the Exodus and concluding with the Messianic age (Alexander 2003:13). Christian interpreters have extended allegorical interpretations to Christ as the bridegroom and the Church or the believer or even Mary, as the bride. Also anti-Semitic propaganda has been justified by an allegorical reading. Bernard de Clairvaux identified the mother of the bride with the synagogue and her brothers with Hannas, Kaiphas and Judas Iscariot, who took part in the crucifixion (Krichbaumer 1994:292). In a slightly different manner, Phillips (2003) bases his allegory on the dramatic interpretation of Ewald (1826), who distinguished two male characters, the king and the shepherd. Phillips (2003:18) identifies the bride with the church or the individual believers, the shepherd with Jesus Christ, who has won the heart of the believer or the church, and Solomon with the seducer, who leads the believers astray. In each interpretive instance the theological contribution is found in the allegorical transformation.A typological reading is related to an allegorical one but does not deny a literal sense. Often both are left undifferentiated. Different objects in the text are considered images of a spiritual reality. The text prefigures a deeper truth.Usually individual scenes are regarded as typos, which reflects salvation history or takes up an ecclesiological or Christological topic. Bernard de Clairvaux has held eighty-six sermons on Song of Songs and is an outstanding master of typology. For example, in sermon 70, he asks for the spiritual sense of the lover feeding among the lilies (2:16). In another interpretation the green bed of the lovers (1:16) is seen as the prosperity and growth of the church (von Bunau 1635:32) and the banquet hall (2:4) refers to the happy feast of the great supper (von Bunau 1635:40).When the prophet Hosea uses "lily" (14:6) and "dove" (7:11; 11:11) as images of the people of Israel he might be relying on Song of Songs. Also, 4 Esdras 5:24-26 uses "vineyard", "lily", "dove" and "sheep" for the chosen people of Israel. The motifs, already used in Song of Songs, have become common metaphors (Myers 1974:193). They further a typological reading and contribute to a theological interpretation within a canonical framework.In the first half of the 20th century, cultic interpretations became popular. The concept of the hieros gamos - which is not evident in Song of Songs - was nevertheless uncovered by relating Song of Songs to cults from Egypt (Isis and Osiris), Babylonia (Inanna and Dumuzzi) and Canaan. Cultic interpretations claim do uncover a hidden meaning. Thus they are likewise a development of the allegorical tradition and the dramatic interpretation (Brenner 1999:235).2.2 Associative reading - relating phrasesIn an individualistic, selective approach short quotations are utilized for the sake of an argument and work on an associative level. The text is understood as a mashal (), a wisdom teaching. Catchwords, sound, wordplay, as well as the reader's own cultural context give raise to the interpretation. This is also typical for some Talmudic interpretations. For example in the phrase "his banner over me is love" (2:4), the amount of the numbers of the letters for ("his banner") is forty-nine. This number