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GIOVANNI GARBINI, Cantico dei cantici: Testo, traduzione, note e commento (Biblica: Testi e studi 2; Brescia: Paideia, 1992). Pp. 359. N.P.
The author of this commentary is professor of Semitic philology at the University of Rome (La Sapienza), and the work under review is avowedly philological. Garbini wants to answer the question what the Song meant in ancient Hebrew culture. He believes that it shows a striking affinity to Alexandrian poetry, in particular to that of Theocritus. It found its way into the Hebrew canon partly because the great Rabbi Aqiba was its enthusiastic supporter.
In the effort to make the Song acceptable it was given an allegorical interpretation and applied to the relationship between Israel and its God. But this "interpretation" went further than merely explaining the text: it also implied modifications of it. Since the consonantal text was written without vowels, it was possible to make changes which did not alter the text,...