The Song of Songs which was Solomon's : an intertextual typology of its reception

The goal of this thesis is the development of a new typology of Biblical interpretation incorporating recent developments in literary theory, especially those concerned with intertextuality. This thesis classifies the various modes of intertextual interaction through which the Bible becomes meaningful. This classification embraces biblical interpretation from pre-critical to post-structural times. Such breadth of scope is tempered by limiting this study of interpretation to the Song of Songs, which may be seen as representative of the Tanakh, if not in content, then at least in the types of responses it has elicited. Examples from Song of Songs interpretation have been garnered to illustrate the modus operandi of each of the identified species of intertextual relation. The application of the conclusions reached to the interpretation of other biblical books, and even to other literature, is implied though not explored in the present study.