Midrash sa Awit ng mga Awit 5:4: Devarim Rabbah, Midrash Tehillim & Aggadat Bereshit

Another matter: “You will return to the Lord your God” – there is nothing greater than repentance. There was incident where our Rabbis, Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Yehoshua, and Rabban Gamliel, were in Rome. The Emperor’s ministers issued an edict, saying: Within thirty days there will not be a Jew in the entire world.⁵¹This decree, which was not announced to the public, was set to take effect in thirty days. One of the ministers of the king feared Heaven. He came to Rabban Gamliel and revealed the matter to him. The Rabbis were very upset. That one who feared Heaven said to them: ‘Do not be upset. Within thirty days, the God of the Jews will stand with them.’ After twenty-five days, he revealed the matter to his wife. She said to him: ‘Twenty-five days have passed.’ He said to her: ‘Five more days.’ His wife was more righteous than he. She said to him: ‘Do you not have a ring?⁵²The ministers wore rings with a hollow containing poison (see Matnot Kehuna). Suck on it and die. The ministers’ [meetings] will be suspended for thirty more days in your [honor], and the edict will be annulled.’⁵³The Romans had a policy that if one of the ministers died, their meetings would be suspended for thirty days, and any edicts that had been decreed but not yet put into effect would be cancelled (Etz Yosef). He heeded her, sucked his ring, and died. Our Rabbis heard and went to his wife to console her. Our Rabbis said: ‘Pity for a ship that set sail and did not remit the tariff’; in other words, this righteous man was not circumcised. His wife said to them: ‘I know what you are saying, but, as you live, the ship did not pass before it remitted its tariff.’ She immediately entered an inner room and brought out to them a box containing the foreskin with blood-soaked rags placed upon it. Our Rabbis read this verse in his regard: “Ministers of the peoples have assembled, the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted” (Psalms 47:10). What is “shields of the earth”? The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: ‘I have become a powerful shield,’ as it is stated: “I am a shield for you” (Genesis 15:1) – for this one, I will become many shields.⁵⁴The Rabbis said this as though from God’s perspective, about the deceased minister, thereby comparing him favorably to Abraham. How so? The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham: “I will render you a great nation and I will bless you and I will render your name great” (Genesis 12:2), and then he circumcised himself, but to this one I promised nothing. What is, “he is greatly exalted”? He is more greatly exalted than Abraham.
Another matter: “You will return to the Lord your God” – Rabbi Shmuel Peragrita said in the name of Rabbi Meir: To what is the matter comparable? It is to a king’s son who took to evil ways, and the king would send his tutor after him and say to him:⁵⁵The tutor would speak to the prince on behalf of the king. ‘Repent, my son.’ The son would send him, and said to his father: ‘How can I have the audacity to return? I am ashamed before you.’ His father would send [the tutor] and [have him] say to [his son]: ‘My son, is there a son who is ashamed to return to his father? If you return, will you not be returning to your father?’ So, the Holy One blessed be He sent Jeremiah to Israel when they sinned, and He said to him: ‘Go and say to My children: Repent.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Go, and proclaim these matters…[repent, deviant Israel]” (Jeremiah 3:12). Israel would say to Jeremiah: ‘How can we have the audacity to return to the Holy One blessed be He?’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “We will lie in our shame, and our humiliation will cover us, [as we have sinned to the Lord our God]” (Jeremiah 3:25). The Holy One blessed be He would send [Jeremiah] and say [to Israel]: ‘If you repent, will you not be returning to your Father?’ From where is this derived? “For I have been a Father to Israel…” (Jeremiah 31:8). Rabbi Azarya said: The Holy One blessed be He said to Jeremiah: ‘Go and say to Israel: As you live, I am not renouncing you. You said to Me at Sinai: “My innards yearn for Him” (Song of Songs 5:4); this is what I too say to you.’ From where is this derived? As it is stated: “Is Ephraim a dear son to Me…[My innards yearn for him]” (Jeremiah 31:19).

"I will mention God and exalt Him. When Israel remembers the Lord (they console) [comfort] the Lord and their bowels hum as it is said (Song of Songs 5:4) "My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him." The possession of the guardians of my eyes cannot sleep, for all my guards are awake at night; I am troubled and cannot rest. I thought of earlier days, I thought of his days, the one who came from the east, that is Abraham, as it is said (Isaiah 41:2) "Who raised up one from the east." I thought of the days of the fathers, I thought of the ages past, but I did not find. I mention my song at night, these are the Sanhedrin. His kindness endures forever, and so it says (Psalm 136:17) "The Lord's kindness is everlasting." And now he has left. The conclusion is that from generation to generation, the matter is concluded, as it is said (Jeremiah 16:5) "For I have taken away my peace from this people."

