Song of Solomon 5

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Song of Solomon 5

1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.

2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.

3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?

4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.

5 I rose up to open to my beloved; and my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.

6 I opened to my beloved; but my beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me.

8 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.

9 What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? what is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou dost so charge us?

10 My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.

11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

12 His eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set.

13 His cheeks are as a bed of spices, as sweet flowers: his lips like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh.

14 His hands are as gold rings set with the beryl: his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.

15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold: his countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

16 His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

<html>I have come to my garden. In the days of the dedication of the Beis Hamikdosh. I have gathered. I gathered, and it is a term of the Mishnah, “as much space [as is required by] a gatherer אוֹרֶה and his basket.”¹Mishnayos Shvi’is 1:2. The term אורה there refers to the harvest of figs. (Sifsei Chachomim) It is also a term found in Scripture, “and all wayfarers have plucked וְאָרוּהָ its fruit.”²Tehillim 80:13. And this was stated in regard to the incense, which they burned as an individual incense offering—the tribal princes on the outside altar and it was accepted.³This incense offering was unusual in two ways. First, because it was an individual offering instead of a communal one; and because it was burned on the outer altar instead of the inner [golden] altar. This is something that does not apply to later generations. Because of this, it is stated, “I have eaten my sugar cane with my sugar.” There is honey that grows in canes, as it is stated, “into the sugar of the יַעְרַת canes ,”⁴I Shmuel 14:27. and “יַעְרַת” is a term referring to a cane, as in, “and she placed [it] among the reeds בַּסוּף,”⁵Shemos 2:3. [which Targum renders] “and she placed it in the reeds בְּיַעֲרָא.” And the sugar is sucked out and the wood is discarded. But I, out of great love, “ate my sugar cane with my sugar,” I ate the cane with the sugar, the inedible with the edible, [signifying] the freewill incense offering,⁶The incense offering is symbolized by ‘myrrh,’ because it is one of its most important ingredients. and likewise, the he-goats sin-offering that the tribal princes sacrificed, although a sin-offering is not brought as a freewill sacrifice, but I accepted them on that day. I have drunk my wine. These are the libations. With my milk. They were sweeter and clearer than milk.⁷Alternatively, חלבי, means my fat, referring to the fat portions of the peace offerings. Eat [my] friends. Aharon and his sons, in the Tent of Meeting, and all the kohanim, in the eternal Temple. Drink and become intoxicated [my] beloved ones. These are the Israelites⁸It does not refer to the kohanim because they are forbidden to drink wine or any intoxicating beverage before performing the divine service. who ate the flesh of the peace offerings that they sacrificed for the dedication of the altar. </html>

Verse 2

<html>I slept. When I was confident and calm in the first Beis Hamikdosh, I despaired of worshiping the Holy One, Blessed Is He, as one who slumbers and falls fast asleep. But my heart was awake. This is the Holy One, Blessed Is He. This is expounded in the Pesikta.⁹Alternatively, ולבי ער, refers to the prophets and the sages who were constantly exhorting and rousing the Bnei Yisroel to rise from their spiritual sluggishness. (Sforno) But my heart was awake. The Holy One, Blessed Is He, Who is, “the Rock of my heart and my portion,”¹⁰Tehillim 73:26. is awake to guard me and to benefit me. A sound! My beloved knocks. He rests His Divine Presence upon the prophets and He warns through them by, “rising early and sending forth.”¹¹Yirmiyahum 7:25. Open for me. Do not cause Me to depart from you. For my head is drenched [as though] with dew. A term referring to a man who comes at night, knocking on the door of his beloved. He says thus, “Out of love for you, I have come at night at the time of dew or rain.” And the allegory is as follows: “For my head is drenched [as though] with dew,” because I am full of good will and satisfaction with Avrohom your forefather,¹²ראשי alludes to Avrohom who was first [=ראש] to believe in God. (Sifsei Chachomim) whose deeds were pleasing to Me as dew. And behold, I come to you, laden with blessings and the payment of reward for good deeds if you return to Me. My sidelocks drip with the rains of the night. In My hands there are also many categories¹³Rendering קוצותי as קבוצותי [=collections]. of types of retribution, to punish those who forsake Me and anger Me. “Dew” is a term indicating pleasure. Rains of the night. The rains of the night, which cause hardship and weariness. רְסִיסֵי is the Targum of רביבים [=drops], “and like raindrops וְכִרְבִיבִים upon blades of grass,”¹⁴Devarim 32:2. [is rendered as,] “and the late rains וכרסיסי.” קְוֻצּוֹת [=locks] are clumps of hair of the head stuck together, called flocels in O.F. And because Scripture adopted an expression of dew and rain, it adopted an expression of head and sidelocks, for it is ususal for dew and rain to stick to the hair and sidelocks. It is also possible to interpret both “dew” and “rains of the night,” both denoting good, [i.e.,] the reward for minor precepts that are easy to perform as “dew,” and the reward for major precepts that are difficult [to perform], as the hardship of the “rains of the night.” </html>

