Ch. i. 3, is quoted and expounded, a little further on, in the same tract of the Talmud, in the following manner. “R. Nachman ben R. Chasdah once said, in his discourse, the words ‘Delicious is the odour of thy perfumes,’ denote a learned man; for such an one is like a box of perfumes; if it is covered up, no one can smell the perfumes, but when it is opened the odour becomes widely diffused. It is so with a learned man without disciples, no one knows of his learning; but if he gets a circle of disciples his name and his learning become widely diffused. And not only this, but he himself will increase learning by teaching, so that things which he formerly did not understand will now become plain to him; for it is written in the same verse עלמות אהבוך DAMSELS LOVE THEE; read עלומות HIDDEN THINGS will love thee, i.e., will become plain to thee; and not only this, but even the angel of death will love him; read then על־מות HE WHO IS OVER DEATH will love thee; and still more, he will inherit both worlds, this world and the world to come; read also עולמות WORLDS love thee.”
Ch. i. 13, 14, and v. 13, are quoted and explained in Sabbath, p. 88, b., “Rabbi Joshuah ben Levi saith, What is meant by צרור המור דודי לי בין שדי ילין is the congregation of Israel, who is saying before the Holy One thus: O Lord, though my beloved (i.e. God) oppresses me, and is embittered against me, yet he still lodges with me. By אשכול הכופר דודי לי בכרמי עין גדי is meant, He who is the owner of all things, will forgive me the [[27]]sin of the calf, with which I covered myself. A question is raised, How does בכרמי signify my covering? Then Rabbi Mar-Sutra ben Rabbi Nachman quotes כסא של כובס שכורמי עליו את הכלאם from another part of the Talmud (Kelim 35), where כרם means to cover. R. Joshuah ben Levi proceeds, What is meant by לחייו כערוגת הבושם is, At every commandment which proceedeth from the mouth of the Holy One on Mount Sinai, the world was filled with aromatics. A question is asked, If the world was filled at the first commandment, where was the odour diffused at the second commandment? Answer, The Holy One sent his wind from his stores, and carried them away successively, as it is written, שפתותיו שושנים do not read שושנים but ששונים repeating in succession. Rabbi Joshuah ben Levi concludes, At every commandment uttered by the mouth of the Holy One, the soul of Israel was drawn out of them, as it is written, ‘My soul went out when he spake.’ A question is again asked, If their soul was drawn out at the first commandment, how could they receive the second? Answer. He (i.e. God) caused the dew to come down, by which he will raise the dead, and revived them, as it is written, ‘Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary.’” Ps. lxviii. 9.[32]
Here, again, we see that the bridegroom is taken to be the Holy One, the Owner of all things, and the bride the congregation of Israel. The reader, looking into the text of the Talmud quoted in the note, will observe that most of this interpretation has been obtained, either by the separation of words, the transposition and change of letters, or by substituting [[28]]in the commentary words, similar in sound to those in the Scriptures. Thus, צרור a bundle, a bag, is explained by מיצר oppress; מור myrrh by מימר embitter; אשכול a cluster by איש שהכל לו He whose are all things; כופר cypress flowers by כפר pardon; עין גדי En-gedi by עון עגל the sin of the calf.
This mode of interpretation is not confined to the Song of Songs, but is applied to all parts of the Bible, and is an illustration of the way in which the hermeneutic rules laid down by Rabbi Hillel, and augmented by R. Ishmael, and others, were carried out.
550, A.D.—The Targum or Chaldee paraphrase is the first entire commentary upon the Song of Songs which has been handed down to us. The author is unknown. Kitto erroneously affirms, that it was “made several centuries before the time of Christ, and probably before the traditionary interpretation of the author himself (i.e. the author of this Song) would entirely be lost.”[33] The inferior style in which it is written, the copious use it makes of legends of a very late date, and especially the mention it makes of the Gemara (Ch. i. 2), which was not completed till nearly the middle of the sixth century, prove most distinctly that this paraphrase was made in the sixth century. Hävernick,[34] however, is equally wrong in affirming that the Mahomedans are mentioned in Ch. i. 7. That the sons of Ishmael here alluded to are not the Mahomedans, is evident from Ch. vi. 7. of the same paraphrase, where we are told that these בְּנוֹי דְיִשְׁמָעֵאל headed by Alexander the Great, came to wage war against Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabees.
