NOTE:
This post has been withdrawn. The post has been published in my book, Rereading the Biblical Text: Searching for Meaning and Understanding. The approach taken in the book is to compare how different translations have approached difficult texts in the Old Testament. The goal of the book is to invite readers to reread the biblical text in light of the new understanding of the intent of the original writer of the text. You can order the book from Amazon.
Rereading the Biblical Text
Visit my Amazon author’s page to purchase the book (click here).
Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
A Note About This Post:
Before “The Shulammite: ‘Black and Beautiful’ or Black but Beautiful’?” was withdrawn for publication, “The Shulammite: ‘Black and Beautiful’ or Black but Beautiful’?” was read by 1988 readers. “The Shulammite: ‘Black and Beautiful’ or Black but Beautiful’?” was also shared 58 times by readers who enjoyed reading the post. You can read “The Shulammite: ‘Black and Beautiful’ or Black but Beautiful’?” and other articles on problems in Bible translation by reading my book Rereading the Biblical Text: Searching for Meaning and Understanding. Below is the content of the book:
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments – Page xi
Abbreviations – Page xii
Introduction – Page xv
SECTION 1 — THE PENTATEUCH
Chapter 1. The Creation of Animals in Genesis 2:19 – Page 3
Chapter 2. The Serpent Was Right (Genesis 3) – Page 7
Chapter 3. The Seed of the Woman (Genesis 3:15) – Page 11
Chapter 4. Were They Really Giants? (Genesis 6:4) – Page 17
Chapter 5. “As Far as Dan” (Gen 14:14) – Page 20
Chapter 6. Abraham and the Promises of God – Page (Genesis 12:7) – Page 23
Chapter 7. The Sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:8) – Page 26
Chapter 8. The Rape of Bilhah (Genesis 35:22) – Page 29
Chapter 9. Miriam, a Leader in Israel (Exodus 15:20) – Page 32
Chapter 10. Azazel (Leviticus 16:8-10) – Page 35
Chapter 11. Understanding Numbers 24:24 – Page 38
SECTION 2 — THE HISTORICAL BOOKS
Chapter 12. The Levite and His Concubine (Judges 19:1–30) – Page 43
Chapter 13. The Sacrifice of Jephthah’s Daughter (Judges 10:6–12:7) – Page 47
Chapter 14. The Fate of Jephthah’s Daughter (Judges 10:6–12:7) – Page 4750
Chapter 15. The Virginity of Jephthah’s Daughter (Judges 10:6–12:7) – Page 54
Chapter 16. Who Went Back to the City? (Ruth 3:15) – Page 59
Chapter 17. Was Ruth Barren? (Ruth 4:13) – Page 59
Chapter 18. King Saul: Little in His Own Eyes (1 Samuel 15:17) – Page 63
Chapter 19. How Old Was Saul? (1 Samuel 13:1) – Page 64
Chapter 20. David and Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4) – Page 67
Chapter 21. David’s Sons Were Priests ((2 Samuel 8:18) – Page 70
Chapter 22. “Him that Pisseth against the Wall” (1 Samuel 25:22) – Page 72
Chapter 23. Whose Cloak Did Ahijah Tear? (1Kinga 11:4–7) – Page 78
Chapter 24. The Challenges of Parenthood (2 Kinga 21:25–26) – Page 82
SECTION 3 — THE WISDOM AND POETICAL BOOKS
Chapter 25. Psalm 8:5: In Search of a Better Translation – Page 87
Chapter 26. Understanding Psalm 17:14 – Page 90
Chapter 27. Jezebel’s Wedding Song (Psalm 45:1–17) – Page 93
Chapter 28. Psalm 100:3: In Search of a Better Translation – Page 99
Chapter 29. Sons or Children? (Psalm 127:3-5) – Page 103
Chapter 30. Proverbs 29:18 – Page 106
Chapter 31. “Black and Beautiful” or “Black but Beautiful”? (Song of Songs 1:5) – Page 108
SECTION 4 — THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS
Chapter 32. The Use of Gender Inclusive Language (Isaiah 9:1) – Page 115
Chapter 33. “You Have Increased Their Joy” (Isaiah 9:3) – Page 118
Chapter 34. Who Will the Messiah Strike? (Isaiah 11:4) – Page 120
Chapter 35. The Way of the Lord (Isaiah 40:3) – Page 122
Chapter 36. “All Their Goodliness” (Isa 40:6) – Page 126
Chapter 37. The Proclaimer of Good News (Isaiah 40:9) – Page 129
Chapter 38. The Problem of Divorce in the Old Testament (Isaiah 50:1) – Page 132
Chapter 39. Beulah Land (Isaiah 62:4) – Page 135
Chapter 40. The Balm of Gilead (Jeremiah 8:22) – Page 138
Chapter 41. The Mother of Seven (Jeremiah 15:9) – Page 142
Chapter 42. The Coming of the Messiah (Daniel 9:25–27) – Page 144
Chapter 43. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel (Daniel 9:25–27) – Page 148
Chapter 44. The Knowledge of God (Hosea 4:1) – Page 152
Chapter 45. The Word “Hesed” in the Book of Hosea (Hosea 4:1) – Page 154
Chapter 46. The Word “Justice” in Amos (Amos 5:24) – Page 157
Chapter 47. “What the Lord Requires” (Micah 6:8) – Page 160
Bibliography – Page 165
Index of Subjects – Page 169
Index of Authors – Page 171
Index of Scriptures and Other Ancient Documents – Page 173
Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
If you enjoyed reading this post, you will enjoy reading my books.
