Commentary for Song of Songs 2:3
כְּתַפּ֙וּחַ֙ בַּעֲצֵ֣י הַיַּ֔עַר כֵּ֥ן דּוֹדִ֖י בֵּ֣ין הַבָּנִ֑ים בְּצִלּוֹ֙ חִמַּ֣דְתִּי וְיָשַׁ֔בְתִּי וּפִרְי֖וֹ מָת֥וֹק לְחִכִּֽי׃
As an apple-tree among the trees of the wood, So is my beloved among the sons. Under its shadow I delighted to sit, And its fruit was sweet to my taste.
Rashi on Song of Songs
As an apple tree. When an apple tree is among trees that do not bear fruit, it is more precious than all of them, for its fruit is good both in taste and in fragrance.5Alternatively, Targum renders תפוח as an Esrog tree.
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Ezra ben Solomon on Song of Songs
In his shade is my delight: My existence is through His power and causal agency and for His very sake.
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Rashi on Song of Songs
So is my beloved among the sons. Among the young men. The allegory is: So is the Holy One, Blessed Is He, superior to all the gods. Therefore, “in His shade I delighted and sat.” The Midrash Aggadah [explains], this apple tree, all flee from it because it provides no shade; so did all the nations flee from the Holy One, Blessed Is He, at the giving of the Torah, but I,6Although the other nations fled, Bnei Yisroel perceived the eternal benefit of sitting in His shadow, by accepting the Torah. “in His shade I delighted and sat.”
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Ezra ben Solomon on Song of Songs
And his fruit is sweet to my mouth: The fruit of the Holy One, blessed be He, are the souls, as it is written: “From me comes your fruit” [Hosea 4:9]. Also “Light is sown for the righteous” [Ps. 97:11] and “Sweet is the light” [Eccles. 11:7].
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