The Targum takes the Song of Songs as an allegory, describing prophetically the history of the Jewish nation, beginning with their Exodus from Egypt, and detailing their doings and sufferings, down to the coming of the Messiah, and the building of the third Temple. [[29]]
Thus, according to this allegory, Ch. i. 3, describes Jehovah’s fame, which went abroad in consequence of the wonders he wrought when bringing the Israelites out of Egypt; verse 12 describes the departure of Moses to receive the two tables of stone, and how the Israelites, in the mean time, made the golden calf; verse 14 describes the pardon of that sin, and the erection of the Tabernacle; Ch. iii. 6–11, describes the passage of the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua, over the Jordan, their attacking and conquering the Canaanites, and the building of Solomon’s Temple; Ch. v. 2, describes the Babylonian captivity; Ch. vi. 2, the deliverance of Israel through Cyrus; and the building of the second Temple; Ch. vi. 7, &c., describes the battles of the Maccabees; Ch. vii. 11, 12, the present dispersion of the Jews, and their future anxiety to learn the time of their restoration; Ch. viii. 5, &c., describes the resurrection of the dead, the final ingathering of Israel, the building of the third Temple, &c., &c.
“The beloved,” according to the Targum, is the Lord; “the loved one” is the Congregation of Israel; “the companions of the beloved” (Ch. i. 7) are the Edomites and the Ishmaelites; “the daughters of Jerusalem” are, in Ch. i. 5, the Gentile nations; in ii. 7, iii. 5, viii. 4, the Congregation of Israel; and in v. 8, the prophets; “the brothers of the loved one” are the false prophets; “the little sister,” in viii. 8, is the people of Israel; the speakers in the same verse are the angels; the speaker in viii. 13, is the Lord; “the companions,” in the same verse are the Sanhedrim.
The following specimen of the Targum, on the first chapter of this Song, will give the reader an idea of the way in which the paraphrase develops the allegorical construction of this book.
[1]. The Song of Songs, &c.—The songs and praises which Solomon the prophet, King of Israel, sang, by the spirit of prophecy, before God, the Lord of the whole world. Ten songs were sung in this world, but this song is the most celebrated of them all. The first song Adam sang when his sins were forgiven him, and when the sabbath-day came, and protected him, he opened his mouth and said, “A song for the sabbath-day,” &c. (Ps. xcii.) The second song Moses and the children of Israel sang when the [[30]]Lord of the world divided the Red Sea for them, they all opened their mouths and sang as one man, the song, as it is written, “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel.” (Exod. xv. 1.) The third song the children of Israel sang when the well of water was given to them, as it is written, “Then sang Israel.” (Numb. xxi. 17.) The fourth song Moses the prophet sang, when his time came to depart from this world, in which he reproved the people of the house of Israel, as it is written: “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak.” (Deut. xxxii. 1.) The fifth song Joshua the son of Nun sang, when he waged war in Gibeon, and the sun and moon stood still for him thirty-six hours, and when they left off singing their song, he himself opened his mouth and sang this song, as it is written: “Then sang Joshua before the Lord.” (Josh. x. 12.) The sixth song Barak and Deborah sang in the day when the Lord delivered Sisera and his army into the hands of the children of Israel, as it is written: “Then sang Deborah, &c.” (Judg. v. 11.) The seventh song Hannah sang when a son was given her by the Lord, as it is written: “And Hannah prayed prophetically, and said.” (1 Sam. ii. 1, and the Targum in loco.) The eighth song David the King of Israel sang for all the wonders which the Lord did for him. He opened his mouth and sang a hymn, as it is written: “And David sang in prophecy before the Lord.” (2 Sam. xxii. 1, and the Targum in loco.) The ninth song Solomon the King of Israel sang by the Holy Spirit before God, the Lord of the whole world. And the tenth song the children of the captivity shall sing when they shall be delivered from their captivity, as it is written and declared by Isaiah the prophet: “This song shall be unto you for joy, as in the night in which the feast of the passover is celebrated; and gladness of heart as when the people go to appear before the Lord three times in the year, with all kinds of music, and with the sound of the timbrel, to go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to worship before the Lord, the Mighty One of Israel.” (Is. xxx. 29, and the Targum in loco.)
