Commentary on the Song of Songs
By (author) Carol Neel Original author Rupert of Deutz
Paperback (Published)
(June 2026)
ISBN: 9782503623924
Price: $94.00
On back order
This Latin work, available here in complete English translation opposite the original Latin, enriches twenty-first-century understanding of theology and hermeneutics in medieval tradition, and brings material for discussion of monastic history, biblical interpretation, and gender studies to a wide audience.
The Benedictine abbot Rupert of Deutz (d. 1129) was among the most prolific, innovative, and influential of medieval theologians. Well-positioned in time and space to respond to the unfolding of the twelfth-century reform of European religious life, he actively engaged with proponents of the lay piety movement and the new religious orders as an apollogist for monastic tradition. The bulk of Rupert’s surviving writings, however, addresses biblical and liturgical texts. His inventive commentary on the Song of Songs offers a window into both his ecclesiastical context and his own role in the formation of the cult of the Virgin. Here, the Benedictine represents the famously obscure Song as the love-story of God the Father and the Virgin Mother of His Son—the first fully Marian interpretation of the ancient biblical canticle.Rupert’s commentary on the Song, presented here in full English translation, projects his voice to modern communities of learning and inspiration far beyond the medieval studies and theological audiences to whom he has already been well known. With facing Latin, it will now be accessible to those interested in biblical interpretation, the history and theory of gender, and Christian spritual tradition. This volume of Brepols Library of Christian Sources is based on the authoritative critical edition of Rupert’s commentary by Raban Haake, O.S.B., published as CCCM 26 in 1974. Its introduction reviews the vibrant scholarship on Rupert and the tradition of Song commentary published in the intervening decades, most importantly by John Van Engen, E. Ann Matter, and Rachel Fulton Brown.
- By (author) Carol Neel
- Original author Rupert of Deutz
Other Titles in this Series
Peter of Ireland, Writings on Natural Philosophy
Commentary on Aristotle's On Length and Shortness of Life and the Determinatio Magistralis
Volume 9
Three Writings on Mystical Theology
Exposition of the Mystical Theology, Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, On the Seven Steps of Contemplation
Volume 11
Lucifer of Cagliari, Concerning Athanasius
Why no one must judge or condemn a man in his absence
Volume 2
The Donatist Compendium of 427 and Related Texts
Exegetical Materials from a Dissident Communion
Volume 12
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