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On the Song of Songs

Hippolytus

Section 2

About this work

Author: Hippolytus

2. And where is all this rich knowledge? and where

are

these

mysteries

?

and

where

are

the

books

?

For

the

only

ones

extant

are

Proverbs

,

and

Wisdom

,

and

Ecclesiastes

,

and

the

Song

of

Songs

.

What

then

?

Does

the

Scripture

speak

falsely

?

God

forbid

.

But

the

matter

of

his

writings

was

various

,

as

is

shown

in

the

phrase

“

Song

of

Songs

;

”

for

that

indicates

that

in

this

one

book

he

digested

the

contents

of

the

5

,

000

songs

.

In

the

days

moreover

of

Hezekiah

,

there

were

some

of

the

books

selected

for

use

,

and

others

set

aside

.

Whence

the

Scripture

says

,

“

These

are

the

mixed

Proverbs

of

Solomon

,

which

the

friends

of

Hezekiah

the

king

copied

out

.

”

And

whence

did

they

take

them

,

but

out

of

the

books

containing

the

3

,

000

parables

and

the

5

,

000

songs

?

Out

of

these

,

then

,

the

wise

friends

of

Hezekiah

took

those

portions

which

bore

upon

the

edification

of

the

Church

.

And

the

books

of

Solomon

on

the

“

Parables

”

and

“

Songs

,

”

in

which

he

wrote

of

the

physiology

of

plants

,

and

all

kinds

of

animals

belonging

to

the

dry

land

,

and

the

air

,

and

the

sea

,

and

of

the

cures

of

disease

,

Hezekiah

did

away

with

,

because

the

people

looked

to

these

for

the

remedies

for

their

diseases

,

and

neglected

to

seek

their

healing

from

God

.

Notes

2
1 Kings iv. 32.
3
ἀδιάκριτοι, “mixed,” or “dark.”
4
Prov. xxv. 1.
5
In Gallandi, from Anastasius Sinaita, quæst. 41, p. 320.