The precedent of the Talmud in taking the beloved as the Lord, and the loved one as the Congregation of Israel, and in explaining the text in such a manner as to make it square with her doings, has quite prepared us for the Chaldee exposition, the author of which most probably was himself one of the later Talmudists. How could the paraphrast do otherwise? “Are not the words of the sages more excellent than even the wine of the Law?”[37] “Is not he who transgresses the words of the scribes more guilty than he who transgresses the words of the Law?”[38] Having, therefore, been once settled by the sages that this Song describes the doings and sufferings of Israel, it only remained for the expositors to apply their exegetical canons, viz.: of transposing, changing, or omitting letters; explaining words by others of a similar sound; making each letter of a word begin another word; reducing an expression to its numerical value, and explaining the text accordingly, &c. &c., in order to palm upon this book, in a consecutive [[34]]order, the remarkable events in connection with the history of the Jews.
Thus, the love of God to Israel, which was greater than to all the seventy other nations mentioned in Ch. i. 2, was obtained by reducing the word יין to its numerical value, seventy; the two worlds, in verse 3, which the pious are to inherit, were obtained by changing עלמות maidens, into עולמות worlds, according to the example of the Talmud;[39] the twenty-two letters with which the Law is written, in verse 4, were obtained by reducing the word בך to its numerical value; the Tabernacle, in verse 5, was obtained from the word ירעות, and the effected peace by changing the proper name שלמה into שלום peace; the worship of the sun and moon, in verse 6, was obtained from the word שמש sun; the ploughing bullock, in verse 10, was obtained by changing תורים ringlet, and חרוזים necklace, into תור חרז; the two tables shining as the best gold, verse 11, were obtained by rendering תורי זהב golden Laws, and the seven times seven, or the forty different interpretations of the Law, by reducing the word זהב to its numerical value, ז being seven, and ה and ב seven, and then multiplying seven by seven; the binding of Isaac, in verse 13, was obtained by rendering צרור המור by ערור המוריה the binding of Moriah; the sin of the calf, and the atonement of that, in verse 14, were obtained by changing עין גדי En-gedi, into עון עגל the sin of the calf, and by substituting כפר pardon, for כופר cypress-flower, according to the example of the Talmud.[40] This is the development of Hagadic exegesis, and this the paraphrase appealed to in support of the allegorical interpretation, and in the track of which future allegorists more or less follow.
892–942. From the Chaldee paraphrase to R. Saadias Gaon, a period of about 350 years, thick darkness covers the annals of Jewish literature. With him, however, a new epoch begins to dawn. Saadias was born at Pithom, in Egypt, about the year 892, and died in the year 942. He was “Gaon,” or spiritual head of [[35]]the Jews in Babylon, and is well known by his translation of the Bible into Arabic, the Pentateuch of which is inserted in Walton’s Polyglott.[41] Among the many philosophical and exegetical works this eminent man bequeathed to posterity, is a commentary on the Song of Songs, which was originally written in Arabic, and was translated into Hebrew by some unknown individual. This work is exceedingly rare, and I have happily found a copy of the original Constantinople edition in the British Museum, of which Dukes was not aware when he wrote his “Literarische Mittheilungen.” The view that Saadias takes is that “Solomon relates in it the history of the Jews, beginning with their Exodus from Egypt, and extending it beyond the coming of the Messiah.” Thus far he agrees with the Targum, but his commentary on the text is entirely at variance with that paraphrase.
According to Saadias, Ch. i. 2–iii. 5, describes the bondage of Israel in Egypt, their liberation, the giving of the Law, the battles with Sihon, Og, and the King of Aroar, the wrath of God at the time of the spies, &c. Ch. iii. 6–iv. 7, describes the erection of the Tabernacle, the various journeys in the wilderness, the high position of Moses and Aaron, &c. Hitherto Israel has been called by the appellation my loved one, for they had not as yet entered Canaan; henceforth they are called bride (כלה), because God takes them into the promised land; just as a bridegroom calls his loved one bride, when he takes her home. Ch. iv. 8–v. 1, describes Israel’s entrance into Canaan, the building of the first Temple, the separation of [[36]]Judah and Israel, the Shechinah departing from Israel and abiding with Judah, and the people coming up to Jerusalem to the three great festivals. Ch. v. 2–vi. 3, describes the rebellion of Israel and Ahaz, God sending prophets to warn them to repent, the destruction of the Temple, the Babylonian captivity, Israel’s liberation, the building of the second Temple, and the covenant of God with his repenting people. Ch. vi. 4–ix. describes the twofold condition of the people that returned from Babylon, some of whom were godly, while others took strange women, forgot the holy language, and were therefore called שחר dawn, being neither real light nor real darkness, neither pious nor wicked. Ch. vi. 10–vii. 9, refers to the present dispersion, in which the Jews, though being many days without a king, without a priest, &c., say we still live in the fear of God, and are His. Ch. vii. 12–viii. 4, refers to the sufferings of the Messiah ben Joseph, the manifestation of the Messiah ben David, the obedience of Israel to God in those days, and to the Lord’s rejoicing over them as a bridegroom over his bride. Ch. viii. 5, to the end, describes Israel restored, the third Temple built, and all the people walking according to the will of the Lord.