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Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament 
Thank you for putting this up, very, very enlightening and helpful.
You say, “The problem is that today’s society classifies people as either black, white, or brown” and also red and yellow, and this is, indeed, a very real problem, and we all do it.
Thanks again for a solid post.
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Chris,
Thank you for your comment. By classifying people according to color or race, we promote social distinctions that create social problems and divisions in society.
Claude Mariottini
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The use of the word black for a skin color may be different in the Eastern culture. Some times people in the East describe more darker people within their own race as black. Funny but true.
Obviously, the Shulammite was not African by race but darker within her own Semitic race because of working in the sun. Therefore, the translation “black and beautiful” makes more sense because it describes her temporary darker skin not her race. Using the translation “black but beautiful” may imply someone permanently black as an African by race which is not the case for the Shulammite.
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Chris,
Thank you for reading and commenting on my post. We agree that the woman was not African. As whether to classify her, as I mentioned in my post, she was both black because of the sun, and beautiful as a woman. I think you and I agree on that point.
Claude Mariottini
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Insightful as always Dr.! I have been following you for over 10 years now. I became a pastor three years ago and recently did a series through Ruth. Your article has inspired me to consider a series through Song of Songs. I am particularly intrigued by your comments on the discussion around the canonicity of the Old Testament book.
My argument when discussing the canonicity of the 66 books has always been that the Old Testament is easier to deal with than the New. Since Jesus accepted the Jewish scriptures as inspired, we have no reason to question them since we have the very same collection that Jesus had and that Jews still use to this day. If Jesus got it wrong then we have a bigger problem since we believe that he was God come in the flesh. What would you say about this argument and how does it speak to the question of inerrancy, particularly the authorship of Ecclesiastes which claims itself to be the words of “the son of David” in its opening statement.
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Dear Friend,
Thank you for reading and commenting on my post. And thank you for being a loyal reader of my blog. Jesus accepted the Jewish scriptures but he was free to update them as we see in the Sermon on the Mount. Biblical inerrancy is not a good theological way of explaining the reliability of the Bible. There is a difference between inspiration and inerrancy.
The writer of Ecclesiastes used the title “son of David” but he does not say that he was Solomon. Jesus was called “the son of David” (Matthew 1:1). This means that he was a descendant of David.
In the Bible, we have 1 and 2 Samuel, but Samuel died in 1 Samuel 25:1. So, Samuel did not write the books of Samuel. The Book of Deuteronomy is known as the book of Moses but Moses did not write Deuteronomy. The inspiration of the Bible is not based on authorship of the books.
Claude Mariottini
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What seems to be most ignored about the Shulamite Woman is that Shulam is short for Yerushulam or Jerusalem. Ite comes from (IM) in Hebrew and means patrilineal descent. In short a Shulamite is and ISRAELITE by blood from the father. Shulamite it is teen for a young woman Jerusalem. She is a native Israelite…. She is black. Her father has to be black and so does her mother and grand parents and so on..her father is also an Israelite and black……………
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Jason,
Your view that the name of the Shulammite is related to Jerusalem is not correct. If you look at a Bible dictionary, you will discover that probably the name is either related to a village in Israel or with the name of Solomon.
Claude Mariottini
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