Verse 3

<html>I have removed my robe. I.e., I have already accustomed myself to other ways;¹⁵According to Metzudas Dovid, it refers to the exiles living in Bavel who became accustomed to life there and were not interested in returning to Eretz Yisroel. I can no longer return to You, as the matter is stated, “But ever since we stopped burning incense to the ruling queen of the heavens, etc.,”¹⁶Yirmiyahu 44:18. for these ways were proper in their eyes. The expression, “I have removed my robe … I have washed my feet,” is the language of the reply of an adulterous wife, who does not want to open the door for her husband. And since the verse began with the expression, “I slept…a sound! My beloved knocks,” it concludes with an expression of a reply that is apropos to the expression of knocking on the door at the time of retiring to sleep at night. </html>

Verse 4

<html>My beloved sent forth his hand from the portal. Which is beside the door; and I saw his hand, and the stirring of my insides swayed me to return to his love and to open [the door] for him. </html>

Verse 5

<html>I arose to open for my beloved and my hands dripped myrrh. I.e., wholeheartedly and with a desiring soul, as one who adorns herself to endear herself to her husband with a pleasant scent. Flowed with myrrh. A fragrance that flows and spreads in all directions.</html>

Verse 6

<html>But my beloved had vanished and gone. He was hidden and concealed from me, as in, “the roundness of your flanks,”¹⁷Below 7:2. i.e., the hidden places חַמּוּקֵי of your thighs, because the thigh is hidden. [And as in,] “Until when will you hide תִּתְחַמָּקִין,”¹⁸Yirmiyahu 31:21. [i.e.,] will you hide and cover yourself because of the shame that you betrayed Me? My soul departed as he spoke. For he said, “I will not come into your house because at first you did not wish to open [the door].” </html>