[2]. Let him kiss me, &c.—Solomon the prophet said, “Blessed be the name of the Lord who has given us the law through Moses the great scribe, written upon two tables of stone; and the six parts of the Mishna and the Talmud traditionally, and who spoke with us face to face, as a man that kissed his friend, because of his great love wherewith he loved us above the seventy nations.”[35]
[3]. Thy perfumes, &c.—At the report of thy wonders and mighty deeds which thou hast done for thy people the house of Israel, all the nations trembled who heard of thy famous strength, and thy great miracles; and in all the earth was heard thy holy name, which is more excellent than the anointing oil that was poured upon the heads of kings and priests; therefore the righteous love to walk after thy good way, because they shall inherit both this world and the world to come.
[4]. Draw me, &c.—When the people of the house of Israel went out of Egypt the shechinah of the Lord of the world went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, and the righteous of that [[31]]generation said, Lord of the whole world, draw us after thee, and we will run in thy good way! Bring us to the foot of Mount Sinai, and give us thy law out of thy treasury in heaven, and we will rejoice and be glad in the twenty-two letters[36] with which it is written, and we will remember them, and love thy divine nature, and withdraw ourselves from the idols of the nations; and all the righteous, who do that which is right before thee, shall fear thee and love thy commandments.
[5]. I am swarthy, &c.—When the house of Israel made the calf, their faces became black, like the sons of Cush, who dwelt in the tents of Kedar; but when they returned by repentance, and were forgiven, the shining splendour of their faces was increased to that of angels, because they made the curtains for the tabernacle, and the shechinah of the Lord dwelt among them; and Moses, their teacher, went up to heaven and made peace between them and their King.
[6]. Do not look down upon me, &c.—The congregation of Israel said before all the nations, Do not despise me because I am blacker than you, for I have done your deeds, and worshipped the sun and moon; for false prophets have been the cause that the fierce anger of the Lord has come upon me, and they taught me to worship your idols, and to walk in your laws; but the Lord of the world, who is my God, I did not serve, and did not walk in his precepts, and did not keep his commandments and laws.
[7]. Tell me, &c.—When the time came for Moses the prophet to depart from this world, he said to the Lord, It is revealed to me that this people will sin, and be carried into captivity; show me now how they shall be governed and dwell among the nations, whose decrees are oppressive as the heat and the scorching sun in the summer solstice, and wherefore is it that they shall wander among the flocks of the sons of Esau and Ishmael, who make their idols equal to thee, as though they were thy companions.
[8]. If thou knowest not, &c.—The Holy One, blessed be his name, said to Moses, the prophet, “I suffer myself to be entreated to abolish their captivity; the congregation of Israel, which is like a fair damsel, and which my soul loves, she shall walk in the ways of the righteous, and shall order her prayers according to the order of her governors and leaders, and instruct her children, who are like to the kids of the goats, to go to the synagogue and the schools; and by the merits of this they shall be governed in the captivity, until the time that I send King Messiah, and he shall lead them quietly to their habitations; yea, he shall bring them to the house of the sanctuary, which David and Solomon, the shepherds of Israel, shall build for them.”
[9]. I compare thee, &c.—When Israel went out of Egypt, Pharaoh and his hosts pursued after them with chariots and horsemen, and their way was shut up on the four sides of them; on the right hand and on the left were wildernesses full of fiery serpents, and behind them was wicked Pharaoh with his army, and before them was the Red Sea, what did the holy blessed God do? He was manifested in the power of his might upon the Red Sea, and dried the sea up, but the mud he did not dry up. The wicked and the mixed multitude, and the strangers who were among them, [[32]]said, The waters of the sea he was able to dry up, but the mud he was not able to dry up. In that very hour the fierce anger of the Lord came upon them, and he sought to drown them in the waters of the sea, as Pharaoh, and his army, and his chariots, and his horsemen, and his horses were drowned, had it not been for Moses the Prophet, who spread his hands in prayer before the Lord, and turned away the anger of the Lord from them. Then he and the righteous of that generation opened their mouths, and sang a song, and passed through the Red Sea on dry land, through the merits of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the beloved of the Lord.
