The Song of Songs is a puzzle: a collection of secular — often erotic— love poetry that stands alone within the sacred books of the Hebrew Bible. Many of these poems are riddles that lead readers to more than one solution. When we read them for the first time, we might think their solution to be patently clear, but a second reading shows another solution, more daring than the first and sometimes its mirror opposite. A sub-group within these riddles are three questions that appear in the book, each of which begins with the words, “Who is she that ….” In this lecture, we will examine and analyze both types of riddle-poems.

Yair Zakovitch is the Emeritus Father Takeji Otsuki Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has written many books including commentaries on Jonah, the Song of Songs, Ruth, and Lamentations. Among his English publications are Jacob: Unexpected Patriarch (Yale Univ. 2012) and From Gods to God: How the Bible Debunked, Suppressed, or Changed Ancient Myths and Legends, with A. Shinan (Univ. Nebraska 2012). Most recently, he has published Song of Songs: Riddle of Riddles (T&T Clark, 2018). He is currently a visiting professor at Harvard University.