Verse 7

<html>I sought him, etc. The watchmen found me, those who go about the city. And apprehend thieves who prowl at night. They struck me they wounded me. They inflicted a wound upon me.¹⁹I.e., by striking me they inflicted a wound. Alternatively, the double expression [struck, wounded] represents the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdosh and the second Beis Hamikdosh. Every “פֶּצַע” denotes a wound [inflicted] by a weapon,²⁰Rashi in Shemos 25:21 defines “פצע” as “a wound that draws blood.” navredure in O.F. My ornament. My jewelry that was hammered and beaten out, upon me. The entire episode is an expression [using the terms] of the wife of one’s youth who grieves for the husband of her youth and searches for him. The following is the allegorical meaning: My beloved sent forth his hand from the portal. When I said, “I have washed my feet,”²¹Above Verse 3. and I will not open for You, and I will not repent of the idolatry that I have chosen. Sent forth his hand. And He demonstrated His vengeance in the days of Achaz, and He brought upon him the king of Aram’s army. [It states,] “and they smote him and captured from him a great captivity, etc. And Pekach the son of Remalyah slew in Yehudah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day.”²²II Divrei Hayomim 28:5-6. And my innards longed for him. Chizkiyahu, his son, came and repented with all his heart to seek the Holy One, Blessed Is He, and his entire generation was wholehearted; there never arose a generation like them in Yisroel, as is explained in “Cheilek,” “They searched from Dan to Be’ersheva and did not find an ignoramus, from Gabas to Antochya, and did not find a man or a woman who was not proficient in the laws of ritual contamination and purity.”²³Maseches Sanhedrin 94b. The eleventh chapter in entitled “Cheilek.” This is [the meaning of], “my hands dripped myrrh, etc.” Also, regarding Yoshiyahu it is stated, “Before him there had never been a king like him, etc.,”²⁴II Melochim 23:25. Because he saw the punishment which had come upon Menashe and upon Ammon, thereby fulfilling [the words], “he sent forth his hand from the portal, and my innards longed for him.” I opened for my beloved but my beloved had vanished and gone. He did not annul His decree, as it is stated about Chizkiyahu, “Behold, days are coming when everything in your palace will be carried off, etc. … [some] of your sons … whom you will beget.”²⁵Yeshayahu 39:6-7. These are Doniyeil, Chananyah, Misha’eil, and Azaryah, and also concerning Yoshiyahu, through Chuldah the prophetess [it states], “Behold, I am bringing calamity upon this place and upon its inhabitants, etc.”²⁶II Melochim 22:16. And it states, “Before him there had never been a king like him… Nevertheless, God did not relent from His great wrath, for His wrath burned against Yehudah, because of all the provocation with which Menashe had provoked Him. And Adonoy said, ‘I will remove Yehudah, too, from My Presence as I have removed Yisroel, and I will reject this city.’”²⁷Ibid. 23:25-27. My soul departed as he spoke. It left me when He spoke of this matter.²⁸Alternatively, my soul departed as a result of my intense prayers by which I sought to annul these harsh decrees. I sought him but could not find him. Now if you should ask, “Was not Yirmiyahu standing and prophesying during the days of Yehoyakim and Tzidkiyahu,²⁹See Yirmiyahu 3:14, 22. [And similarly Malachi said,] ‘Return to Me, and I will return to you’³⁰Malachi 3:7. This indicates that their sincere repentance would completely have annulled the decree. Therefore, Rashi explains that repentance would “not nullify the decree entirely, but to lighten, etc.” ”? [This was] not to nullify the decree, but to lighten the punishment and to prepare their kingdom upon their return from the exile, to plant them without uprooting and to build them without demolishing. The watchmen found me. Nevuchadnetzar and his armies. Those who go about the city. To wreak the vengeance of the Omnipresent. They stripped my ornament. The Beis Hamikdosh. [Even] the guards of the walls. Even the ministering angels, who were guarding its walls, as the matter is stated: “On your walls, O Yerusholayim [I posted guards], etc.”³¹Yeshayahu 62:6. They ignited the fire upon it, as the matter is stated, “From above He has hurled fire, etc.”³²Eichah 1:13. </html>

Verse 8

<html>I bind you under oath. The nations, Nevuchadnetzar’s men, who saw Chananyah, Misha’eil, and Azaryah submit themselves to the fiery furnace,³³See Daniyeil 3:20-23. and Doniyeil to the lions’ den³⁴See Ibid. 6:17-18. because of prayer, and Mordechai’s generation in the days of Haman. When you find my beloved. In the future, on the Day of Judgement, when it will be requested of you to testify about me, as the matter is stated, “Let them present their witnesses, and they will be vindicated.”³⁵Yeshayahu 43:9. See Maseches Avodah Zarah 3a. What will you tell him. You will testify on my behalf that because of love for Him, I suffered harsh afflictions among you. Let Nevuchadnetzar come and testify, let Eliphaz and Tzophar and all the prophets of the nations come and testify about me that I fulfilled the Torah. </html>

