SECTION I.—TITLE OF THE BOOK, AND ITS SIGNIFICATION.
This book is called שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִיﬦ, which is literally translated by the Septuagint, ᾄσμα ᾀσμάτων, by the Vulgate, Canticum Canticorum, and by the English Version, Song of Songs; and, according to a Hebrew mode for expressing the superlative degree by repeating the same noun in the genitive, denotes the finest, the most beautiful, or the most excellent Song. Compare עֶבֶד עֲבַדִים, servant of servants, i.e. most abject servant (Gen. ix. 25); קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים, holy of holies, i.e. most holy (Exod. xxix. 37; Numb. iii. 32; Deut. x. 14; Eccl. i. 2; Hos. x. 15; Jer. vi. 28; Gesenius, Grammar, § 119, 2; Ewald, Lehrbuch, § 313, c). Medrash Yalkut renders it שִׁיר הַמְּשׁוּבַּח וְהַמְּעוּלֶה בַּשִּׁירִים, a song more celebrated and sublime than all songs; as Rashi, Ibn Ezra Rashbam, Luther, and many others. The opinion of Kleuker, &c., that this interpretation of the Rabbins is more owing to their preconceived notion of the sublime contents of the book than to the real meaning of these words, is refuted by Rashbam himself, who, having explained this phrase by “most excellent song,” refers not to the contents of the book for its corroboration, but adduces similar constructions of the superlative from other passages of the Bible, viz., אֶלֹהַי הַאֱלֹהִים, and אֲדוֹנֵי הַאֲדוֹנִים (Deut. x. 17). Other explanations, such as a song of songs, i.e. a song from the songs of Solomon (Kimchi), or a collection of songs (Kleuker), or a chain of songs, or string of strings, comparing שִׁירֹ with the Chaldee שֵׁיר, שׁוּרָה, Greek σειρὰ, chain (Velthusen, Paulus, Good, &c.), are contrary to the Hebrew usage of the word שִׁיר, and the construction of שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים. More recent commentators, [[2]]and even those who regard this book as a collection of separate songs (as, for instance, Döpke, Magnus, Noyes, &c.) admit that the Rabbinical interpretation of this title is the only admissible one. The ל prefixed to שְׁלֹמֹה, is the so-called Lamed auctoris, used in the inscriptions of Psalms and other Hebrew poems to designate the author. Comp. Ps. iii. 1; iv. 1, &c. The addition of אֲשֶׁר here, which is not found in the other inscriptions, is owing to the article in שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים, which generally, though not always, is followed by this pronoun; comp. Gen. xxix. 9; xl. 5; xlvii. 4; 1 Kings iv. 2; Gesen. § 115, 1; Ewald, 292 a. The rendering therefore of אֲשֶׁר לִשְׁלֹמֹה by respecting Solomon, is contrary to usage, and is rightly rejected by modern grammarians and lexicographers.
This Song is the first of the (הָמֵשׁ מְגִילוֹת) five Megiloth, or books which are annually read in the Synagogues; viz. The Song of Songs on the Feast of the Passover; Ruth on Pentecost; Lamentations on the Ninth of Ab; Ecclesiastes on Tabernacles; and Esther on Purim. The present arrangement of these five books in the Hebrew canon is according to the order of the festivals on which they are read.