Lien-hwa Chow's Interpretation and Translation on the Song of Songs

Lien-hwa Chow's Interpretation and Translation on the Song of Songs

CHIN Ken Pa

Chinese Churches have had a long history of interest in the Song of Songs and many Chinese scholars have written commentaries on the book. Lien-hwa Chow takes a literal rather than allegorical approach to the book because he thinks that the result is closer to the meaning of the biblical text; this approach also enables him to compare the Song of Songs with the Chinese Shi Jing (Book of Songs). Apart from the commentary Lien-hwa Chow has translated the book into plain Chinese, taking care to stay as close to the original text as possible. This essay explores his contributions and original insights.