Commentary for Song of Songs 4:8

With me [will you come] from Levanon O bride. When you are exiled from this Levanon [Beis Hamikdosh], with Me you will be exiled, for I will go into exile with you.

From Lebanon my bride with me: The Glory says (to the shekhinah): “You were with me among the profound essences,⁹⁷Ha-havayot ha-‘amukot, i.e., the uppermost sefirot. hidden within primordial Wisdom.”

With me from Levanon will you come. And when you return from the exile, I will return with you, and also throughout the exile, I will be distressed in your distress.⁵³See Yeshayahu 63:9. Therefore, [Scripture] wrote, “with me from Levanon will you come.” When you are exiled from this Levanon, you will come with Me, and [Scripture] does not write, “With me to Levanon will you come,” to denote that from the time of your departure from here until the time of your return, I am with you wherever you will go and come.

From Lebanon come with me: You came forth and were emanated with me from a single place.⁹⁸Following ms. mi-makom eḥad. Shekhinah’s origin is one with that of the Glory, in the most hidden sefirotic realms. The parable refers to the journeying of the shekhinah before the Israelite camp to seek out resting places, as it is written: “The Ark of the Covenant traveled in front of them on that three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them” [Num. 10:33].

You will look from the peak of Amanah. When I gather your dispersed ones, you will look and ponder what is the reward of your actions from the beginning of your faith [=מֵרֹאשׁ אֲמָנָה that you believed in Me, [e.g.,] your following Me in the wilderness,⁵⁴See Yirmiyahu 2:22. and your travels and your encampments at My command,⁵⁵See Bamidbar 9:17-23. and your coming to the peak of Snir and Chermon, which were the lions’ dens, Sichon and Og. Another explanation, “מֵרֹאשׁ אֲמָנָה” [=from the peak of Amanah], this is a mountain on the northern boundary of Eretz Yisroel, named Amanah. In the language of the Mishnah,⁵⁶Maseches Gittin 8a. [these are] the mountains of Amnon [or] Mount Hor, about which it is stated, “from the Great Sea you shall draw a line extending to Mount Hor.”⁵⁷Bamidbar 34:7. When the exiles gather and arrive there, they will look from there and see the boundary of Eretz Yisroel and the air of Eretz Yisroel, and they will rejoice and offer thanks. Therefore, it is stated, “תָּשׁוּרִי [=You will sing] from the peak of Amanah.”