Targum: Song of Songs

This influential “translation” of the Song of Songs into Aramaic is thought to have been written in Palestine during the early Islamic period. It was composed in a mix of Eastern and Western Aramaic, and it includes some Latin, Persian, Greek, and Arabic words; the Arabic words may be later additions. Drawing on earlier midrashic material, the Targum systematically reads the events of the Song of Songs as a history of the relationship between God and Israel through three redemptions: the first by Moses from Egypt, the second by Cyrus from Babylonia, and the third from Edom by the Messiah. This excerpt interprets the opening words (Song of Songs 1:2–6) as an account of the revelation at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19–20) and Israel’s sin with the golden calf (Exodus 32). Shekhinah is a common Hebrew term for the divine presence. The italicized text is the Hebrew original.