text · B0025
Shir HaShirim שיר השירים
Shlomo's love-song, read by the tradition as the song between God and Israel — in R' Akiva's words, the holy of holies among the Writings. Like Mishlei and Kohelet, its words are Shlomo's but its written form is credited by the baraita of Bava Batra to Chizkiyah and his colleagues, the royal editorial circle of the late First Temple. Its standing in the canon was still being defended in the tannaitic period.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- שיר השירים
- Also known as
- Song of Songs, Canticles
- Era
- bible
II. When
- Traditional
- spoken by Shlomo; committed to writing by Chizkiyah and his colleagues, c. 3199–3228 AM, per Bava Batra 15a
- Academic
- dating debated, from the monarchy to the Hellenistic period
- Duration
- ≈29 years
- Precision
- approximate
IV. What
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Chizkiyah and his colleagues wrote Yeshayahu, Mishlei, Shir HaShirim, and Kohelet" (חזקיה וסיעתו כתבו ימש״ק) — the baraita of Bava Batra; "wrote" in its editorial sense of committing Shlomo's composition to final written form. | rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| Its canonical sanctity was debated and decisively affirmed: the Mishnah records the dispute over whether Shir HaShirim renders the hands impure, with R' Akiva declaring that all the Writings are holy but Shir HaShirim is the holy of holies. | rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| Timeline placement 3199–3228 AM, Chizkiyah's reign — the writing date; the composition belongs to Shlomo's era. The span is schematic. | tradition reconstruction | ★★★☆☆ |