Introduction: The Section's Context in the Chapter
In Chapter 4 of Shir HaShirim, the Beloved continues to praise His bride, but the praises transition from physical imagery to an overarching trajectory of the relationship between the Holy One, Blessed be He, and the Community of Israel: from the sin in Shiloh to the choosing of Mount Moriah, from there to the exile and the promise that the Shechinah accompanies us in it, and culminating in the ingathering of the exiles and the pilgrimages during the eras of the Temple's rebuilding. In this lesson, we will follow the order of the pesukim from verse 6 through the end of the chapter, following the commentary of Rashi.
Verse 6: From the Mishkan in Shiloh to the Eternal Temple
עַד שֶׁיָּפוּחַ הַיּוֹם וְנָסוּ הַצְּלָלִים אֵלֵךְ לִי אֶל הַר הַמּוֹר וְאֶל גִּבְעַת הַלְּבוֹנָה׃ - Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
"Until the day breathes" - until the sun spreads its light, meaning the day shines and radiates its warmth, and the noon hour arrives. "And the shadows flee" - in the morning and toward evening, the sun shines from an angle, so buildings and trees cast shadows; but at midday, when the sun is overhead, there is almost no shadow. This is the peak heat of the day. And the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: Even then I will shield you, and you will be sweet and pleasing to Me.
"The day" here refers to the sun, as in Bereishis, "in the breeze of the day," and similarly, "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace" - what is burning? The day, meaning the sun that burns like a furnace. And Rashi continues: "And when the day breathes, I will go to Mount Moriah, to the Eternal Temple." That is to say, when the sun shines, I will go to the Beis HaMikdash on Mount Moriah.
And why does He, as it were, move from there to here? Rashi explains: Because they sinned before Me by desecrating My holy things and despising My meal-offering in the days of Chofni and Pinchas, I will withdraw from among you and abandon the Mishkan of Shiloh, and I will choose Mount Moriah for Myself as the Eternal House. (Textual note: In some printed Chumashim the word appears as "ואבער", which is an error; the correct reading is "ואבחר", I will choose - as aleph resembles ches - or "ואברור", I will select, with the reading "ואבחר" being the most fitting.)
The era being spoken of is the time of Chofni and Pinchas, when they would strike into the pan and kettle and take whatever the three-pronged fork brought up, and they would delay the women and the sacrifices - grave injustices committed in the Mishkan. Because of this, the Holy One, Blessed be He, rebuked Eli and conveyed a severe prophecy about him to Shmuel: Why did he not restrain them, why did he not sufficiently protest his sons' grievous misdeeds? Following this came the curse that their descendants would come begging for an agorat kesef and a loaf of bread, saying, "Attach me, please, to one of the priestly watches"; Hashem distanced them from the High Priesthood and declared that the majority of his house would die in the prime of life.
And Rashi concludes: "And there, you are altogether beautiful and there is no blemish in you, and I will accept all your sacrifices there." How did the blemish disappear, given that we saw there was a flaw? The answer is that the sacrifices themselves bring atonement. As the Gemara states: No person went to sleep in Yerushalayim with sin in hand, for the daily afternoon Tamid offering atoned for the sins of the day; and no person arose in the morning with sin in hand, for the morning Tamid atoned for the sins of the night. The offerings are what brought about "there is no blemish in you." When the time arrives for the building of the Beis HaMikdash, the Holy One, Blessed be He, says: I will shelter you, you will be sweet and pleasing to Me, and there will be atonement for all that came before.
Verse 7: Altogether Beautiful - Looking at the Collective Whole
כֻּלָּךְ יָפָה רַעְיָתִי וּמוּם אֵין בָּךְ׃ - You are altogether beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish in you.
We have already seen a verse similar to this earlier, and its meaning is that the Jewish people as a collective is beautiful and has no blemish. When one looks at the Jewish people as a whole - they are complete, they are beautiful, and there is no deficiency in them. If one begins to examine each individual separately, looking at the parts rather than the whole, flaws may be found. But "altogether" - in the comprehensive, collective view - "you are beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish in you."
