Song of Songs: A Commentary

I will be offering a longer review of Exum's Song of Songs elsewhere in a scholarly journal (I myself have published on the Song of Songs and teach it regularly in my position at Union Theological Seminary in New York). Nevertheless, in anticipation of that and in response to another review posted, I would just say that this is one of the best commentaries on Song of Songs available now. To be sure, others have offered worthy and provacative theses r.e. female authorship, etc. What Exum provides is exquisite attention to the language of the Song. Where past commentaries tried to nail down the Song to just one meaning, Exum offers here a commentary that consciously and explicitly explores alternatives. That may be frustrating to some who expected a bold single reading, but it is more true to the Song of Song's multiple meanings. In years to come there is a good chance that Exum's commentary on this multivalent book will be seen as a predecessor to a new, more useful form of the commentary genre. This commentary is recommended for anyone working on the Song of Songs, for courses on Song of Songs, and for those who just want an excellent companion as they work through the book -- there are no better choices.