The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-07-12
OR. D|CKERSON ON THE SONG OF SONGS Would Put Practical Interpre-
 tatlon On Poem ITS PLACE IN THE BIBLE Was Intended to Set Forth What Is True Love Between Man and
 Woman Which Binds To-
 9ether the Home.
ITS PLACE IN THE BIBLE

Dr. J. A. Dickinson, pastor of the First Baptist church, continued his series of sermons on the Song of Songs" last night He said in part
 The name Song of Songs" means the soslg which surpasses all songs and was given to this book for its surpassine excellence as sacred lyric. It is what we term melodrama, a dramatic love song. The subject of the poem Is the constancy of true love and this is brought out by a struggle of love midst seemingly hopeless entanglements and severest tiiais. For many years the practical per tlnence Of the poem for life was oyerlaid by spiritualizing theological interpreta- ton, which conceived of the purpose of the poem as an exposition of the mutual relations of God and Israel or of Christ and the church allegorized in terms of solomon and the Shulamite But in re- cent years this has been stripped off nd the original purpose and pertinence of | tne song recovered. This allegorioal use or the song Is warranted, since the Old Testament and the New Testament do llken the relations of God and Israel and Chrlst and the church to that between faithful husband and devoted wife; but sueh clearly was not the meaning of the composer of this love song. It Is intended
  tween man and woman which binds to- gether the home and to show its sacred constanoy.
 One may ask why put love song into the Bible; but if you will only think a moment you will see the fittingness of putting into the Book of God some expo sition of that tie which binds man and woman into the first social institution the family. The second chapter of Gene SIS calls for Just such an exposition of what love is in the world, and the Scrip lures would be incomplete for life with out It.. It Is addressed to that quest of every heart which calls for the romance and love story of the modern novel
 The Jews of the Greek period showed some skill In the composition of romances out of favorite pre-existing ..legends and stories; and such books as Tobit, Judith, Edras, Esther and the story of Ahikar are no mean productions. But these do not equal, even in the romantic element, this exquisite song written in the finest poetry and rhetoric. This is also proba- ply production of the late Greed period, as 1t contains several words borrowed of the Greeks, and many literary features which are peculiar to the Greek. But it shows unmistakable evidence of being written out of previous songs and stories, functioning as folklore in the lives of the people for whom this book was penned. Wetzstein. then Prussian consul at Damascus, in the year 1873 pointed out the kinship of portions of this book to the wedding songs of the Kings Week." the wedding festivities of the Syrian Bedawins Since then German professors have made a thorough study of these Syrian wedding songs that have come down from the ancient days and showed the kinship of the songs to them and the meaning of the book in that light. It is now the prevailing opinion among critical scholars that the book Is to be understood in the light of ancient Eastern wedding ceremonies, and much of it's material and manner of presentation is derived from these wedding customs
 The Kings Week. or marriage cere- monies of the Syrian Bedawins extending over seven days, consists of festivities of feasting, dancing and singing. The scene is laid in a threshing floor, with a thresh- Ing board as the stage. on which the dancers display themselves while singing the wasfs or wedding songs. Four of these wasfs are recognized as kin to passages in this book. The sword song, sung by the bridal attendant in praise of the brides beauty and attire while she dances on the threshing board, brandish- ing sword in her right hand and holding a handkerchief in her left, is found in ': If. in this book; the bridegroom wasf sung by the groom to the bride, is found in 4 1-6, AT; the wasf of the bride to her newly-wedded husband is found in b;9ff; and the wedding pageant sung by the festive throng in welcoming the bridegroom's procession Is found in 8: 6-11. It Is clear that the author Is using exist ing folk-songs, current as part of we'd ding festivities, as material for his book.
 Wetzsten also discovered an ancient legend which seems to have played part in the structure of this book. It tells how Syrian maiden Hamda loved her lass, Habbas. But he belonged to another tribe and lived at a distance Agnd after years of separation she is destined to be welded to her cousin, All though she has protested her love for Habbas to Alfs sister and gained her sympathy. The evening of the wedding day arrives, and Habbas with his friend, drawn by his love. arrives just in time to prevent the closing of the marriage bond. So Fabbas takes the place of Ali and weds her and takes her to his home. Any close reader of the songs will see that this Is just the outline of this melodrama. The characters of the drama are taken from Solomon and Abishag in Kings, i, 2, the one being additionally regarded as the most worldly and wisest of wooers and the other the most winsome and virtuous of women. Solomon represents the low and loose love of poligamous life, and Abishag. the Shulamite or Shunammite, represents the constancy and the impreg- inability of homogeneous love; and the book Is an exposition of ne struggle be- tween the two and the triumph of tho latter.
 The plot of the book would be as fol- lows: The Shulamite is forcibly brought by King David into his courts, as told in Kings, 1: 3, 4; but she is already be- trothed to shepherd lad, to whom she ever remains true. After the death of David. Adonjah, the prince. is enamored of her and gets Bathsheba to intercede with the king, Solomon, to betroth her him. SOl0mnn'S min who is enamored of her himself, and so he has the ambitious prince put to death. Then Solomon projects his plans to win her love for himself, according to all the known arts of love making. He has the