Blaz0ej S0trba, «hn#$w#$ of the Canticle», Vol. 85 (2004) 475-502
The term hn#$w#$ is revisited
primarily in the Canticle of Solomon. The most ancient translation –– "lily" ––
of this flower though questioned in recent decades is still widely used. The
LXX’s rendering kri/non is examined and found as the
best translation for the lexeme N#$w#$ –– meaning
"lotus" –– being an Egyptian loan word. This translation fits to the OT
references better than "lily". The textual employment of
hn#$w#$ in the poetry of the Canticle is a chief and commanding proof for
"lotus". The "lily" translation for both hn#$w#$
and kri/non for the majority of the OT cases is seen
as incorrect since it does not pay due attention to the literary and historical
context of the Canticle.
of the Canticle 487
hnvwv
2. hnvwv of the Song of Songs
It is necessary to remember that the Canticle is entirely a poetical
book which is dealing with love motifs (59). Therefore the most
pertinent background of comparison is the love poetry of ancient
Mesopotamia and Egypt (60). The superscription ascribes this song to
Solomon. He, seven times mentioned, is more a literary device which
parallels this song to the love literature of these ancient traditions than
information about the real authorship. The impressive parallels of the
Canticle with Egyptian Literature have been discovered. Whereas in
Mesopotamia the love poetry often has god and goddess as the main
protagonists and speakers in the dialogue, the Egyptian love songs are
mostly soliloquies by a man or a woman. The woman, often called
“sister†addresses the man both in the second and third person (cf. 1,2-
4). Subgenera –– yearning, the poems of admiration, description of
physical charms, or boasting –– are typical of this kind of love poetry
and of the Song too. The senses, in the literature of both Mesopotamia
and Egypt are deeply involved: touching, hearing, seeing, smelling
(fragrance). The atmosphere of the Song of Songs resembles that of
Egyptian poetry more than any other (61).
The difficulty in determining the structure of the book corresponds
to the uneasiness in determining its genre and at times in delimitating
its subgenera (62). I will pay attention rather to the smaller units –– the
building-blocks of poetic structure like a line or a couplet –– in which
the lexeme ˆvv occurs (63). The poetical devices of the structure of the
Hebrew verse –– as parallelism or tertium comparationis –– give us a
reliable indication in this research (64).
a) Cant 2,1-2
The first time the lexeme ˆvv appears it is in feminine form in the
self-presentation of the girl. Moreover, she identifies herself, boasting,
(59) Cf. K. SEYBOLD, “Zur Sprache des Hohenliedsâ€, ThZ 55 (1999) 112-120.
(60) Cf. M. SIGRIST, “L’amoure chanté en Mésopotamieâ€, MoBi 128 (2000)
25-29; M.V. FOX, “L’amour chanté en Egypteâ€, MoBi 128 (2000) 30-32.
(61) R.E. MURPHY, “The Book of Song of Songsâ€, ABD VI (1992) 150-151.
(62) Cf. MARIASELVAM, Song, 26-37.
(63) W.G.E. WATSON, “Hebrew Poetryâ€, Text in Context. Essays by Members
of the Society for the Old Testament Study (ed. A.D.H. MAYES) (Oxford 2000)
251-285; A. NICCACCI, “Analysing Biblical Hebrew Poetryâ€, JSOT 74 (1997)
77-93.
(64) Cf. W.G.E. WATSON, “Verse patterns in the Song of Songsâ€, JNSL 21
(1995) 111-122.
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