[kisstheson]

Hello dear brother ZNPaaneah. Thank you for your post. I appreciate your insights and I enjoyed your football testimony. That is a very timely testimony considering the fact that football season is upon us once again.

I am certainly comfortable saying “All that rich, poetic, symbolism and allegory in Song of Songs and neither Jesus nor His apostles ever directly touched it or made a clear-cut allusion to it." If we extend the definition of “allusion or verbal parallel” used by the scholar(s) who compiled the list in the USB4 to make the phrase more generous and more inclusive, then we could certainly find some “allusions or verbal parallels” to Song of Songs in the NT. No doubt about it - by broadening our definition of "allusions or verbal parallels", we could find some "allusions or verbal parallels" to SofS. The problem with extending the definition of “allusion or verbal parallel”, however, is that the term would be so generous and inclusive that we could never be certain which OT verse is being alluded to by an NT verse, since in almost every case multiple OT verses would exist which could to be linked an NT verse.

In the case of Song of Songs, there are so many other portions of the OT which contain clear examples or images of romantic love/marriage/husband-and-wife, that it would be impossible to know exactly which OT passage is being referred to by an NT verse. An NT verse using the language of romantic love/marriage/husband-and-wife might be alluding to SofS, but it could also be alluding to Adam and Eve as “the man and his wife” in Genesis 2, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, the bridal imagery between God and Israel in the books of Moses, the bridal imagery in the prophetic books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, etc.), Psalms like Psalm 45, etc.

For example, take your discussion of the phrase "this mystery is great but I speak with regards to Christ and the Church" in Ephesians chapter 5. This phrase is found in Eph. 5:32. The verse right before this one, Eph. 5:31, is a direct quote from Genesis 2:24, from a portion speaking about Adam and Eve. While I cannot definitively say that Paul did not have SofS somewhere back in the far recesses of his mind when he wrote Eph. 5:32, the clear context to the phrase “this mystery is great but I speak with regards to Christ and the Church” is Adam and Eve (called “the man and his wife” in Gen. 2:25). A direct quotation from Genesis 2 is right there in black and white in the verse before Eph. 5:32, so there is no absolutely no need to go looking to SofS in this case when Genesis 2 is the obvious source.

Regarding your discussion of the phrase “the Bride of Christ had made herself ready” from Revelation 19:7, there is once again no clear-cut tie to SofS. If there is an OT passage being alluded to here, that OT passage could very easily be Psalm 45 instead of SofS. Part of the Hebrew title for Psalm 45 translates to “A Song of Love”. Also, look at Rev. 19:8, the verse right after Revelation 19:7. Rev. 19:8 speaks of the clothing of the wife of the Lamb, and, in a parallel manner, Psalm 45:13 & 14 also speak of bridal garments. Furthermore, Psalm 45:6 & 7 are plainly identified with Jesus Christ in Hebrews 1:8-9 since these verses in Hebrews are clearly speaking about the Son of God. Since the author of Hebrews has already made such a definitive link between Psalm 45 and Christ, I can more confidently speak of “Christ and the Church” in Psalm 45 compared to SofS.

Of course, some verses in Psalm 45 have parallels to verses in SofS. For example, Psalm 45: 9 & 14b somewhat parallel SofS 6:8, Psalm 45:14 somewhat parallels SofS 1:4a, etc. While SofS could have been in John’s mind when he wrote “His wife has made herself ready” in Rev. 19:7, this is not necessarily the case. If there is indeed an OT passage being alluded to in Rev. 19:7, Psalm 45 is at least as strong a candidate as SofS. Due to the link with Hebrews 1:8-9, Psalm 45 actually appears to be an even stronger candidate, than SofS.

It could even be the case that John had in mind the words spoken by Jesus in Matthew 24:44 or 25:10 when he wrote the words “His wife has made herself ready” in Rev. 19:7. In other words, there may not even be an OT allusion behind the words regarding the wife making herself ready! Matthew 25:10 seems like the most appropriate verse to link to the second half of Revelation 19:7 out of all the verses in the Bible. I see no OT passage which links to the second half of Revelation 19:7 as much as Matthew 25:10 does. In this case there is most likely no need to go to SofS since the words of Jesus are what is being alluded to.

In summary, it seems to me that your links between the NT and SofS are rather strained and forced, not because they are necessarily wrong, but because they function at too high a level and because they do not take into account other possible OT sources. If we follow the criteria laid down by the scholar(s) who compiled the “Index of Allusions and Verbal Parallels” in the USB4, then there are no allusions or verbal parallels to SofS in the NT. If we extend the meaning of “Allusions and Verbal Parallels”, we may indeed find some links to SofS, but the NT verses in question will not necessarily link only to SofS – other OT passages will also emerge as likely candidates. Since SofS is definitely not quoted by Jesus or His apostles, and since there are no clear-cut allusions in the NT which necessarily link back solely to SofS, I repeat my statement from my opening paragraph: “All that rich, poetic, symbolism and allegory in Song of Songs and neither Jesus nor His apostles ever directly touched it or made a clear-cut allusion to it.”

Thank you for the discussion, dear brother. I appreciate your comments because they helped me to further clarify my position on this matter.