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Description:
A love poem as old as the Bible, as contemporary as today…

One love poem–the Bible’s Song of Songs – continues to be read and to inspire after thousands of years. Using the best of biblical scholarship and sharp literary analysis, Benjamin Segal’s new translation and commentary reveal a picture of ideal love so appealing that it became for centuries the monotheistic model of human-divine attachment. Here one also finds a rare ancient effort to capture the female voice. Segal’s literary analysis captures the pulsating rhythm of the poem,and allows the reader to confront its ever-contemporary and challenging view of love.
Reviews:
“A delight for laymen and scholars alike. The Song of Songs sings again, as the ancient biblical voice - possibly that of a woman - is rediscovered in a unified reading of the poem. By creating a literal translation that reflects word and root repetition, the author opens up the Song of Songs to today's readers. Tracing the interplay of form and content, Benjamin Segal reveals a complex and delightful love poem, allowing readers to enjoy both an earlier esthetic and ever-contemporary challenges. Well based in modern scholarship, this is a wonderful new commentary, a valuable addition to our understanding of this Poem of Poems.”
– Professor Bezalel Porten,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“I love this book! Segal’s translation and commentary is right on the mark. He skillfully makes the book's Hebrew poetry accessible to english readers...;this translation is authentic in ways that many others are not. Segal's commentary and essays on the book are truly masterful, illustrating aspects of the book that readers not attuned to biblical poetry might otherwise miss and making a strong case for his claim that this book's voluptuous depiction of love and physical ractions, albeit within bounds, fits nicely into how the rest of the Bible understands these themes. A true triumph of scholarship and love.”
– Rabbi Elliot Dorff, PhD,
American Jewish University

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