וְאֵ֛לֶּה דִּבְרֵ֥י דָוִ֖ד הָאַֽחֲרֹנִ֑ים נְאֻ֧ם דָּוִ֣ד בֶּן־יִשַׁ֗י וּנְאֻ֤ם הַגֶּ֙בֶר֙ הֻ֣קַם עָ֔ל מְשִׁ֙יחַ֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב וּנְעִ֖ים זְמִר֥וֹת יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
이는 다윗의 마지막 말이라 이새의 아들 다윗이 말함이여 높이 올리운 자, 야곱의 하나님에게 기름 부음 받은자 이스라엘의 노래 잘하는 자가 말하도다
Shir HaShirim Rabbah
“Behind [mibaad] your braid” – Rabbi Levi said: Any bride whose eyes are ugly, her entire body requires examination. One whose eyes are beautiful, her entire body does not require examination. When a woman braids her hair behind her, it is an ornament for her. So was the Great Sanhedrin, which convened behind the Temple, and it was an ornament of the Temple. Rabbi Abbahu said: They appeared crowded, but it was spacious for them, as in the great colloquium in Tzippori. Rabbi Levi said: [The word mibaad] is Arabic. When he wants to say: Make room for me, he says: Maved li.
“Your hair is like a flock of goats that streams down [shegaleshu] from Mount Gilad” – the mountain from whose midst I directed away streams [shegalashti], I rendered a memorial [galed] for the nations of the world. Which is that? It is the Red Sea.10This is a reference to the splitting of the sea. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: The mountain from whose midst you streamed. When a woman’s hair grows too much, she thins it [galshin]. When the flame in a lamp burns too bright, one thins [the wick].11These statements are cited in order to demonstrate that the root gimmel-lamed-shin means to thin out or strip away.
What is it that I took away [higlashti] from its midst? “Your teeth are like a flock of ordered [ketzuvot] ewes” – defined [ketzuvin] matters, the plunder of Egypt and the plunder of the sea. “That have come up from bathing” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Ilai: Before the song [of Deborah], it is written: “The children of Israel continued to do what was evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 3:12). After the song it is written: “The children of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 6:1). Was this the beginning of their action?12Earlier it says they continued to do what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, indicating that they had already been doing so previously. But after the song it does not say they continued, rather only that they did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, implying that this was the beginning of their evil behavior. It is because the song had already atoned for the past. On a similar note it says: “These are David’s last words” (II Samuel 23:1). The first ones, where are they? Rather, the song13The song of David (II Samuel chap. 22). atoned for the past.
“That are all paired [matimot]” – as they are all in the middle [metuamim] between the Divine Spirit and the angel. That is what is written: “The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved [and went behind them]” (Exodus 14:19). “And there is none missing among them” – that not one of them was harmed.
“Your hair is like a flock of goats that streams down [shegaleshu] from Mount Gilad” – the mountain from whose midst I directed away streams [shegalashti], I rendered a memorial [galed] for the nations of the world. Which is that? It is the Red Sea.10This is a reference to the splitting of the sea. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: The mountain from whose midst you streamed. When a woman’s hair grows too much, she thins it [galshin]. When the flame in a lamp burns too bright, one thins [the wick].11These statements are cited in order to demonstrate that the root gimmel-lamed-shin means to thin out or strip away.
What is it that I took away [higlashti] from its midst? “Your teeth are like a flock of ordered [ketzuvot] ewes” – defined [ketzuvin] matters, the plunder of Egypt and the plunder of the sea. “That have come up from bathing” – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Ilai: Before the song [of Deborah], it is written: “The children of Israel continued to do what was evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 3:12). After the song it is written: “The children of Israel did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 6:1). Was this the beginning of their action?12Earlier it says they continued to do what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, indicating that they had already been doing so previously. But after the song it does not say they continued, rather only that they did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, implying that this was the beginning of their evil behavior. It is because the song had already atoned for the past. On a similar note it says: “These are David’s last words” (II Samuel 23:1). The first ones, where are they? Rather, the song13The song of David (II Samuel chap. 22). atoned for the past.
“That are all paired [matimot]” – as they are all in the middle [metuamim] between the Divine Spirit and the angel. That is what is written: “The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved [and went behind them]” (Exodus 14:19). “And there is none missing among them” – that not one of them was harmed.
Midrash Tehillim
Another interpretation of “Blessed is the person” (Psalms 1:1). Rabbi Nachman began [his teaching, with the verse:] “Wisdom gives more strength to the wise than ten mighty governors [in a city]” (Ecclesiastes 7:19). These are the ten people, by way of whom the psalms were said: Adam, Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Asaf, and the three children of Korah. About those [ten] there is no dispute. About whom is there a dispute? Rav and Rabbi Yochanan said that Yedutan [who is mentioned in Psalms 39:1, 62:1 and 77:1, is not an author of any of the psalms but is a word that] refers to the decrees that passed over the Psalmist and over Israel. [In Kohelet Rabbah 7:19:4, we’re told that Rav and Rabbi Yochanan are actually on opposite sides of this debate. Rav holds that Yeudutan (at least in some instances of that word in the book of Psalms) refers to a person – one of the three children of Korah – while Rabbi Yochanan holds that (in the book of Psalms), it only ever refers to the decrees that passed over the Psalmist and over Israel]. Rav Huna said in the name of Rav Abba, even though they were said by ten elders, they were only properly fixed by the hand of David, King of Israel. This can be likened to a choir of singers that was requested to praise the king with a hymn for the king. The king told them that they are all worthy, all good singers, all praiseworthy and fitting to sing the hymn. But this one person will sing it on your behalf [which might mean, “with your accompaniment”], because his voice is the sweetest of all. This is what is written: “the sweetest of the songs of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1). All of your voices are sweet, but David son of Jesse’s is sweetest of all; the sweetness of the songs of Israel; a great person the son of a great person; a nobleman the son of a nobleman. What is written [towards the] end of the book of Psalms? “Here ends the Psalms of David son of Jesse” (Psalms 72:20) [which, perhaps the Midrash is reading creatively as, “all of the Psalms are of David son of Jesse.”] And just as they were said by ten people, they were also said in ten different formats: 1. [the style] of the chief conductor; 2. [alongside an] instrumental melody; 3. song set to instruments; 4. acapella song; 5. prayer; 6. praise; 7. blessing; 8. thanksgiving; 9. praises of the blessed; and 10. [with the word] hallelujah. And the greatest of all of them is hallelujah because it includes simultaneously within it a name [of God] and praise. Rav read [every instance of the word hallelujah throughout] the entire book [as two words, rather than one:] hallelu [and, then after a space] jah.
Sifrei Devarim
Similarly, (II Samuel 23:1) "And these are the last words of David': Now did he prophesy only these alone? Is it not written (Ibid. 2) "The spirit of the L-rd spoke in me and His word was on my tongue"? What, then, is the intent of "And these are the last words of David"? We are hereby taught that they were words of rebuke, viz. (Ibid. 6) "And (the men of) Belial shall as thorns be all of them cast away."