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The Songs of Solomon, or the Odes of Solomon,
1
also derive from the Syrian religious heritage, and a few of the wisdom poems in this rich poetic collection are added here. While scholars disagree about how gnostic the Songs of Solomon are, their haunting beauty and mystical imagery contribute to an appreciation of the central place of wisdom and knowledge in the world of Jewish, Christian, and gnostic mysticism.
Song 15
As the sun is joy to those who seek daybreak, my joy is the lord.
He is my sun and his rays have lifted me up
and chased all darkness from my face.
I have acquired eyes and heard his truth.
I have acquired knowledge, and he made me happy.
I left the way of error, went to him, and he saved me.
According to his bounty, he gave me;
according to his beauty, he made me
.
I found purity through his name.
I shed corruption through his grace.
Death has died before my countenance.
Hell is abolished by my word.
A deathless life appears in the land of the lord,
known to those with belief, and lasts unceasingly.
Song 21
I raised my arms high to the grace of the lord,
for he cast off my bonds.
My helper had raised me to his grace and salvation.
I discarded darkness
and dressed in the clothing of light.
My soul acquired a body free from sorrow,
free from torture and mutilation.
The lord’s thought restored me.
I fed on his incorruptible fellowship.
In the light he raised me.
I went to him, near him,
praising and shouting his name.
He made my heart flood into my mouth.
He made it shine on my lips.
On my face the exultation of the lord grew.
My praise exploded.
Song 35
The dew of the lord rinsed me with silence
and a cloud of peace rose over my head,
guarding me.
It became my salvation
.
Everybody quivered in horror.
They issued smoke and judgment
but I was silent, near my lord,
who was more than shadow, more than foundation.
He carried me like a child by its mother.
He gave me milk, his dew,
and I grew in his bounty
and rested in his perfection.
I spread my hands out
as my soul pointed to the firmament
and I slipped upward to him
who redeemed me.
