The song of songs makes me blush.

How in the world do we gain wisdom from sensual, Hebrew love poetry?

Hey guys, this is Sheree at Bible Project.

In this episode of Reflections, we are completing our wisdom series with the ancient love

poetry of song of songs. Kersa has some fascinating insights from her studies to share with us.

Dan will read from chapter 8 and stay tuned for the end when we'll have a chance to reflect

on love and intimacy together. Listen in.

Hi, it's Kersa at Bible Project. In this reflection, we're looking at the last of the three books

associated with the Wise King Solomon. It's the song of songs. It's a book full of somewhat

erotic poetry between two lovers and it has a dreamlike movement from one scene to the next without

transition. As love poetry, this book is unlike any other in the Bible. So how do we gain wisdom

from this book? Ellen Davis is a Hebrew Bible scholar who's done a lot of work on the song of

songs and I really like how she sees it. She calls it an iconographic text. Do you know what an icon

is? It's a work of art common in the Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions that represents a

biblical person or story. For example, the Madonna and child or Mary with baby Jesus is a famous

type of icon. Often they're done on wood with gold leaf or sometimes as murals or mosaics.

So if we think of the song of songs as an iconographic text or like an icon, how does this help

us understand it? Well, let's think about what icons do. First, icons are reflections on the story

of God and humanity. They contain symbols and images of the biblical theological story.

Second, icons are a window between two worlds. The earthly world we sense around us and the

world of the transcendent or spiritual. An icon is an image of the earthly realm but it shows us

our world in a spiritual light. Third, often various icons are placed side by side in a church,

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