Verse 9

<html>With what does your beloved excel another beloved. This is what the nations were asking Yisroel, “What is it about your God more than all the other gods, that you allow yourselves to be burned and hanged because of Him?”³⁶I.e., why are you so loyal to a God Who has forsaken you? (Metzudas Dovid) That you bind us under oath. To testify before Him about your love.</html>

Verse 10

<html>My beloved is pure white. White, as in, “they were whiter צַחוּ than milk.”³⁷Eichah 4:1. And ruddy. I will first explain the entire section according to its simple meaning, as the praise of the handsomeness of a young man, when he is white and his face is ruddy. Surrounded by myriads. He is surrounded by many armies; His armies are many. Many myriads are called ‘רְבָבָה’, as it is stated, “Myriads רְבָבָה like the vegetation of the field have I made you.”³⁸Yechezkeil 16:7. </html>

Verse 11

<html>His head. Shines like the finest gold. ‘כֶּתֶם’³⁹‘ם‘ת‘כ is an acronym representing the three crowns: תורה [=Torah], כהונה [=priesthood], and מלכות [=kingship], mentioned in Avos 4:13. (Gra) is a term referring to the treasures of kings which they store in their treasure houses, and similarly, “the finest gold כֶּתֶם has changed,”⁴⁰Eichah 4:1. and similarly, “and fine gold וְלַכֶּתֶם I called my security,”⁴¹Iyov 31:24. and similarly, “and an ornament of fine gold כֶּתֶם.”⁴²Mishlei 25:12. His locks hang. תַּלְתַּלִּים is] is an expression of hanging תְּלוּיִים, pendelojes in O.F. They are raven-black. All these are handsomeness for a young man.</html>

Verse 12

<html>His eyes are like doves upon brooks of water. His eyes by brooks of water are as beautiful as doves’ eyes. Brooks of water are pleasant to behold, and the young men go there to swim. And so the poet praises the eyes of “my beloved,” when he gazes upon the brooks of water, they resemble the beauty of the eyes of doves. Bathed. [I.e.,] the eyes of my beloved in milk. Well set in their fullness. All this is an expression of beauty. They neither protrude excessively nor are they sunken, but they are well set מִלֵּאת in their socket. (Other editions: the eye according to the socket.) The literal meaning parallels the allegorical meaning. It מִלֵּאת is a term used for anything made to fill a socket which is made for it as a setting, as in, “stones for setting מִלֻּאִים,”⁴³Shemos 25:7. [and as in,] “And you shall set וּמִלֵּאתָ into it settings מִלֻּאַת of stone.”⁴⁴Ibid. 28:17. </html>

Verse 13

<html>His cheeks are like a bed of spice. Wherein those beds are growths of perfume. Like towers of perfumes. Aromatic plants, growths מִגְדָּלוֹת of spices מֶרְקָחִים. which are compounded with the art of an apothecary.⁴⁵And processed into perfume. </html>

Verse 14

<html>Rolls of gold. Like gold wheels. Studded with precious gems. Every term referring to the setting of a precious stone in gold is called מִלֵּאת [=setting]. Sparkle. An expression as in, “They became fat; they became thick עָשְׁתוּ.”⁴⁶Yirmiyahu 5:28. A thick mass is called עֶשֶׁת,⁴⁷Alternatively, עשת means sparkle or radiate, as in, “shining [עשות] iron,” in Yechezkeil 27:19. (Metzudas Tzion) masiz in O.F. Ivory. From an elephant’s tusks. Overlaid with sapphires. Adorned and decorated with sapphires, an expression [as in], “וַתִּתְעַלָּף,”⁴⁸Bereishis 38:14. which the Targum renders, “and she adorned herself.” </html>

