Title
The name of the book ("The Song of Songs of Solomon") comes from a superscription: "The song of songs, which is Solomon's" (which also constitutes the opening verse of the book).
"Song of songs" is a Hebrew grammatical construction denoting the superlative; that is, the title attests to the greatness of the song, similar to "the lord of lords", "The King of Kings" or "Holy of Holies" (used of the inner sanctuary of the Jerusalem temple). Rabbi Akiba declared, "Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that Song of Songs is holy. For the whole world is not worth the day on which Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and Song of Songs is Holy of Holies." (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5). Similarly, Martin Luther called it Das Hohelied (the high song). This is still its name in German, Danish, Swedish and in Dutch.
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