Song of Solomon — Chapter 1

1 The song of songs, which is Solomon's.

2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

4 Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

5 I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

6 Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

7 Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?

8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.

9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh's chariots.

10 Thy cheeks are comely with rows of jewels, thy neck with chains of gold.

11 We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

12 While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof.

13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi.

15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.

16 Behold, thou art fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant: also our bed is green.

17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.

✦ Talmud

• Berakhot 57a teaches that Song of Songs, if one sees it in a dream, has the Shekhinah revealed to them — Song of Solomon 1:2 "let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine" is interpreted by Rabbi Akiva (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:1) as Israel's cry for direct divine revelation: the "kiss" is the transmission of Torah at Sinai, the most intimate possible divine-human contact, against which the Sitra Achra's seductions are mere counterfeits of wine.

• Shabbat 88b records that at Sinai the souls of Israel departed when they heard the divine voice (literally died from the intensity) — Song of Solomon 1:5 "I am dark but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon" is the Talmudic dual-identity of the soul in exile: dark (suffering under Sitra Achra dominion) yet beautiful (retaining divine image) — the beloved's self-description is the Tzaddik's identity card in hostile territory.

• Yoma 54b teaches that when the Ark was captured, the Cherubim of the Temple faced away from each other, but when Israel repented, they faced each other in embrace — Song of Solomon 1:13 "my beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh that lies between my breasts" is the Temple-of-the-body doctrine: the divine Presence dwells within the soul's chest-cavity, carried like precious spices through the dangerous streets of Sitra Achra territory.

• Sanhedrin 22b records that the divine Presence weeps over the exile of Israel — Song of Solomon 1:6 "do not stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has looked upon me; my mother's sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept" is the Talmudic exile-labor doctrine: the soul force-drafted into the Sitra Achra's vineyards (its economy, culture, and wars) has been prevented from cultivating its own sacred garden, and the beloved's plea is also the soul's warrant for the Messianic return.

• Avot 3:18 (Rabbi Akiva: "Beloved is Israel, for they were called children of God") parallels Song of Solomon 1:15 "behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves" — Rabbi Akiva's declaration of Israel's belovedness is the theological foundation of his famous statement that Song of Songs is "the holy of holies of all writings," a warfare declaration that the most intimate divine-human relationship is itself the most sacred strategic asset in the campaign against the Sitra Achra.

Song of Solomon — Chapter 1

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