Verse 15

<html>His legs. Are like pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold. Pillars of marble. Pillars of marble שַׁיִשׁ=שֵׁשׁ, and a similar word appears in Megillas Esther, “upon silver rods and marble שֵׁשׁ columns.”⁴⁹Esther 1:6. His appearance is as tall as the cedars of the Levanon. Chosen like the cedars. Chosen among the sons as the cedar among the other trees.</html>

Verse 16

<html>[The words of] his palate are sweet. His words are pleasant. This is my beloved. This is the likeness of my beloved, and this is the likeness of my friend, and because of all these [attributes] I have become sick for his love. The allegorical meaning, regarding the Holy One, Blessed Is He, is as follows: My beloved is pure white. And white, [anxious] to whiten my iniquities. [He is] clear and white, when He appeared at Sinai, He appeared as an old man, teaching instructions, and similarly, when He sits in judgment, “His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like clean wool.”⁵⁰Doniyeil 7:9. And ruddy. To exact punishment from His enemies, as the matter is stated, “Why is Your clothing red?”⁵¹Yeshayahu 63:2. Surrounded by myriads. Many armies⁵²I.e., angels, as it is written “a thousand thousands served Him, and myriad myriads stood before Him,” in Daniyeil 7:10. (Metzudas Dovid) surround Him. His head is [like] finest gold. The beginning of His words shone like finest gold, and similarly it says, “The introduction of Your words illuminates.”⁵³Tehillim 119:130. He began, “I am Adonoy your God.”⁵⁴Shemos 20:2. He showed them first that He has the right of sovereignty over them, and He then issued His decrees upon them. His locks hang. Upon every point [=קוֹץ are heaps [=תִּלִּים and heaps of laws.⁵⁵See Maseches Eruvin 21b. They are raven-black. Because it [the Torah] was written before Him in black fire on white fire.⁵⁶See Rashi Devarim 33:2. Another explanation, “His locks hang,” when He appeared on the sea, He appeared like a young man mightily waging war. His eyes are like doves upon brooks of water. Like doves, whose eyes gaze toward their windows, so His eyes [gaze] upon the synagogues and study halls, for over there are the sources of Torah, which is compared to water.⁵⁷See Maseches Bava Kama 17a. Bathed in milk. When they look into the judgment, they clarify the law truthfully, to justify the just, to give him what he deserves, and to condemn the guilty, to repay his [evil] way upon his head. Well set in their fullness. In the fullness of the world. They wander over the entire earth,⁵⁸See Zecharyah 4:10. gazing upon the good and the evil.⁵⁹See Mishlei 15:3. Another explanation, עֵינָיו symbolizes] Torah scholars,⁶⁰See Rashi in Maseches Ta’anis 24a. whom the Holy One, Blessed Is He, designates as eyes to enlighten the world, just as the eyes enlighten man. “Like doves” that wander from dovecote to dovecote to seek their food, so do they [Torah scholars] go from the study hall of one sage to the study hall of another sage, to seek out explanations of Torah. Upon brooks of water. Upon study halls, which are the sources of the water of Torah. Bathed in milk. Since he calls them [Torah scholars] eyes, and the eye is a feminine noun, “bathed” רוֹחֲצוֹת is in the feminine conjugation. They cleanse themselves with the milk of Torah and whiten⁶¹I.e., clarify. its secrets and mysteries. Well set in their fullness. They resolve the matters appropriately. Another explanation, “His eyes,” [means] “its contents” עִנְיָנָיו=עֵינָיו; the sections of the Torah, the laws, and Mishnayos, are “like doves” which are beautiful in their walk, “upon brooks of water,” [i.e.,] in the study halls, “bathed in milk,” they are made clear as milk, as I have explained. His cheeks. The commandments at Mount Sinai, where He showed them a friendly and smiling demeanor. His lips are like roses. The commandments that He spoke in the Tent of Meeting, which were for appeasement and for atonement and for a pleasant fragrance; [these are] the law of the sin offering, the guilt offering, the meal offering,⁶²Alternatively, “his lips” represent His prophets who spread His word like the fragrance of spices. (Metzudas Dovid) the burnt offering, and the peace offering. His hands. The Tablets, which He gave with His right hand, and are His handiwork.