- Even though modern scholarship casts doubt on the purported authorship of Song of Songs, why is ascription to King Solomon credible?
- In Song of Songs 1:2-3 why are the metaphors of wine and oil significant?
- Compare the language in Song of Songs 1:4 with Psalm 118:24. How do you react to the almost identical wording and the contrasting contexts?
- In Song of Songs 1:5 what is the force of the conjunction “but”? Does it imply that dark is not necessarily beautiful? Does it have racial overtones?
- Why is the love of shepherds and shepherdesses a popular motif in the Middle East?
- Contrast the imagery in Song of Songs 1:9 to what would be more common in Western literature, e.g., the comparison of the loved one’s beauty to that of a mare.
