Song of Songs - Biblia del Pueblo di Dio (BPD)
The Song of Songs, meaning the greatest of songs (Song 1:1), contains in exquisite poetic form the sublime portrayal and praise of the mutual love of the Lord and his people. The Lord is the Lover and his people are the beloved. Describing this relationship in terms of human love, the author simply follows Israel's tradition. Isaiah (Isaiah 5:1-7; 54:4-8), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 2:2, 3, 32), and Ezekiel (Eze 16; 23) all characterize the covenant between the Lord and Israel as a marriage. Hosea the prophet sees the idolatry of Israel in the adultery of Gomer (Son 1-3). He also represents the Lord speaking to Israel's heart (Song 2:16) and changing her into a new spiritual people, purified by the Babylonian captivity and betrothed anew to her divine Lover "in justice and uprightness, in love and mercy" (Song 2:21). The author of the Song, using the same literary figure, paints a beautiful picture of the ideal Israel, the chosen people of the Old and New Testaments, whom the Lord led by degrees to an exalted spiritual union with himself in the bond of perfect love. When the Song is thus interpreted here is no reason for surprise at the tone of the poem, which employs in its descriptions the courtship and marriage customs of the author's time. Moreover, the poem is not an allegory in which each remark, e. g., in the dialogue of the lovers, has a higher meaning. It is a parable in which the true meaning of mutual love comes from the poem as a whole. While the Song is thus commonly understood by most Catholic scholars, it is also possible to see in it an inspired portrayal of ideal human love. Here we would have from God a description of the sacredness and the depth of married union. Although the poem is attributed to Solomon in the traditional title (Song 1:1), the language and style of the work, among other considerations, point to a time after the end of the Babylonian Exile (538 B.C.) as that in which an unknown poet composed this masterpiece. The structure of the Song is difficult to analyze; here it is regarded as a lyric dialogue, with dramatic movement and interest. The use of marriage as a symbol, characteristic of the Song, is found extensively also in the New Testament (Matthew 9:15; 25:1-13; John 3:29; 2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:23-32; Rev 19:7-9; 21:9-11). In Christian tradition, the Song has been interpreted in terms of the union between Christ and the Church and, particularly by St. Bernard, of the union between Christ and the individual soul. Throughout the liturgy, especially in the Little Office, there is a consistent application of the Song of Songs to the Blessed Virgin Mary. - (NAB)

Headings

1 Título
Preludio
La hermosura de la Amada
Ansiosa interpelación al Amado ausente
Respuesta de los pastores
Elogio de la Amada
Elogio del Amado
Expresiones de amor mutuo
2 La apacible unión de los enamorados
Visita del Amado al llegar la primavera
La oposición de los hermanos
Respuesta decidida de la Amada
3 El Amado perdido y reencontrado
Aparición del suntuoso cortejo nupcial
Hijas de Jerusalén,
4 La belleza deslumbrante de la Amada
Los deseos de la Amada
5 El gozo de la mutua posesión
Visita nocturna y búsqueda del Amado perdido
Los encantos del Amado ausente
6 El feliz encuentro con el Amado
El encanto incomparable de la Amada
Encuentro sorpresivo con el Amado
7 Los atractivos físicos de la Amada
El amor plenamente compartido
Invitación al encuentro amoroso
8 La apacible uniónde los enamorados
La fuerza irresistible del amor
Apéndices:
El porvenir de la hermana menor
La viña del Amado
Última invitación al amor

Version
Revised Standard Version (1966) - English
Nova Vulgata - Latin
Vulgata - Stuttgart 1969 - Latin
Bíblia Sagrada Ave-Maria (1957) - Portuguese
La Sainte Bible (Crampon 1904) - French
CEI (1974) - Italian
EinheitsÜbersetzung der Heiligen Sc - German