S2E2 Poetry & Allegory – How do we read Song of Songs?

In this episode Dr Andrew Ollerton is joined by Dr Ros Clarke to talk about how we read poetry and allegory in the Old Testament. We focus in on Chapter 5 of the Song of Songs as Ros helps us to unpack some of the richness and beauty of Old Testament poetry. 

Please note that this episode does include discussion of sexual violence. 

Reading list:
Forty Women: Unseen women of the Bible from Eden to Easter (IVP,  2021)
Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins 

Dr Ros Clarke is a Christian teacher, speaker and writer. Since 2017 she has been employed as the Associate Director of Church Society where her responsibilities include editing Crossway, their quarterly magazine, and producing their weekly podcast. Prior to that she worked for the Diocese of Lichfield as the first Online Pastor in the Church of England. She holds theology degrees from Oak Hill College and Highland Theological College. Her PhD thesis was on canonical interpretations of the Song of Songs, and she is particularly passionate about helping Christians to read and understand the Old Testament.

This episode is a re-release from the Trusting the Bible podcast which was a collaboration between Tyndale House, Cambridge @Tyndale_House and the Bible Society @biblesociety in 2022.

Edited by Tyndale House 

Music – Acoustic Happy Background used with a standard license from Adobe Stock.