4.16-5.1, particularly with the
poet’s own exclamation in 5.1 e (’Eat, 0 friend, and drink: drink
deeply, 0 lovers!’), serves as the climax and center-point of the book
(Landy 1987:316).
(2) It would not be surprising in a song celebrating the love of two
lovers to have the wedding scene positioned at the composition’s
center, functioning as the center-piece of the entire song.
(3) The name ’Solomon’, which occurs in the first and last units,
occurs elsewhere in the book only here (3.7,11), creating a symmetry
if indeed this unit is the central one.
The chiastic structure of the book, therefore, can be summarized
as follows:

A. Opening Words of Mutual Love and Desire (1.2-2.7): 7 speeches,

alternating between the young woman and the young man, chiastic
1. Solomon mentioned by name
2. Brothers mistreat (?) the young woman
3. Her self-assurance regarding her beauty
4. Her vineyard contrasted with her brothers’
5. Apple tree as a place of lovemaking
6. She would keep him as a sachet between her breasts
7. Closed by refrain, ’His left arm... ’

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B. His Invitation to Her to Join Him in the Countryside (2.8-17): 3 or 4

parts, chiastic
1. Description of the renewal of spring and nature
2. Flowers and grapevines; vineyards in bloom
3. He comes to her home to invite her
4. Ends with refrain, ’My lover is mine... ’
C. Her Dream of Him and Their Union (3.1-5): 7 parts, chiastic
1.Begins with her in bed at night
2. She yearns for her absent lover
3. She goes out to search for him in the streets
4. She is found by the city watchmen
5. Refrain, ’My lover is mine... ’, at beginning
D. The Wedding (3.6-5.1 ): 7 parts, chiastic
1. Mention of the name of Solomon
2. Dramatic climax in 4.16-5.1
C’. Her Dream, and Their Expressions of Admiration for One Another
(5.2-7.11[10]): 7 parts, chiastic
1. Begins with her in bed at night
2. She yearns for her absent lover
3. She goes out to search for him in the streets
&dquo;

4. She is found by the city watchmen

5. Refrain, ’I am my lover’s... ’, at end
B’. Her Invitation to Him to join Her in the Countryside (7.12(11)-8.4):
3 parts
~
1. Description of the renewal of spring and nature
2. Flowers and grapevines; vineyards in bloom ,

3. She would bring him to her home

4. Refrain, ’I am my lover’s... ’, at beginning
A’. Closing Words of Mutual Love and Desire (8.5-14): 7 speeches,
alternating between the young woman and young man; chiastic
1. Solomon mentioned by name
2. Brothers belittle (?) the young woman
3. Her self-assurance regarding her beauty
4. Her vineyard contrasted (?) with Solomon’s others
5. Apple tree as a place of lovemaking
6. She would be a seal upon his heart
7. Refrain, ’His left arm... ’, at beginning

Summary of Structural Features and Techniques

9.
A number of general observations can be made regarding the literary
architecture used in the Song. First, there is a proclivity toward
heptadic structuring. Not only is the entire book composed of seven
units, but five of those units are in turn composed of seven sub-units.

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Even on the microstructural level the convention is employed: e.g.,

the series of seven participles in 2.8-9; the seven clauses about spring
in 2.10-13; the seven nouns used to describe the approaching
palanquin in 3.6-11; the seven parts of the young woman’s body that
are admired in 4.1-5; the second series of seven admirable parts of
her body in 4.9-15; and the seven inaccessible places in 4.8.
There is also a marked preference for chiastic arrangement. The
whole book is so arranged, as are six of the book’s seven units. In all
but one of these, the chiasm is septenary.
Regarding emphasis locations: the centers of the chiasms are not
used as points of emphasis, except in the case of the chiasm that
forms the entire book. Of all the units that are chiastically arranged,
none of the central sub-units could be considered the high-point or

turning-point of its unit. The first and last parts of the chiasms
generally carry the emotive high-points (see especially units 1, 3, 4,
and 5). The second and penultimate slots are reserved for the wasf
songs (units 1, 4, 5). In the book’s final unit the third and third-to-last
sub-units (8.6-7, 11-12) appear to be that unit’s points of highest
emotional intensity.
Refrains, all spoken by the young woman, are used to mark the
ends of the Song’s major units, with the exception of the central unit,
which is concluded by the poets own words, addressed to both lovers
(5.1 ). The beginnings of major units are marked by shifts of scene, all
of which are either narrated by the young woman or, in two
instances, are the words of the Daughters ofJerusalem describing the
approach of the young woman (3.6; 8.5).
Correspondence between units is generally established by repetition
of scenes, motifs, themes, structural patterns, and lexical items. In
almost every case the repetition of lexical items is present, although
occasionally synonyms rather than the identical terms will be used
(e.g., the two terms for ’couch’ in 1.12-14//16-17; the two terms for
’belly’ and ’hair’ in 5.11-14//7.3-6[2-5]). Repetition of elements is
generally extensive enough for the reader to make the connection,
but not overly intensive and mechanical; for example, in each of the
two corresponding was/-songs in 5.10-16 and 7.1b-7(6.13b-7.6) ten
body parts are mentioned; of these, five parts are mentioned in both
songs, two with identical words, three with synonyms.
While relatively straightforward synonymous parallelism is often
used in correspondences (e.g., the parallel accounts of the young
woman’s nighttime dream(?) and search through the city, 3.1-5//
5.2ff.), complementary or reciprocal parallelism is also occasionally-

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and effectively-used. For example, in the previously mentioned

instance, the first unit represents the young woman’s praise of the
young man’s body; the second is his praise of her body. In the first
the order is from the head down; in the second it is from the feet up.
Similarly, the book’s second unit (2.8-17) represents the young man’s
invitation to the young woman to come with him into the
countryside; while the penultimate unit (7.12(11]-8.4) presents her
invitation to him to accompany her into the countryside.
In some instances correspondence between two units is extensive,
in that the entirety of one unit is parallel to the entirety of the
corresponding unit (e.g., the two units representing parallel invitations
into the countryside (2.8-17//7.12[11]-8.4). In other cases, however,
the correspondence is less extensive; a central or over-arching feature
of one unit is repeated in the parallel unit only as a secondary
element, so that a smaller part of the one unit corresponds to a major
part of the other. The nighttime search episode, for example,
comprises the entirety of the book’s third unit (3.1-5); while in the
corresponding unit (5.2-7.11 [10] ) the parallel nighttime search
episode is only the first sub-unit, and the remainder of the unit has
no parallel in the earlier unit.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Exum, J. Cheryl
1973 ’A Literary and Structural Analysis of the Song of Songs’. ZAIh 85:
47-79.
Fox, Michael V.
1985 The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs. Madison,
Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press.
Goulder, Michael D.
1986 The Song of Fourteen Songs. JSOT Sup. 36. Sheffield: JSOT Press.
Haupt, Paul
1902 ’The Book of Canticles’, AJSL 18: 193-241.
Landy, Francis
1987 ’The Song of Songs’, pp. 305-19 in Robert Alter and Frank Kermode,
eds., The Literary Guide to the Bible. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Murphy, R.E.
1949 ’The Structure of the Canticle of Canticles’. CBQ 11: 381-391.
Pope, Marvin H.
1977 Song of Songs: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.
Anchor Bible. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
Shea, William H.
1980 ’The Chiastic Structure of the Song of Songs’. ZAW
92: 379-396.
Webster, Edwin C.
1982 ’Pattern in the Song of Songs. JSOT 22: 73-93.

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