Posted on 12/03/2016 9:38:00 AM PST by Salvation
Question: A friend of mine, referencing some sort of black studies program she attended, says that the opening line of the Song of Songs is racist. It says, “I am black and beautiful, Daughters of Jerusalem” (Song 1:5). She tends to be radical, but I must admit I couldn’t really give her an answer. Can you help?— Name and place withheld
Answer: The reference is more likely to economic class than to race. She is a Jewish woman, from the region of Shulem, speaking to other unspecified Jewish women about how she found love.
She speaks to her complexion but goes on to explain it: “Do not stare at me because I am so black, because the sun has burned me. The sons of my mother were angry with me; they charged me with the care of the vineyards: my own vineyard I did not take care of” (Song 1:6).
Hence, her skin was darker since she was consigned by her noble family to work outdoors in the vineyards. Spending extensive time outdoors has scorched and darkened her skin. Thus, she is explaining how she, though from a wealthy family, has the sun-scorched look of one from a poorer family. It might be like a son explaining why he was “working in the mailroom” even though his father owned the company.
But despite all this, her beloved loves her, and she loves him. The Song of Songs is about love, not race or economic class. To reduce it to race says more about us and our preoccupations than about 900 B.C.
This mention of her physical appearance is one of the rare occurrences of such descriptions in the Bible. Skin color, height, weight, etc., are seldom supplied by the text. The tendency should also encourage us to be less preoccupied with such physical descriptions and listen to what the text is really focusing on.
I am not a historian, but I have read in the past studies about Moses’ father-in-law and his background. Just because he lived in a certain area, does not necessarily mean he was part of the native population.
The Israelites had cousins living at the time, offspring of Abraham. And there were Israelites who never went into Egypt. And Joseph had other children besides Ephraim and Manasseh. A Roman historian said that there were two mini exoduses from Egypt that the Bible doesn’t mention; one went to Troy and the other went to Ireland. Josepheus said the Trojans were Jews.
This is a variant of the danger of “only a literal” interpretation of the Bible and not accounting for metaphor. And choosing the definition of the English word you want.
Thank you. Interesting.
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