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An Iconographic Approach to Old Testament Interpretation: Song of Songs 6:11-12 as a Case Study

  • Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies
  • Abbr : KJOTS
  • 2025, 31(4), pp.91~123
  • DOI : 10.24333/jkots.2025.31.4.91
  • Publisher : Korean Society of Old Testament Studies
  • Research Area : Humanities > Christian Theology
  • Received : October 20, 2025
  • Accepted : November 22, 2025

Yeseul Kim 1

1연세대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

Song of Songs 6:11-12, particularly verse 12, is widely recognized as one of the most challenging passages to interpret in the Song of Songs. Ancient translations, modern translations, and commentators offer divergent interpretations, and numerous emendations to the Hebrew text have also been proposed. The interpretive difficulties stem not only from the ambiguity in the Hebrew text but also from the unclear motivation behind the expression of surprise at the abrupt transition from the garden setting to the chariot context. This study first examines the history of interpretation of this passage, then proposes an alternative reading utilizing an iconographical method. Iconographical methods, not yet well known in Korean scholarship, can be applied to biblical studies in various ways. This paper focuses specifically on its application to interpreting particular biblical passages or metaphors. After briefly introducing iconographical methodology, the study presents an interpretation of Song 6:11-12 as an example of applying this approach to biblical text interpretation. In this course, biblical texts are thoroughly interpreted by comparing them with other textual sources, while images are analyzed by comparing them with related images. Only after completing these separate comparative analyses are the results from both inquiries synthesized. The study concludes that two concepts appear both in the Song of Songs text and in various images from Egypt, the Levant, and Mesopotamia: ‘woman can be compared to military power’ and ‘vegetation and chariots, or life/love and war, though seemingly contrasting, are different aspects of the same power.’ Thus, Song 6:11-12 reflects a worldview widely prevalent in the ancient Near East. By actively engaging ancient Near Eastern images through iconographic methodology in Old Testament interpretation, we can expect a significantly broadened horizon of interpretation based on cultural-historical information available through visual sources.

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