Renamed

Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. Song of Songs 1:3

Perfumes – Song of Songs does more than provide the reader with an exuberant poem about the power of love.  Of course, it’s reassuring to find that the biblical record includes an elaborate endorsement of one of the greatest pleasures human beings can experience.  Contrary to popular belief, the Bible is not prudish when it comes to sex.  The biblical perspective provides behavioral fences around this intimate experience.  God gives us these fences in order that we may domesticate the power of love.  But fences surround open fields.  Inside the fence there’s a lot of room to play.  Song of Songs is but one example of the holiness of passionate love.

There’s another reason why Song of Songs is an important part of the Bible.  It offers a needed addition to Genesis 3.  Song of Songs is the poem Eve should have been able to recite if she had not stepped outside the fence.  Song of Songs is a picture of the way passionate love is expressed in the Garden of God’s delight.  The opening verses point us in this direction, but only if we read them in Hebrew.

Our translated word “perfumes” is really the Hebrew word for “oil” (shemen).  Of course, in the 10^th century BC culture, aromatic oils were the perfumes of that time.  No one could go to the mall to buy Estée Lauder or Channel No. 5.  Scented oils provided the pleasing aromas described in this verse.  That’s important because the word shemen is phonetically similar to the word for “name” (shem).  In Hebrew, these two words are a pun.  This verse tells us that the name of her lover is a sweet smelling aroma.

How is this related to Genesis 3?  Well, something tragic happens in Genesis 3 when it comes to names.  You will recall that Genesis 2 is not about naming the woman.  Adam calls the new creation woman (Hebrew ishshah) because she came from man (ish), but he does not name her.  Ishshah is simply the word that delineates the difference in the sexes – man and woman.  Not until the tragic events of Genesis 3 does Adam name Havvah, and when he does, naming becomes a symbol of control and authority over her.  Just as God forewarned, the man Adam takes charge, usurping the roles God intended by relegating the woman to the category of creatures like the animals.  As a result of tragic disobedience, he treats her as one under his authority.  In other words, the sound of her name is the sound of servility.  Her uniqueness and divine identity are stripped away in the symbolic act of naming.

This background provides the context of the poem’s pun.  Love conquers the tragedy of sin.  The woman rejoices in the name of her lover.  It is as pleasing as perfumed oil.  It is poured out delight.  Imagine the impact of this statement.  The woman, not the man, asserts that love will not be squelched by sin.  Love will conquer the great divide.  She takes the steps to initiate a return to the Garden where love is play.  She rejoices in his name.  She provides the proper relationship between man and woman; a relationship where a name is not a symbol of power but rather an opportunity for passionate embrace.  It takes the woman to undo what the man did in Genesis 3.  He used naming as a club.  She uses naming as an erotic enticement.

Sometimes knowing the Hebrew text makes all the difference in understanding a verse.  In this case, this Hebrew pun should never be disguised in translation.  What it says is so important for us.  It tells us that love undoes tragedy.  It points toward passionate love as the means for overcoming sinful consequences.  And it provides a picture of the return to a Garden of delight.  Don’t we desperately need this in our relationships?  Isn’t it important to know that the woman understands just how essential love is?  Isn’t it time for men to stop acting as usurpers and return to the Garden with their lovers?

Topical Index: Songs of Songs 1:2, love, name, perfume, oil, shemen, shem