Verse 8: The Shechinah Accompanies Us Throughout Exile
אִתִּי מִלְּבָנוֹן כַּלָּה אִתִּי מִלְּבָנוֹן תָּבוֹאִי תָּשׁוּרִי מֵרֹאשׁ אֲמָנָה מֵרֹאשׁ שְׂנִיר וְחֶרְמוֹן מִמְּעֹנוֹת אֲרָיוֹת מֵהַרְרֵי נְמֵרִים׃ - With Me from Lebanon, my bride, with Me from Lebanon you shall come; gaze from the peak of Amana, from the peak of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards.
"Levanon" refers to the Beis HaMikdash. It is called this because it was built from the cedars of Lebanon, and experts were even brought from Lebanon to construct it. By way of derash, it is called Levanon because it whitens (malbin) the sins of Israel - through the sacrifices, similar to the crimson thread that turned white. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: "With Me from Lebanon, my bride" - when you go into exile from Lebanon, you go into exile with Me, for I will be exiled along with you.
"With Me from Lebanon you shall come" - and when you return from the exile, I will return with you (and this is the proper reading in Rashi: "I will return," not "I will bring back"), and throughout all the days of the exile, "In all their affliction He is afflicted." Therefore, it is written "With Me from Lebanon you shall come" and not "With Me to Lebanon you shall come," teaching that from the moment of your departure from here until the moment of your return here, I am with you in all your goings and comings.
This is the precise nuance: Had it been written "With Me to Lebanon you shall come," one might have thought that the Holy One, blessed be He, accompanies us as we depart into exile, then departs from us, and when we leave the exile He accompanies us back to the Beis HaMikdash - but during the exile itself He is not with us. Therefore it says "from Lebanon": from the very moment we left the Beis HaMikdash and went into exile, He remains right alongside us until we return and arrive back at Lebanon. All along the way Hashem is with us, even during our stay in exile.
"Tashuri" connotes seeing or gazing, as in "alei shur" - and a wall is called a shur both because it is made of rows (shurot) and because one ascends it to gaze into the distance. Similarly, "shuru vehabbitu" ("gaze and behold"), and the military drill command "le-yamin shur" ("eyes right"). Rashi explains: "Gaze from the peak of Amana" - when I gather your dispersed ones, look and reflect upon the reward for your actions from the beginning of the faith (emunah) with which you believed in Me, your following after Me into the wilderness, your journeys and encampments by My word, and your arrival at the peak of Senir and Hermon, which were dens of lions - referring to Sichon and Og, whom the Holy One, blessed be He, conquered before us.
Another interpretation: "From the peak of Amana" - this is a mountain on the northern border of the Land of Israel named Amana, called in the language of the Mishnah "Turei Amnon." It is the mountain concerning which it is said, "From the Great Sea you shall delineate for yourselves Mount Hor." When the exiles are gathered and arrive there, they look out from there and behold the border of the Land of Israel and its atmosphere, rejoicing and offering thanksgiving; therefore it says, "Gaze from the peak of Amana." This fits exceptionally well with the continuation, "from the peak of Senir and Hermon," which are also northern mountains. By the way, Mount Hermon is called in Aramaic "Tur Talga," the Mountain of Snow, since in Aramaic the letters tav and shin interchange (such as tora and shor, or meitiv and meshiv).
Verse 9: A Single Virtue is Enough
לִבַּבְתִּנִי אֲחֹתִי כַלָּה לִבַּבְתִּנִי בְּאַחַת מֵעֵינַיִךְ בְּאַחַד עֲנָק מִצַּוְּרֹנָיִךְ׃ - You have captured My heart, My sister, My bride; you have captured My heart with one of your eyes, with one strand of your necklace.
"Libavtini" - you drew My heart to you; you caused My heart to cling to you. Ostensibly, one might ask: someone who praises normally praises both eyes, so what praise is there in one eye? Rashi explains: You have many fine qualities, and even had you possessed only one of them, I would cherish you exceedingly, and all the more so with all of them. That is, even a single virtue among all your virtues is already enough for Me to find great praise in you.
