sometimes urge a religious motive as a reason for right conduct, they frankly advocate it, as Proverbs often does, on the ground of expediency. The points where the text is closely parallel to that of Proverbs are few, and these have been sufficiently pointed out. Some of the passages, as already noted, are closely parallel to parts of the book of Ecclesiastes. The religious appeal of the precepts is to Egyptian polytheism, while that of Proverbs is to Hebrew monotheism. 6. A Parallel to Ecclesiastes. The following striking parallel to a passage in Ecclesiastes is taken from a tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic,' written in the script of the time of Hammurapi, about 2000 B. c. Since the gods created man,2 Thou, O Gilgamesh, fill indeed thy belly, Day and night be thou joyful, Daily ordain gladness, Day and night rage and make merry, Let thy garments be bright, Thy head purify, wash with water, Desire thy children which thy hand possesses, A wife enjoy in thy bosom, This is not only in sentiment strikingly like Eccles. 9:6-9, but in part closely approaches its language. 1 The Gilgamesh Epic is an early Babylonian poem in twelve tablets or cantos. It is a collection of early legends and myths. The Babylonian account of the flood, translated in Chapter VI (Part II), forms the eleventh canto of it. 2 Translated from the Mitteilung der vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1902, Heft 1, p. 8. CHAPTER XXIII EGYPTIAN PARALLELS TO THE SONG OF SONGS NATURE OF THE SONG OF SONGS. TRANSLATION OF SOME EGYPTIAN LOVE-POEMS. COMPARISON WITH BIBLICAL PASSAGES. FOR many centuries the Song of Songs has been interpreted allegorically, but even those who give it an allegorical meaning must admit that its sentiments are couched in the terms of earthly love. Love poems, which sometimes express sentiments that remind us of the Song of Songs, have been discovered on some Egyptian papyri and ostraca. The documents in which they are written range in their dates from 2000 B. c. to about 1100 B. C. Selections from these follow:1 12 Thy love has penetrated all within me Like an odor which penetrates spices, As when one mixes juice in....... [Nevertheless] thou runnest to seek thy sister, Like the steed upon the battlefield, As [the warrior rolls along] on the spokes of his wheels. For heaven makes thy love Like the advance of [flames in straw], And its [longing] like the downward swoop of a hawk. These are translated from the German rendering in W. Max Müller's Liebpoesie der alten Agypter, Leipzig, 1899. From Müller, p. 15. Ibid., p. 16. "Brother" and "sister" are terms frequently applied to lovers in these poems. Perhaps it arose from an ancient custom of marriages between brothers and sisters, which was perpetuated in the royal families of Egypt down to Roman times. The description of the physical attractions of the loved one reminds one of Cant. 4: 1-7. III1 Is my heart not softened by thy love-longing for me? Not will I allow it To depart from me. Although cudgeled even to the "Guard of the overflow," To Syria, with shebôd-rods and clubs, To Ethiopia, with palm-rods, To the highlands, with switches, To the lowlands, with twigs, Never will I listen to their counsel, IV3 The voice of the wild goose cries, I am unable to liberate her. I must, then, take home my net! I shall not set the snares today For thy love has caught me. This is a vivid description of the power of the tender passion. V4 The wild goose flies up and soars, She sinks down upon the net. The birds cry in flocks, But I hasten [homeward], Since I care for thy love alone. My heart yearns for thy breast, I cannot sunder myself from thy attractions. From Müller, ibid., p. 17. Perhaps the name of a Nileometer station in the vicinity of Memphis. Müller, ibid., p. 22. Müller, ibid., p. 22. This is a continuation of the preceding. VI1 Thou beautiful one! My heart's desire is Thou hast changed me by thy love. Thus say I in my heart, In my soul, at my prayers: "I lack my commander tonight, I am as one dwelling in a tomb." Be thou but in health and strength,3 Then the nearness of thy countenance Sheds delight, by reason of thy well-being, Over a heart, which seeks thee (with longing). This poem expresses on the part of the man a longing similar to that expressed by the woman in Cant. 8: 1-3. VII4 The voice of the dove calls, What have I to do outside? Stop, thou birdling! Thou chidest me! I have found my brother in his bed, My heart is glad beyond all measure. "I will not tear myself away." My hand is in his hand. I wander together with him To every beautiful place. He makes me the first of maidens, Nor does he grieve my heart. In this poem the loved woman speaks, as in Cant. 8:1-3. Married couples are usually so represented in Egyptian pictures. The Egyptian is here followed, rather than the German. Lovely is the water-conduit in it, While the north wind cooled us. A beautiful place to wander, Thy hand in my hand, My soul inspired, Because we go together. New wine it is, to hear thy voice; I live for hearing it. To see thee with each look, Is better than eating and drinking. The figure of the garden, with which this poem begins, is also used in Cant. 5:1 and 6:2, 3. In ancient as in modern times wives loved fondly, while husbands gave way to drunkenness. The poems as a whole make it clear that in Egypt love, which lies at the basis of all home life, and is in the New Testament made a figure of the relation of Christ to the Church (see John 3: 29; Rev. 21:2, 9), was as warmly felt as in Israel, and was likewise poetically and passionately expressed. 1 The garden again. |