Category Archives: Twelve Songs Commentary

Song Two, verses 5–8

Verse 5

The rest of Song Two is structured so that odd-numbered verses present a condition that is to be met before the blessing or type of protection mentioned in the next even-numbered verse can be provided.

五ツ いづれもつきくるならば
五つ 何れも付き来るならば
Itsutsu / Izure mo / tsuki-kuru naraba
Five / Everyone in every situation / if [you] follow and come

Continue reading Song Two, verses 5–8

A Survey of Previous Commentaries/Bibliography

Survey of commentaries used as main references

I find that a major weakness of many commentaries is that authors tend to go verse by verse and sometimes go on tangents that are not really constructive toward the understanding each Song as a whole. Some authors use a verse as a springboard to begin a short sermon. I will attempt to get away from that style as much as I can though I will adopt the conventional style of going through the Twelve Songs in chronological order. My longer commentaries will contain summaries of each Song. (Songs One to Four, Seven, Eleven and Twelve)

Here is a short survey of the commentaries I used as references when writing my commentary. Continue reading A Survey of Previous Commentaries/Bibliography