King Fiction (in Song of Songs)

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The name Solomon occurs seven times in the Song of Songs (1:1, 5; 3:7, 9, 11; 8:11, 12). In addition to the reference in the title (1:1), the poems refer to objects belonging to King Solomon: tent curtains (1:5), a carriage (3:7, 9), a wedding crown (3:11), and a vineyard (8:11–12). Older approaches, including dramatic interpretations, made Solomon a character in the poems [see the essay "Dramatic Interpretations," p. 263 in Bucher]. Most interpreters now view references to Solomon as a poetic device. Roland Murphy (80) uses the term “king fiction” to describe the literary use of Solomon in these poems. He observes that King Solomon “appears to be peripherally related to the dialogic scenario and exchanges of the two lovers.” In addition to mentioning Solomon by name, the poems refer more generally to kings, queens, and princes. The young man calls his lover a “prince’s daughter” (7:1), and he describes a king held captive in the woman’s hair (7:5).

According to Michael V. Fox (288), “Love makes lovers noble, even royal, and even greater than royalty!” Fox identifies the “nobility of lovers” as a theme in the Song of Songs and describes the woman’s use of “king” as a term of affection for her lover. He further explains that in Egyptian love poetry, girls call their lovers “my prince” as a term of affection. “I say to my heart, … ‘Give me my prince tonight’ ” (22). In another poem, a young woman claims that being with her lover makes her a royal: “I am the Mistress of the Two Lands, when I am [with you]” (15).

Roland Murphy (47) explains that love literature frequently blurs the lines between reality and fantasy in order to describe the experience of falling in love.

What has been called “literary fiction”—usually involving role-playing and the blurring of distinctions between reality and fantasy—may be a characteristic feature of ancient love-literature as well as modern romances. The audience or readership is at least implicitly invited to assume the identities of the lovers portrayed, to escape into them and be transformed with them through the experiences of love that are described. As depicted, the lovers may also imagine themselves and each other in fictional dress.

Ariel Bloch and Chana Bloch (10) agree.

King Solomon is a central figure in the lovers’ fantasies, not a character in the poem, as commentators once assumed. His reign is invoked as a symbol of legendary splendor that enhances and ennobles the two young lovers.

Further, references to precious metals (1:11), expensive spices (4:13–14), and objects such as chariots (6:12), all related to the royal court, participate in the poet’s construction of this imaginary world in which lovers imagine themselves to be king and queen.

Nevertheless, the final chapter of the book suggests that true love is even better than royalty or nobility. Jill Munro (42) explains how the king fiction functions at the end of the book to demonstrate that love surpasses the wealth and splendor of kings and queens [see the essay "Figures of Speech," p. 267 in Bucher]:

By deliberately distancing Solomon from the lovers towards the end of the Song, it becomes apparent that, in the end, the metaphor of kingship is inadequate to describe this great love. Love is not for sale, even to the most rich and powerful.… Therein lies the narrative function of the regal imagery, telling as it does a “story” which nevertheless remains metaphor. Solomon is integrated into this metaphorical system only to denounce it at the last minute and thereby lay bare the limits of language to speak about love.

Bibliography

Bloch, Ariel, and Chana Bloch. The Song of Songs: A New Translation with an Introduction and Commentary. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.
Bucher, Christina. “Song of Songs.” In Lamentations, Song of Songs, by Wilma Ann Bailey and Christina Bucher, 133–303. Believers Church Bible Commentary. Harrisonburg, VA: Herald, 2015.
Fox, Michael V. The Song of Songs and the Ancient Egyptian Love Songs. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985.
Munro, Jill M. Spikenard and Saffron: The Imagery of the Song of Songs. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series 203. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic, 1995.
Murphy, Roland E. The Song of Songs. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1990.

—Christina Bucher