[10]. Beautiful are thy cheeks, &c.—When they went out into the wilderness the Lord said to Moses, “How comely is this people, that the words of the law should be given unto them, and they shall be as a bridle in their jaws, that they may not depart out of the good way, as a horse turneth not aside that has a bridle in his jaws; and how fair is their neck to bear the yoke of my commandments; and it shall be upon them as a yoke upon the neck of a bullock which plougheth in the field, and feeds both itself and its owner.”
[11]. Circlets of gold, &c.—Then was it said to Moses, “Go up into heaven, and I will give thee the two tables of stone, hewn out of the sapphire of the throne of my glory, shining as the best gold, disposed in rows, written with my finger, on which are engraven the ten commandments, purer than silver that is purified seven times seven, which is the number of the things explained in them in forty-nine various ways, and I shall give them by thy hands to the people of the house of Israel.”
[12]. While the King, &c.—Whilst Moses, their teacher, was in heaven to receive the two tables of stone, and the law and the commandments, the wicked of that generation and the mixed multitude that was among them rose up and made a golden calf, and caused their works to stink, and an evil report of them went out in the world; for before this time a fragrant odour of them was diffused in the world, but afterwards they stank like nard, the smell of which is very bad, and the plague of leprosy came down upon their flesh.
[13]. A bag of myrrh, &c.—At that time the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for the people have corrupted themselves, desist from speaking to me, and I will destroy them.” Then Moses returned and asked mercy of the Lord, and the Lord remembered for them the binding of Isaac, whom his father bound, on Mount Moriah, upon the altar; and the Lord turned from his fierce anger, and caused his shechinah to dwell among them as before.
[14]. A bunch of cypress flowers, &c.—So then went Moses down with the two tables of stone in his hands; and, because of the sins of Israel, his hands grew heavy, and the tables fell and were broken. Then went Moses and ground the calf to powder, and scattered the dust of it upon the brook, and made the children of Israel to drink it, and slew all that deserved to die, and went up a second time into heaven, and prayed before the Lord, and made atonement for the children of Israel; then was the commandment to make a tabernacle and an ark. Immediately Moses hastened and made the tabernacle, and all its furniture, and the ark; and he put in the ark the two other tables, and appointed the sons of Aaron, the priests, to offer the offerings upon the altar, and to pour the wine upon the offerings; [[33]]but from whence had they wine to pour? For in the wilderness they had no proper place for sowing; neither had they fig-trees, nor vines, nor pomegranates; but they went to the vineyards of En-gedi, and took clusters of grapes from thence, and pressed wine out of them, and poured it upon the altar, the fourth part of a hin to one lamb.
[15]. Behold thou art beautiful, &c.—When the children of Israel performed the will of their King, he himself praised them in the family of the holy angels, and said, “How fair are thy works, my daughter, my beloved, O congregation of Israel, in the time that thou doest my will, and studiest in the words of my law; and how well ordered are thy works and thy affairs, as young doves that are fit to be offered upon the altar!”
[16]. Behold thou art comely, &c.—The congregation of Israel answered before the Lord of the world, and thus said, “How fair is the shechinah of thy holiness, when thou dwellest among us, and receivest prayers with acceptance; and when thou dwellest in our beloved bed, and our children are multiplied in the world, and we increase and multiply like a tree that is planted by a stream of water, whose leaf is fair, and whose fruit is plenteous!”
[17]. The beams of, &c.—Solomon, the prophet, said, “How beautiful is the house of the sanctuary of the Lord, which is built by my hands, of wood of Gulmish; but far more beautiful will be the house of the sanctuary which shall be built in the days of the King Messiah, the beams of which will be of the cedars of the garden of Eden, and whose rafters will be of cypress, pine, and box.”