EROS Y TEXTO: EL CANTAR DE LOS CANTARES COMO CASO DE ESTUDIO EN LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA SEXUALIDAD EN LA LITERATURA DEL ANTIGUO ISRAEL

EROS Y TEXTO: EL CANTAR DE LOS CANTARES COMO CASO DE ESTUDIO EN LA REPRESENTACIÓN DE LA SEXUALIDAD EN LA LITERATURA DEL ANTIGUO ISRAEL This study examines the Song of Songs (Šîr haššîrîm) as a distinctive poetic and generic phenomenon within the Hebrew Bible. It argues that the composition represents a liminal mode of wisdom discourse operating outside the legal and kinship frameworks codified in the Pentateuch. Employing a historical-critical and comparative methodology, the analysis situates the text within Ancient Near Eastern lyric traditions, particularly the Egyptian love poetry of the New Kingdom and the Mesopotamian cycles associated with Dumuzi and Inanna. Special attention is given to the waṣf descriptive form as a literary device that constructs value, status, and relational identity through embodied imagery rather than simple physical description. Intertextually, the study proposes that the Song may be read as a literary counterpoint to the relational dynamics of Genesis 3, reconfiguring themes of desire, agency, and reciprocity within a non-hierarchical poetic framework. Finally, the paper examines the history of interpretation, suggesting that the transition from predominantly literal readings to allegorical exegesis in early Jewish and Christian traditions contributed significantly to the text’s preservation within the developing biblical canon.