Similarly, "with one strand of your necklace" - with one of the chains of your adornments, which represent the ornaments of mitzvos in which Israel distinguishes themselves. An anak is a necklace worn around the neck, and from this also comes the term for giants (anakim) - because when one gazes up at them from below and the sun beats down on the back of their necks, the sun appears like a necklace upon their throats, in the words of Chazal, "they wear the sun as a necklace through their height." Thus, a single mitzvah is sufficient for the heart of the Holy One, blessed be He, to be drawn after us, as it were.
Another interpretation: "With one anak" - with one of your forefathers, who was unique and singular: Avraham, who is called an anak, "the greatest man among the giants." And why is specifically Avraham called "singular," and not Yitzchak or Yaakov? Because when Avraham began his journey he was "Avraham HaIvri" - the entire world stood on one side (ever), and he stood on the other side. Yitzchak was already continuing along a paved path; there was an established route, there were people walking in that direction, especially "the souls they had made in Charan." But Avraham was entirely alone; there was no one else. And when they cast him into the fiery furnace, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: "I am singular, and it is fitting for Me to rescue My singular one."
And this is what our Sages said regarding "There was a Jewish man in Shushan the capital" - do not read it as Yehudi (Jewish), but as yechidi (singular, alone). This is the hallmark of a truly great person: he is capable of standing entirely alone. He does not need the surrounding scenery, he does not need others doing what he does, and he does not need anyone saying "well done," applauding him, or checking if it "broadcasts well" and whether the public approves of what he is doing. Mordechai made no calculations for anyone - a Jewish man, a solitary man. And one such solitary individual is enough for the Holy One, blessed be He, to save an entire generation. So it was with Avraham Avinu as well: "with one giant" - through him alone, You already captured My heart.
Verse 10: The Places of Affection and the Fragrance of a Good Name
מַה יָּפוּ דֹדַיִךְ אֲחֹתִי כַלָּה מַה טֹּבוּ דֹדַיִךְ מִיַּיִן וְרֵיחַ שְׁמָנַיִךְ מִכׇּל בְּשָׂמִים׃ - How fair is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than all spices!
"Dodim" denotes love and affection, just as "dodi" means my beloved, my cherished one. Rashi explains: Every place where you showed Me affection is precious in My eyes - Gilgal, Shiloh, Nov, Giv'on, and the eternal House (the Beit HaMikdash). These are all the places where the Mishkan resided and to which it traveled in exile, until reaching its final resting place. The Holy One, blessed be He, says: How beautiful was your love for Me in those places!
"And that is what the Babylonian poet established: 'The resting place and the other destinations, where the Shechinah met with Israel'" - Rashi refers here to a liturgical poem (yotzer), which appears in the Ashkenazic yotzrot for Shacharit on the first day of Pesach. These liturgical poems are like riddles, requiring deep commentary to decipher, and indeed many commentaries have been written on them. "The resting place" (Menuchah) refers to the Beit HaMikdash, as in the verse, "For you have not yet come to the rest and to the inheritance," which Chazal interpreted as an allusion to Shiloh, Nov, and Giv'on. And "the other destinations" (ye'udim) are the other places where we met with Hashem - Gilgal, Shiloh, Nov, and Giv'on, where the Mishkan resided temporarily.
"And the fragrance of your oils than all spices" - this refers to a good name, for shemanayich ("your oils") is related to shem ("name"), as in "Better is a good name than fine oil." We must understand that when Chazal speak of "oil" in this context, they do not mean olive oil, but aromatic oils, such as persimmon oil (balsam) and the like, whose fragrance spreads far and wide. Even so, a good name is superior to it: fine oil can be smelled from twenty meters away, but a good name can reach all the way to Australia, to the farthest corners of the earth. This is the meaning of "and the fragrance of your oils than all spices" - the good name of Knesset Yisrael is more praised than all varieties of spices.
