Authorship and Canonicity
Neither the authorship of the Song
nor its date of composition can be easily determined. The phrase ‘āšer
lîšlōmōh (of Solomon) can variously meant that it was authored by that
Judean king, or dedicated to him, or simply included in his royal holdings.
Today scholars date the book from the fifth to the second century BCE.
The book’s canonicity raises even
more questions. According to Rabbi Aqiba (d. 135 CE): “No one in Israel ever
disputed that the Song of Songs defiles the hands (is sacred)” (Yadayim
3:5). Though the canonization of the book was well established, the reasons for
his judgment is debated. Some maintain that the human love described served as
an analogy for the covenant commitment between God and Israel. It is more
likely that canonization was determined by its Solomonic attribution, which
also resulted in its being grouped with other “Solomonic” books, Proverbs and
Qohelet (Ecclesiastes) in the Kethubim (Writings), and why it was included in
the mĕgillôt or liturgical scrolls, to be read on the eighth day of
Passover. (Dianne Bergant, “Song of Songs,” in The Jerome Biblical
Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, ed. John J. Collins, Gina
Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, and Donald Senior [3d ed.; London: T&T
Clark, 2022], 748)