“May Her Breasts Satisfy You at All Times” (Prov 5:19) On the Erotic Passages in Proverbs and Sirach and the Question of How They Relate to the Song of Songs

Pointing to erotic passages in some of the wisdom books, a growing number of scholars argue that the Song of Songs is sapiential. As an alternative explanation for the similarities between the Song and Proverbs 1-9 and Sirach, this article argues that verses like Prov 5:19 might have originated as a critical reaction to the Song’s eroticism. Beyond explaining the erotic passages in Proverbs and Sirach, this thesis is significant in that it implies that the authors of Proverbs and Sirach still understood the Song “literally” rather than allegorically, as did later interpreters.