[3] Another interpretation: "Listen to me, Jacob." Those who are killed and called by his name, as it is said "For thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter" (Psalms 44:23). And Job says, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him" (Job 13:15). Those who call upon me every year, as it is said, "I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord" (Psalms 116:13), "I find trouble and sorrow" (Psalms 116:3). These generations said to him, "Lord of the Universe, the earlier generations had the patriarchs as their fathers, and they have the merit of their fathers; we are orphans and have no father to stand up for us." But you wrote and said, "In you the fatherless find mercy" (Hosea 14:4), "You have seen it, for You have taken note of trouble and grief, to requite it with Your own hand" (Psalms 10:14). You gave many commandments in the Torah to look after the orphans: "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corner of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor, and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 23:22). "When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow" (Deuteronomy 24:20). And we are orphans, have mercy upon us, as it is written, "In you the fatherless find mercy" (Hosea 14:4). Obadiah was blessed in his household when his sons became orphans. When was Isaac blessed? After Abraham's death, as it is said, "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac" (Genesis 25:11). The tribes said, "And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation" (Exodus 1:6). And "the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly" (Exodus 1:7). "Your eyes are on the orphans, who will have compassion on you? God said to them, "Repent and I will heal your backslidings." He said, "Until they repent, I have stopped healing them." As it is said, "Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings" (Jeremiah 3:22). And it is also written, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely" (Hosea 14:4). Love that never ceases, I love you. Isaac called Esau his firstborn, and I call Jacob my firstborn (Exodus 4:22). The birthright of Isaac was voided and fulfilled in Jacob. Isaac loved Esau, as it is said, "And Isaac loved Esau" (Genesis 25:28), and I love Jacob. His love for Esau was voided and fulfilled in his love for Jacob. How much difficulty have they caused to try to instill hatred between us, and they cannot nullify it, as it is said, "Many waters cannot quench love" (Song of Songs 8:7). These nations are compared to water, as it is said, "Woe to the multitude of many people who make a noise like the noise of the sea" (Isaiah 17:12) Moreover, how many times were the Israelites killed for the sake of returning them to God, and the Assembly of Israel says to them "I cannot remain silent about Him. My soul became aroused in His presence." (Song of Songs 5:6) "My soul went forth [when he spoke]." (ibid. 5:16) "When He spoke on Sinai, my soul heard [His voice]." (ibid. 6:2) "But my heart is sick with love for Him." (ibid. 5:8) They said to her, "What is your beloved more than another beloved?" (ibid. 5:9) She said to them, "I will extol His praises and relate His greatness to you. And you will know that I do not pursue Him in vain." (ibid. 5:16) "My beloved is pure and ruddy." (ibid. 5:10) "Pure for Israel, ruddy for Esau." (Rashi on Song of Songs 5:10) "Why are your clothes red?" (Isaiah 63:2) "Dignified from among the myriads" (Song of Songs 5:10), for there are none among the exalted multitudes like Him. "His head is as fine gold" (ibid. 5:11), which is the Torah, as it is written "More desirable than gold, than much fine gold" (Psalms 19:11). "His locks are bushy, and black as a raven" (Song of Songs 5:11), this is the script. Alternatively, "black" refers to the Assembly of Israel, as it is written "I am black" (Song of Songs 1:5), "His eyes are like doves" (Song of Songs 5:12), this is the sun and moon. "His hands are like rods of gold" (ibid.), this is the rainbow. "His body is like polished ivory, inlaid with sapphires" (ibid. 5:14), this is the air. "His legs are like pillars of marble set on sockets of fine gold" (ibid.), these are the mountains, founded on the adonai of fine gold, these are the foundations of the Temple. "His appearance is like Lebanon" (ibid. 5:15), this is the Temple. "Choice as the cedars" (ibid.), which refers to walking with the righteous, as it is written "And I will walk among you" (Leviticus 26:12). "Awaiting the delight [of his beloved]," this refers to the time of the giving of the Torah, and "altogether desirable," when He receives the penitent. The nations of the world said to them, "Since He receives penitents, where is your beautiful Beloved?" (Song of Songs 5:17) Said the Holy One, blessed be He, "The nations hate Me because of My children, and My children love Me despite all these nations. I give them one hundred worlds filled with the love that I have for My children, as it is said, 'If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, they would utterly despise him' (Song of Songs 8:7)." This is from the Midrash Aggadah on Genesis.