Verse 11: The Sweetness of Torah and the Mitzvot of Clothing
נֹפֶת תִּטֹּפְנָה שִׂפְתוֹתַיִךְ כַּלָּה דְּבַשׁ וְחָלָב תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנֵךְ וְרֵיחַ שַׂלְמֹתַיִךְ כְּרֵיחַ לְבָנוֹן׃ - Sweetness drops from your lips, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue, and the scent of your garments is like the scent of Lebanon.
"Nofet" is something sweet, as in the phrase "drippings of the honeycomb" (nofet tzufim). And since this sweetness drips from the lips, it refers to something that emerges outward from the mouth - and Rashi explains: the reasons and flavors of the Torah (ta'amei Torah). The words of Torah and its deep reasons articulated by the mouth are the sweetness dripping from the lips.
"And the scent of your garments" (salmotayich) - the worthy mitzvot practiced in your garments (simlah / beged): tzitzit, techelet, the priestly vestments (bigdei kehunah), and the prohibition of shatnez, not to combine wool and linen together. And the priestly garments include specific mitzvot regarding how they are made and what materials compose them. "Like the scent of Lebanon" - like the forest of Lebanon whose fragrance carries far away, so too the spiritual scent of these mitzvot radiates far and wide.
Verse 12: A Locked Garden - Modesty
גַּן נָעוּל אֲחֹתִי כַלָּה גַּל נָעוּל מַעְיָן חָתוּם׃ - A locked garden is my sister, my bride; a locked spring, a sealed fountain.
"A locked garden" - this refers to the modesty of the daughters of Israel, who are not wanton in matters of illicit relations. They are like a locked garden, locking and withholding themselves from strangers. In explaining "gal" [spring or gate], Rashi brings two interpretations: it can be interpreted as a spring, like the "upper springs" that Achsah requested - "You have given me a dry land; give me also upper springs and lower springs," meaning a place from which water flows to irrigate the fields; and it can be interpreted as a gate, which is the Aramaic usage in the Talmud, "teroku galei" - close and lock the gates. Either way, whether a sealed spring that does not give its water to just anyone, or a locked gate - both express the same concept of modesty and boundaries.
Verse 13: The Praise of the Humblest of Israel
שְׁלָחַיִךְ פַּרְדֵּס רִמּוֹנִים עִם פְּרִי מְגָדִים כְּפָרִים עִם נְרָדִים׃ - Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates with delicious fruits, henna with spikenard.
Dry land is called a "beit hashelachin" [an irrigated field] and must be watered constantly, whereas a "beit haba'al" [a naturally watered field] is superior to it. The name "shelachin" is related to the word "shilhei" in the Gemara, meaning exhausted or weary - a tired field that requires constant irrigation. By contrast, a beit haba'al is satisfied with rainfall alone, and the Gemara refers to it as "an expression of contentment," fields in the valley where the soil is moist and requires no irrigation; and some explain that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the "master" [ba'al] of that field, He is the owner and He waters it - "it drinks water of the rain of heaven."
At first glance, this is puzzling: Why does the verse praise specifically the inferior field? But that is precisely the point. Rashi explains: Here He praised the dryness of your irrigated fields, showing that they are filled with all good things like an orchard of pomegranates - and this refers to the humblest among Israel, who are filled with mitzvot and good deeds like an orchard of pomegranates. That is to say, even your lesser fields, even those that seem insignificant, yield the finest fruits; and if that is true of the inferior fields, what shall we say of the choice fields? "With delicious fruits" - choice, exquisite fruits; "henna with spikenard" - these are types of spices.
Verse 14: Details of the Spices
נֵרְדְּ וְכַרְכֹּם קָנֶה וְקִנָּמוֹן עִם כׇּל עֲצֵי לְבוֹנָה מֹר וַאֲהָלוֹת עִם כׇּל רָאשֵׁי בְשָׂמִים׃ - Spikenard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.
Rashi does not comment on this verse, because it is a continuation of what he wrote earlier - "henna with spikenard, these are types of spices" - and here the verse goes on to detail additional varieties of spices to which the Congregation of Israel is compared.
Verse 15: A Spring, Purity, and Pure Waters
מַעְיַן גַּנִּים בְּאֵר מַיִם חַיִּים וְנֹזְלִים מִן לְבָנוֹן׃ - A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon.
