Midrash su Ezechiele 16:61
וְזָכַ֣רְתְּ אֶת־דְּרָכַיִךְ֮ וְנִכְלַמְתְּ֒ בְּקַחְתֵּ֗ךְ אֶת־אֲחוֹתַ֙יִךְ֙ הַגְּדֹל֣וֹת מִמֵּ֔ךְ אֶל־הַקְּטַנּ֖וֹת מִמֵּ֑ךְ וְנָתַתִּ֨י אֶתְהֶ֥ן לָ֛ךְ לְבָנ֖וֹת וְלֹ֥א מִבְּרִיתֵֽךְ׃
Allora ricorderai le tue vie e vergognerai quando riceverai le tue sorelle, le tue sorelle maggiori e la tua più giovane; e te li darò per le figlie, ma non per la tua alleanza.
Midrash Tanchuma Buber
(Deut. 2:3:) YOU HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF GOING ABOUT THIS HILL COUNTRY. This text is related (to Cant. 2:7): I ADJURE YOU, O DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM <BY GAZELLES OR BY HINDS OF THE FIELD>. R. Levi said: I ADJURE YOU is written four times (in Cant. 2:7; 3:5; 5:8; and 8:4). And why? <The usage> corresponds to four empires, against none of which they should revolt.9See Cant. R. 2:7:1; cf. above 4. R. Helbo said: <The usage> corresponds to four things <they should not do>: They should not force the end; when they come up from exile, they should not come home in huge mobs; they should not revolt against the empire; and they should not reveal their mysteries10Gk.: mysterion. (i.e., Oral Torah). And for that reason <Solomon> adjured them four times. [(Cant. 2:7, cont.:) O DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM.] What is the meaning of O DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM? <Solomon> calls the nations DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM. R. Johanan said: The Holy One is going to make Jerusalem a metropolis11Gk.: metropolis. for the whole world, since it is stated (in Ezek. 16:61): AND I WILL GIVE THEM TO YOU AS DAUGHTERS, THOUGH THEY ARE NOT OF YOUR COVENANT.12Cant. R. 1:5:3; Exod. R. 23:10. What is the meaning of THOUGH THEY ARE NOT OF YOUR COVENANT? Though <such a one> is neither of your mother's dowry, nor of your father's trade13Gk.: pragmateia.; nor is it that you have kinship with such a one. What is the meaning of DAUGHTERS? <It is used> as (in Josh. 15:45): EKRON ALONG WITH ITS DAUGHTERS {as it were} AND COURTS (i.e., with its suburbs). So for that reason <Solomon> calls them DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM. (Cant. 2:7, cont.:) BY GAZELLES. What is the meaning of BY GAZELLES (TsB'WT)? By a heavenly host(TsB'). Another interpretation: By your circumcision, which is his desire (TsBYWN, i.e., gazelle [TsBYH]). Another interpretation: By the fathers, the mothers, and the tribes, which are likened to a deer. (Cant. 2:7, cont.:) OR BY HINDS OF THE FIELD. These are the tribes, which were likened to a hind where it is stated (in Gen. 49:21): NAPHTALI IS A HIND LET LOOSE.
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Shir HaShirim Rabbah
“Daughters of Jerusalem,” the Rabbis say: Do not read it as “daughters of [benot] Jerusalem, but rather, builders of [bonot] Jerusalem. This is the Great Sanhedrin of Israel, which convenes and instructs them with regard to every question and judgment.
Another matter, “daughters of [benot] Jerusalem,” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Jerusalem is destined to become a metropolis for all countries, and to draw [people] to it in streams, for its glory, as it is stated: “Ashdod, its towns, [benoteha] and its surrounding areas; Gaza, its towns, and its surrounding areas up to”192The word Lasha does not appear in the verse and its inclusion in the text of the midrash appears to be an error (Etz Yosef). (Joshua 15:47). This is the opinion of Rabbi Yoḥanan, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: It is written: “I will give them to you as daughters [levanot] and not due to your covenant” (Ezekiel 16:61). What is “levanot”? Towns. What is “not due to your covenant”? It is not due to your contract, but rather due to My contract.193It is not because you have kept all of the responsibilities incumbent upon you due to our covenant; it is rather a gift from Me. Alternatively, the nations who will come to show honor to Jerusalem are not just the ten nations promised to Abraham in the Covenant of the Pieces, but rather are additional nations (Etz Yosef). Rabbi Beivai said in the name of Rabbi Reuven: “Sing, barren one, [who did not bear]” (Isaiah 54:1). What song is there for barrenness? Rather, “sing, barren one,” who did not bear children for Gehenna.
Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: Israel was likened to a female, just as a female takes one-tenth of the property from her father and leaves, so, too, Israel inherited the land of the seven nations, which is one-tenth of the seventy nations. Because they inherited like a female, they sang songs in the feminine, as it is stated: “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song [hashira hazot]194These terms are in the feminine form. to the Lord” (Exodus 15:1). But, in the future, they are destined to inherit like a male, who inherits all his father’s property; that is what is written: “From the eastern side to the western side, Judah, one portion” (Ezekiel 48:7). “Dan one portion…Asher one portion” (Ezekiel 48:1–2), and all of them so, and they speak in the masculine, as it is stated: “Sing to the Lord a new song [shir ḥadash]” (Psalms 96:1); shira ḥadasha is not written, but rather shir ḥadash.
Rabbi Berekhya and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi [said]: Why was Israel likened to a female? Just as a female loads and unloads,195This means that she becomes pregnant and gives birth. loads and unloads, and then unloads and does not load again, so, too, Israel is enslaved and redeemed, enslaved and redeemed, and is then redeemed and is never enslaved again. In this world, because their trouble is like the trouble of a female who gives birth,196Their redemption is not permanent. they sing songs in the feminine; however, in the World to Come, where their trouble is not like the trouble of one who gives birth, they sing songs in the masculine. That is what is written: “On that day this song [hashir] will be sung” (Isaiah 26:1).
Another matter, “daughters of [benot] Jerusalem,” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Jerusalem is destined to become a metropolis for all countries, and to draw [people] to it in streams, for its glory, as it is stated: “Ashdod, its towns, [benoteha] and its surrounding areas; Gaza, its towns, and its surrounding areas up to
Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: Israel was likened to a female, just as a female takes one-tenth of the property from her father and leaves, so, too, Israel inherited the land of the seven nations, which is one-tenth of the seventy nations. Because they inherited like a female, they sang songs in the feminine, as it is stated: “Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song [hashira hazot]194These terms are in the feminine form. to the Lord” (Exodus 15:1). But, in the future, they are destined to inherit like a male, who inherits all his father’s property; that is what is written: “From the eastern side to the western side, Judah, one portion” (Ezekiel 48:7). “Dan one portion…Asher one portion” (Ezekiel 48:1–2), and all of them so, and they speak in the masculine, as it is stated: “Sing to the Lord a new song [shir ḥadash]” (Psalms 96:1); shira ḥadasha is not written, but rather shir ḥadash.
Rabbi Berekhya and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi [said]: Why was Israel likened to a female? Just as a female loads and unloads,195This means that she becomes pregnant and gives birth. loads and unloads, and then unloads and does not load again, so, too, Israel is enslaved and redeemed, enslaved and redeemed, and is then redeemed and is never enslaved again. In this world, because their trouble is like the trouble of a female who gives birth,196Their redemption is not permanent. they sing songs in the feminine; however, in the World to Come, where their trouble is not like the trouble of one who gives birth, they sing songs in the masculine. That is what is written: “On that day this song [hashir] will be sung” (Isaiah 26:1).
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