Guide
What Is Song of Songs Rabbah?
5th–8th Century
Restricted
With its final redaction sometime between the sixth and eighth centuries CE, Song of Songs Rabbah provides a verse-by-verse exegetical commentary on the biblical Song of Songs, a book of love poetry. The midrash tempers the explicit sexual references of the biblical text, allegorizing it to reflect the relationship between God and the people of Israel. Song of Songs Rabbah is composed primarily in mishnaic Hebrew interspersed with western Aramaic and Greek loanwords and reflects a largely Palestinian perspective.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
Fire and Revelation in Song of Songs Rabbah
Song of Songs Rabbah 1:10:2
In Song of Songs Rabbah 1:10, Ben Azai’s study burns with divine fire, revealing how rabbinic interpretation could reenact revelation through Torah itself.
Primary Source
The Utility of a Parable
Song of Songs Rabbah 1:1
The rabbis say: Do not make light of the mashal [parable or illustrative fable]. For with the aid of a parable, one can understand the words of Torah. It is comparable to a king who lost a golden coin…
Primary Source
A King Who Wants to Marry a Noblewoman
Song of Songs Rabbah 1:14
To a king who wanted to marry a noblewoman of high birth. He sent a messenger to her, who spoke to her. She said, “I am not worthy to be his maidservant, but I want to hear it from his mouth.” When…
Primary Source
Song of Songs Rabbah
Song of Songs Rabbah 1–2 (selections)
1:1:8. Another explanation: The song of songs, that is what [is meant when] Scripture says: Moreover [ve-yoter], Kohelet was wise (Ecclesiastes 12:9). Had another person composed them, you would have…
Related Guide
Amoraic Midrash
2nd–9th Centuries