"A fountain of gardens" - all of this refers back to "your shoots" [shelachayich], praising them with the spring that irrigates them (and this is the proper textual reading in Rashi: "with a spring," rather than "like a spring," which fits better). Those thirsty fields that would otherwise yield little possess a garden fountain and a well of living water of their own. And the allegorical meaning refers to the immersions of purity performed by the daughters of Israel. A spring expresses purity; and although in halachic practice the daughters of Israel do not strictly require a natural spring, for a mikveh of rainwater suffices for them - whereas a natural spring is required for a metzora and the ashes of the Red Heifer - nevertheless, a spring is the ultimate expression of purity.
"And flowing streams from Lebanon" - from a place of pristine purity, with no muddiness of silt. In an ordinary stream, silt clouds the water, but the waters flowing from Lebanon are the purest of all, since they are melted snowwaters, the clearest and most refined of waters. And as is known, the Rambam writes that the clarity of water also leads to clarity of intellect: in places where the water is turbid, the people's intellect is turbid, and in places where the water is pure, their intellect is purer and clearer.
Verse 16: The Ingathering of the Exiles and the Response of Israel
עוּרִי צָפוֹן וּבוֹאִי תֵימָן הָפִיחִי גַנִּי יִזְּלוּ בְשָׂמָיו יָבֹא דוֹדִי לְגַנּוֹ וְיֹאכַל פְּרִי מְגָדָיו׃ - "Awake, O north wind, and come, O south! Blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out. Let my Beloved come into His garden and eat its choice fruits."
Rashi explains: Now that your fragrance and the beauty of your dwellings have pleased Me, I command the north and south winds to blow upon your garden, so that your sweet fragrance will spread far and wide. The Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, calls out to the winds: let a wind come from the north, let a wind come from the south, blow upon My garden, and through this its spices will flow and their fragrance will spread into the distance.
And the allegory, that is, the deeper meaning: this refers to the exiles being gathered, when all the nations bring them as an offering to Jerusalem. From all the places where Israel is scattered among the nations, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: "Awake, O north wind, and come, O south" - from north and south, from all the exiles, come and ascend to the Land of Israel, and your sweet fragrance will go forth. The nations themselves will bring the Jewish people to Jerusalem, and this will be their offering. And in the days of the Temple's rebuilding, Israel will gather there for the appointed times and the pilgrimage festivals - which is an additional allusion to the pilgrimage, for people would make the pilgrimage even from Babylonia.
Up to this point, the Beloved spoke to the maiden, which is to say, the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke to us. From here, Israel responds: "Let my Beloved come into His garden and eat its choice fruits" - if You are there, everything is there. In its plain sense, "and eat its choice fruits" refers to the sacrifices, for this is speaking of the Beit HaMikdash where we offer sacrifices, and the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, "eats" His choice fruits - meaning that our offerings will bring Him satisfaction and favor.
In summary:
The chapter opens with the departure of the Shechinah from the Mishkan in Shiloh following the sins of the days of Chofni and Pinchas, and with the choosing of Mount Moriah, where sacrifices would find favor and iniquities would be wiped away - "You are entirely beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish in you." From there, Scripture moves to the great promise that the Shechinah accompanies us from the moment we departed from the Lebanon until we return to it, and that throughout the days of exile, "In your distress, I am distressed." The Holy One, blessed be He, praises the Congregation of Israel in every respect: a single virtue and a single mitzvah is enough for Him; a single individual such as Avraham Avinu or Mordechai HaYehudi is enough for Him; the places of love that we built for Him are beautiful in His eyes, her good reputation is more fragrant than all spices, the reasons of the Torah drip from her lips, the mitzvot associated with garments emit a scent like the fragrance of Lebanon, her modesty is like a locked garden, even the least among her are like an orchard of pomegranates, and her purity is like a spring of living water. And at the close of the chapter - a call to the winds to gather the exiles from north and south, to which Israel responds: "Let my Beloved come into His garden," for if You are there, everything is there.