The Song of Songs, being a collection of love lyrics of ancient Palestine, a new translation based on a revised text, together with the origin, growth and interpretation of the songs

The Song of Songs is one of the smallest books in the Old Testament. It consists in the conditional division of the text into eight chapters of only 117 verses. Yet this little book has generated more controversy than perhaps any other work of its magnitude. The goal was to choose labels that would reflect the quite popular nature of the songs. The further we move away from the idea that we are dealing with delicately refined and polished compositions, the closer we come to the spirit of the songs. They do not represent grandiose poetry, like the Symposium in the Book of Job, or the nature verses added as a third layer to the Book of Job; they do not betray either deep thought or striking originality, like the reflections of Kohelet. They certainly cannot be compared with the exquisite and sublime poetry of the Psalms, and they are not literary gems, as are many sayings in the Book of Proverbs. They should be taken as they were intended, simple songs, attractive because they are a true reflection of the folk spirit, which manifests itself on a theme that is completely human and, therefore, universally attractive. We must look at songs as we would look at the simplest ballads, almost untouched by the polishing of a shy poet. Folk poetry is always direct, free from subtleties and hidden motives. This is realistic in the best sense, as it is not shameful to reveal feelings inspired by healthy and normal love, but never vulgar. Obscenity in erotic poetry is the result of self-consciousness, but folk poetry is marked by a lack of self-consciousness.