Zhe (Cyrillic)

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Cyrillic letter Zhe
Cyrillic alphabet
А	Б	В	Г	Ґ	Ѓ	Д
Ђ	Е	Ё	Є	Ж	З	Ѕ
И	І	Ї	Й	Ј	К	Ќ
Л	Љ	М	Н	Њ	О	П
Р	С	Т	Ћ	У	Ў	Ф
Х	Ц	Ч	Џ	Ш	Щ	Ъ
Ы	Ь	Э	Ю	Я
Non-Slavic Letters
Ӑ	Ә	Ӕ	Ҕ	Ӗ	Ғ	Ӏ
Ӂ	Җ	Ӝ	Ҙ	Ӟ	Ӡ	Ӣ
Ӥ	Ҡ	Қ	Ҟ	Ҝ	Ң	Ҥ
Ө	Ӧ	Ҧ	Ҫ	Ҷ	Ҹ	Ӵ
Ҽ	Ҿ	Ҩ	Ҳ	Һ	Ҭ	Ҵ
Ӳ	Ӯ	Ү	Ұ	Ӱ
Archaic letters
Ҁ	Ѹ	Ѡ	Ѿ	Ѻ	Ѣ	ІА
Ѥ	Ѧ	Ѫ	Ѩ	Ѭ	Ѯ	Ѱ
Ѳ	Ѵ	Ѷ

Zhe (Ж, ж) is the letter of Cyrillic alphabet which represents the voiced postalveolar fricative /ʒ/ (listen), similar to the s in the English word treasure.

Zhe is the seventh letter of the Bulgarian alphabet, the eighth letter in the Belarusian, Macedonian, Russian and Serbian alphabets, and the ninth in the Ukrainian alphabet. It is also found in most non-Slavic languages written in the Cyrillic script, representing either /ʒ/, /ʐ/, or /dʒ/. In the old Cyrillic alphabet, zhe was the seventh letter. Its name was живѣте (zhivěte, 'live' imp.), and it did not have a numerical value.

It is not known what zhe was derived from. No similar letter exists in Greek, Latin or any other alphabet of the time, though there is some graphic similarity with its Glagolitic counterpart zhivete Ⰶ (Image: ) which represents the same sound. However, the origin of zhivete, like that of most Glagolitic letters, is unclear. One possibility is that it was formed from two connecting letters shin ש, the bottom one inverted. Several Cyrillic letters derive directly from Hebrew letters and ш, which represents the unvoiced counterpart of zhe, is one of these.

Zhe is most often transliterated as zh, more rarely as zx, except in Serbian and Macedonian where it is most often transliterated as �, or, lacking diacritics, simply as z.

The closest Polish counterpart is ż.

Zhe is one of the first letters learned by children who learn to write in Slavic languages, because it looks quite like a young frog floating in a pond, and in these languages the word meaning "frog" or "toad" is written "жаба".

Zhe can also be used in Leet speak in place of the letter x. The rap group Kris Kross has a logo of two k's placed back-to-back similar to zhe.

The Song of Solomon or Song of Songs (Hebrew title ��� ������, Shir ha-Shirim) is a book of the Hebrew Bible�Tanakh or Old Testament�one of the five megillot. It is also sometimes called by its title in the Vulgate, Canticum Canticorum, the "Canticle of Canticles." The title is later than the text [1]. The book consists of a cycle of poems about erotic love, largely in the form of a dialogue between a bridegroom and a bride. The Song of Solomon is not quoted by New Testament writers.

The text, read without allegory as a celebration of sexual love, appears to alternate between addressing a male object of affection and a female one. Black Madonnas illustrate a line in the Song of Songs 1:5: "I am black, but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem ..." This is inscribed in Latin on some: Nigra sum sed formosa. It is clear that the inscription was there from the beginning. Some scholars suggest that the poems may be a series of antiphonal remarks and responses between a male and female pair, possibly created by one author rather than reflecting a genuine series of exchanged poems. Other scholars suggest that it is a collection of originally more independent poetry.

The name of the book comes from the first verse, "The Song of songs, which is of (or for) Solomon." Some believe the title "song of songs" attests to the greatness of the book. Rabbi Akiba declared, "Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs is holy. For the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and the Song of Songs is holy of holies. (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5). Similarly, Martin Luther called it "das Hohelied," meaning, "the high song." [2]

Some people translate the second clause of the title as "which is of Solomon," meaning that the book is authored by Solomon. According to Jewish tradition, Solomon wrote three Biblical books, corresponding to three states in a man's life: Song of Songs, which expresses the lustful vigor of youth; Proverbs, which expresses the wisdom of maturity; and Ecclesiastes, which expresses the cynicism of old age. Others translate the second clause as "which is for Solomon," meaning that the book is dedicated to Solomon. Some read the book as contrasting the nobility of monogamous love with the debased nature of promiscuous love, and suggest that the book is actually a veiled criticism of Solomon, who is said to have had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.

Although the book never mentions God by name, an allegorical interpretation justified its inclusion in the Biblical canon. According to Jewish tradition in the Midrash and the Targum, it is an allegory of God's love for the Children of Israel. In Christian tradition that began with Origen, it is allegory for the relationship of Christ and the Church or Christ and the individual believer (see the Sermons on the Song of Songs by Bernard of Clairvaux). This type of allegorical interpretation was applied later to even passing details in parables of Jesus. It is also heavily used in Sufi poetry.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest denomination in Joseph Smith restorationism, does not recognize the Song of Solomon as authoritative [3], although it is included in the Church's canon and printed in Church-published copies of the Bible.

Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) of 2006 refers to the Song of Songs in both its literal and allegorical meaning, stating that erotic love (eros) and self-donating love (agape) is shown there as the two halves of true love, which is both giving and receiving.

(Compare Ps. 45; Isa. 54:4-6; 62:4, 5; Jer. 2:2; 3:1, 20; Ezek. 16; Hos. 2:16, 19, 20. Compare also Matt. 9:15; John 3:29; Eph. 5:23, 27, 29; Rev. 19:7-9; 21:2, 9; 22:17.)