The principal persons in this Song are understood in the following manner: “the beloved” is the Lord; “the loved one,” the Congregation of Israel; “the companions of the beloved,” (Ch. i. 7,) are Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; “the daughters of Jerusalem,” the Congregation of Israel; “the little sister,” the two tribes and a half; “the speaker,” the Lord; “the inhabitant of the gardens,” is the sages; “the companions,” in the same verse, are the Israelites wishing to listen to the teaching of their sages.
The following is a specimen of R. Saadias’s commentary, the Hebrew of which is given in the note.[42]
[1]–3. The Song of Songs, &c.—Know, my brother, that you will find a great diversity of opinions as regards the interpretation of this Song of [[37]]Songs; and it must be confessed that there is reason for it, since the Song of Songs is like a lock, the key of which hath been lost. Some maintain that it refers to the kingdom of Israel; others say that it refers to the days of the Messiah; and others again affirm that it refers to the time of the dispersion and the Messiah, and assert that by beloved (דוד) the Messiah is meant, and by bride (כלה) is meant the law (תורה). But this is a sin, an error, and a great heresy. The truth is, that by beloved (דוד) is meant the Lord, for it is written, “I will sing to my beloved a song of love respecting his vineyard” (Isa. v. 1), which the prophet Isaiah explains (verse 7), “The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel.” Solomon relates in this book the history of the Jews commencing with their Exodus from Egypt until after the coming of the Messiah, and compares the position of Israel to God to that of a bride to a bridegroom, because she (Israel) is dear to him, and he to her. When he first takes her from her father’s house he calls her my friend (רעיתי), when he brings her to his house he calls her my bride (כלה), when she finds favour in his eyes he calls her my sister (אחותי), and praises her from head to foot; then he is angry with her, and she returns and praises him from head to foot; then he praises her a second time. And, because it is unlawful for a bridegroom and bride to come together without a marriage-contract and witnesses, therefore Solomon begins with the words, “Let him give me kisses of his mouth;” that is, the commandments and the statutes, comprising both the written and the oral law which the Lord gave to Israel through the pious Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, so that Israel’s fame went forth into the world in consequence of their wisdom, as it is written, “And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty,” &c. (Ezek. xvi. 14), so much so that many of the nations desired to be gathered under the wings of the shechinah and become Jews; and these are the mixed multitudes, Jethro and others, and therefore it is said, “Thy perfumes are good in odour,” that is, the Lord tried them from the departure out of Egypt till their entrance into Canaan whether they would walk in his ways, as it is written, “Thou didst follow me in the wilderness,” &c. Jer. ii. 2.
[4]. Draw me, &c.—Having related in this verse how Israel walked in the fear of the Lord, and received the ten commandments in the 6th of [[38]]Sivan, and then made the calf on the 17th of Tamuz, Solomon in astonishment says in their name,
[5]. I am swarthy, &c.—That is, I am swarthy, but comely; I am swarthy because of making the calf, but comely because of receiving the ten commandments; and Israel says that his sin has been forgiven through the three thousand men, the wicked among Israel, who served idols, who were killed before the sun to atone for the great sin, as it is written, “For thou hadst done it in secret, but I will do it before all Israel, and before the sun” (2 Sam. xii. 11, 12); and the nations made me keeper of the service of other gods, for I served strange gods, as it is written, “And they changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that eateth grass” (Psal. cv. 25.)
The reader will have observed that this early commentator does already compare the Song of Songs to a lock, the key of which has been lost, and refers to several modes in which it has been interpreted.
1000–1040. The allegorical interpretation was nevertheless introduced into the Jewish liturgical services in the middle ages, when they were seeking, from traditions, dogmas, biblical events, &c., to construct sacred hymns and poems to be said or sung at their feasts and fasts.[43] Being regarded as representing the departure of Israel from Egypt (יציאת מצרים), and their subsequent history in confirmation of Jehovah’s covenant with them, the Song of Songs is used in a poetical paraphrase on the first and second morning services of the Passover feast, which was designed to celebrate the Exodus from Egypt as the commencement of the conjugal relation between God and his people. For the same reason, the book itself is read in the synagogue on the Sabbath of the middle days of the Passover (חול המועד של פסח). The poetical paraphrase above alluded to is in an alphabetical form, has the author’s name in it, and each stanza closes with a quotation from the book in regular order, which renders the paraphrastic meaning artificial and obscure. Some idea of it may be gathered from the following version which we have made of R. Solomon [[39]]ben Judah Hababli’s paraphrase, comprising the first five verses of the Song of Songs.
1 The Light and Saviour of the chosen people