פּירוש אויף שיר השירים 1:1

“God has spoken once, twice I have heard this” (Psalms 62:12). From one verse, emerge several explanations. [However] in conclusion, a verse does not depart from its literal sense and meaning. Although the Prophets have employed metaphors, let each metaphor be explained simply, each statement fitting its context.

“The Song of Songs” [1:1]. The Yalkut writes that all of the deeds of King Solomon were in three forms. Rabbi Judah said that Solomon was first a king and afterwards Asmodeus cast him very far from his kingdom where he was not known and he became a beggar and afterwards again regained his kingdom.

Rabbi Haninah said that he was first a king and Asmodeus deposed him from his kingdom; he became a beggar and never returned to his kingdom. Solomon was called by three names, Yedidiah, Kohelet, Solomon. He composed three books, Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes.¹Yalkut Shimoni, Song of Songs, Remez, 980.

I have seen multiple midrashei aggada (exegetical interpretations): Some organize this entire book in one complete compilation of midrash, while others have pieces scattered in multiple places [...]

“I say that king Shlomo saw prophetically that in the future, Israel will undergo exile after exile, destruction after destruction, and they will mourn in exile for their original glory, remembering the original love by which they was seperated from all other peoples, and they wil say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for then I fared better than now’, and they will remember His kindnesses and their own value, and the goodly things promised to them in the eschaton. And Shlomo wrote this sefer prophetically, in the language of a widowed woman who longs for her husband, ‘who clings to her beloved’, remembering how she loved him in her youth, and [she] admits her failings. And even her Beloved is pained by her pain, and remembers the kindness of her youth, the comeliness of her beauty, and the quality of her deeds, in which he was bound up with her in intense love, and He tells her that He does not willfully bring her grief, and nor has she been sent away permanently, for she is still His wife, and He her husband, and he will return to her in the future.”

The song of songs which is Shlomo’s. Our Rabbis taught, “Every Shlomo (because they were at a loss to explain why [Scripture] did not mention his father,¹I.e., King Dovid. as it did in Mishlei and Koheles) mentioned in Shir Hashirim is sacred [=refers to God], the King to Whom peace שָׁלוֹם belongs.²Maseches Shavuos 35b. It is a song which transcends above all other songs,³Rashi offers this explanation because he questions why does it not state, “The song which is Shlomo’s,” why is “of songs” necessary? (Sifsei Chachomim) ⁴Alternatively “of songs” refers to the one thousand and five songs attributed to King Shlomo as it is stated, “and his songs were one thousand and five,” in I Melachim 5:12. (Gra) which was recited to the Holy One, Blessed Is He, by His assembly and His people, the congregation of Yisroel. Rabbi Akiva said, “The world was never as worthy as on the day that Shir Hashirim was given to Yisroel, for all the Writings are holy, but Shir Hashirim is the holiest of the holies.” Rabbi Elazar son Azaryah said, “To what can this be compared? To a king who took a se’ah of wheat and gave it to a baker. He said to him, ‘Extract for me so much fine flour, so much bran, so much coarse bran, and produce enough fine flour from it for one loaf, sifted and superior.’ Similarly, all the Writings are holy, but Shir Hashirim is the holiest of the holies,⁵Mishnayos Yodayim 3:5. for it is all comprised of fear of Heaven and the acceptance of the yoke of His kingdom.”⁶Alternatively “the song of ‘songs’,” the plural corresponds to the dual “songs” that comprise Shir Hashirim, the song that the congregation of Yisroel praises the Holy One, Blessed is He, and the song that the Holy One, Blessed is He praises the congregation of Yisroel. (Sefer Duda’im)