18. Why the Song of Songs Is the Weirdest Book in the Bible

The Song of Songs is one of the strangest and most beautiful books in the Bible, and for centuries readers have struggled to know what to do with it. In this episode of the Bible in a Year podcast, Katie Langston and Dr. Kathryn Schifferdecker are joined by Dr. Elaine James, professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary and author of Landscapes of the Song of Songs, for a rich conversation about this extraordinary book of biblical love poetry. Together they explore the Song's history of interpretation, from allegorical readings in Jewish and Christian traditions to its remarkable outpouring of medieval mystical commentary, and consider what it means to read it as both human love poetry and a window into divine love.Dr. James brings her expertise in biblical poetry and ecology to illuminate what makes the Song of Songs so distinctive: its celebration of erotic desire, its lush pastoral landscape, its foregrounding of a woman's voice, and its call to embrace the beauty of everyday life. Whether you've always been curious about this book or have never quite known how to approach it, this conversation offers a generous and compelling invitation to pry open the pages and read the Song of Songs with fresh eyes.An Invitation to Biblical Poetry by Elaine James (Oxford University Press, 2021)Landscapes of the Song of Songs: Poetry and Place by Elaine James (Oxford University Press, 2017)