⁶³See Shemos 32:16. The Tablets are symbolized by hands, each one with five fingers, corresponding to the five commandments on each Tablet. (Melo Haomer) Rolls of gold. These are the commandments, about which it is said, “They are more desirable than gold, than even much fine gold.”⁶⁴Tehillim 19:11. Rabbi Yehoshua the son of Nechemyah said, “They [i.e., the Tablets] were made miraculously; they were of sapphire, yet they were rolled גְּלִילֵי.” Another explanation [of ‘גְּלִילֵי’], because they [i.e., the Tablets] bring about מְגַלְגְּלוֹת much good to the world. Studded with precious gems. For He included in the Ten Commandments the six hundred and thirteen commandments.⁶⁵See Rashi in Shemos 24:12. There he quotes Rav Sa’adia Gaon’s Sefer Hamitzvos wherein he connects the 613 mitzvos to the Ten Commandments. His innards sparkle like ivory. This is [Chumash] Vayikra which was placed in the center of the five books [i.e., the Pentateuch], like the intestines, which are set in the center of the body. Sparkle like ivory overlaid with sapphires. It [Chumash Vayikra] appears as smooth as a block of ivory, and is arranged with many details, [e.g.] similar wordings, general principles, and inferences drawn from minor premises to major ones. Set in sockets of fine gold. Rabbi Elazar Hakapar said, “This pillar has a capital above and a base below.” Rabbi Shmuel the son of Gada said, “The sections of the Torah have a capital above and a base below, and they are connected [to the sections] preceding them and [to the sections] after them, e.g., the sections of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee are [connected to] ‘And if you sell something,’⁶⁶Vayikra 25:14. to inform you how severe a minor infraction of the Sabbatical year is,”⁶⁷If one does business with produce during the Sabbatical year, he will eventually be forced to sell all his property. as it appears in Tractates Sukkah⁶⁸40b. and Arachin.⁶⁹30b. Also, for example [the section], “May Adonoy … appoint a man over the assembly,”⁷⁰Bamidbar 27:16. is [connected to] “Command…My offering, My food.”⁷¹Ibid. 28:2. Before you command Me about My children,⁷²To appoint a leader over the congregation of Yisroel. command them about Me [i.e., My offering], and similarly, there are many. Therefore, it is stated, ‘His legs are like pillars of marble set in, etc.’” His appearance is like Levanon. Whoever reflects and ponders over His words finds in them blossoms and sprouts, like a blooming forest. So are the words of Torah, whoever meditates over them constantly discovers new explanations in them. Chosen. Selected, like the cedars, which are chosen for building and for strength and for height.⁷³Alternatively, referring to Bnei Yisroel, who became His “chosen” people at Mount Sinai when He gave us the Torah, as Scripture states in Shemos 19:5-6. [The words of] his palate are sweet. His words are pleasant, [as in,] “And an incision for the dead you shall not make in your flesh … I am Adonoy,”⁷⁴Vayikra 19:28. faithful to pay reward. Is there a palate sweeter than this? Do not wound yourselves, and you will receive reward. [In addition,] “And when a wicked man repents from his wickedness and performs justice and righteousness, he shall live because of them.”⁷⁵Yechezkeil 33:19. Iniquities are accounted to him as merits [after he repents]. Is there a palate sweeter than this?</html>

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Table of Contents

Song of Solomon 5

Song of Solomon 5

Notes

Cross Reference

Concordance

Commentary

Rashi

Verse 1

Verse 2

Verse 3

Verse 4

Verse 5

Verse 6

Verse 7

Verse 8

Verse 9

Verse 10

Verse 11

Verse 12

Verse 13

Verse 14

Verse 15

Verse 16