I have come to my garden. In the days of the dedication of the Beis Hamikdosh.

I have gathered. I gathered, and it is a term of the Mishnah, “as much space [as is required by] a gatherer אוֹרֶה and his basket.”¹ It is also a term found in Scripture, “and all wayfarers have plucked וְאָרוּהָ its fruit.”² And this was stated in regard to the incense, which they burned as an individual incense offering—the tribal princes on the outside altar and it was accepted.³ This is something that does not apply to later generations. Because of this, it is stated, “I have eaten my sugar cane with my sugar.” There is honey that grows in canes, as it is stated, “into the sugar of the יַעְרַת canes ,”⁴ and “יַעְרַת” is a term referring to a cane, as in, “and she placed [it] among the reeds בַּסוּף,”⁵ [which Targum renders] “and she placed it in the reeds בְּיַעֲרָא.” And the sugar is sucked out and the wood is discarded. But I, out of great love, “ate my sugar cane with my sugar,” I ate the cane with the sugar, the inedible with the edible, [signifying] the freewill incense offering,⁶ and likewise, the he-goats sin-offering that the tribal princes sacrificed, although a sin-offering is not brought as a freewill sacrifice, but I accepted them on that day.

footnotes: ¹ Mishnayos Shvi’is 1:2. The term אורה there refers to the harvest of figs. (Sifsei Chachomim) ² Tehillim 80:13. ³ This incense offering was unusual in two ways. First, because it was an individual offering instead of a communal one; and because it was burned on the outer altar instead of the inner [golden] altar. ⁴ I Shmuel 14:27. ⁵ Shemos 2:3. ⁶ The incense offering is symbolized by ‘myrrh,’ because it is one of its most important ingredients.

I have drunk my wine. These are the libations.

With my milk. They were sweeter and clearer than milk.⁷

footnotes: ⁷ Alternatively, חלבי, means my fat, referring to the fat portions of the peace offerings.

Eat [my] friends. Aharon and his sons, in the Tent of Meeting, and all the kohanim, in the eternal Temple.

Drink and become intoxicated [my] beloved ones. These are the Israelites⁸ because they are forbidden to drink wine or any intoxicating beverage before performing the divine service. who ate the flesh of the peace offerings that they sacrificed for the dedication of the altar.

footnotes: ⁸ It does not refer to the kohanim

I slept. When I was confident and calm in the first Beis Hamikdosh, I despaired of worshiping the Holy One, Blessed Is He, as one who slumbers and falls fast asleep.

But my heart was awake. This is the Holy One, Blessed Is He. This is expounded in the Pesikta.⁹

footnotes: ⁹ Alternatively, ולבי ער, refers to the prophets and the sages who were constantly exhorting and rousing the Bnei Yisroel to rise from their spiritual sluggishness. (Sforno)

But my heart was awake. The Holy One, Blessed Is He, Who is, “the Rock of my heart and my portion,”¹⁰ is awake to guard me and to benefit me.

footnotes: ¹⁰ Tehillim 73:26.

A sound! My beloved knocks. He rests His Divine Presence upon the prophets and He warns through them by, “rising early and sending forth.”¹¹

footnotes: ¹¹ Yirmiyahum 7:25.

Open for me. Do not cause Me to depart from you.

For my head is drenched [as though] with dew. A term referring to a man who comes at night, knocking on the door of his beloved. He says thus, “Out of love for you, I have come at night at the time of dew or rain.” And the allegory is as follows: “For my head is drenched [as though] with dew,” because I am full of good will and satisfaction with Avrohom your forefather,¹² whose deeds were pleasing to Me as dew. And behold, I come to you, laden with blessings and the payment of reward for good deeds if you return to Me.

footnotes: ¹² ראשי alludes to Avrohom who was first [=ראש] to believe in God. (Sifsei Chachomim)

My sidelocks drip with the rains of the night. In My hands there are also many categories¹³ of types of retribution, to punish those who forsake Me and anger Me. “Dew” is a term indicating pleasure.

footnotes: ¹³ Rendering קוצותי as קבוצותי [=collections].

Rains of the night. The rains of the night, which cause hardship and weariness. רְסִיסֵי is the Targum of רביבים [=drops], “and like raindrops וְכִרְבִיבִים upon blades of grass,”¹⁴ [is rendered as,] “and the late rains וכרסיסי.” קְוֻצּוֹת [=locks] are clumps of hair of the head stuck together, called flocels in O.F. And because Scripture adopted an expression of dew and rain, it adopted an expression of head and sidelocks, for it is ususal for dew and rain to stick to the hair and sidelocks. It is also possible to interpret both “dew” and “rains of the night,” both denoting good, [i.e.,] the reward for minor precepts that are easy to perform as “dew,” and the reward for major precepts that are difficult [to perform], as the hardship of the “rains of the night.”

footnotes: ¹⁴ Devarim 32:2.

I have removed my robe. I.e., I have already accustomed myself to other ways;¹⁵ I can no longer return to You, as the matter is stated, “But ever since we stopped burning incense to the ruling queen of the heavens, etc.,”¹⁶ for these ways were proper in their eyes. The expression, “I have removed my robe ... I have washed my feet,” is the language of the reply of an adulterous wife, who does not want to open the door for her husband. And since the verse began with the expression, “I slept...a sound! My beloved knocks,” it concludes with an expression of a reply that is apropos to the expression of knocking on the door at the time of retiring to sleep at night.

footnotes: ¹⁵ According to Metzudas Dovid, it refers to the exiles living in Bavel who became accustomed to life there and were not interested in returning to Eretz Yisroel. ¹⁶ Yirmiyahu 44:18.

My beloved sent forth his hand from the portal. Which is beside the door; and I saw his hand, and the stirring of my insides swayed me to return to his love and to open [the door] for him.

I arose to open for my beloved and my hands dripped myrrh. I.e., wholeheartedly and with a desiring soul, as one who adorns herself to endear herself to her husband with a pleasant scent.

Flowed with myrrh. A fragrance that flows and spreads in all directions.

But my beloved had vanished and gone. He was hidden and concealed from me, as in, “the roundness of your flanks,”¹⁷ i.e., the hidden places חַמּוּקֵי of your thighs, because the thigh is hidden. [And as in,] “Until when will you hide תִּתְחַמָּקִין,”¹⁸ [i.e.,] will you hide and cover yourself because of the shame that you betrayed Me?

footnotes: ¹⁷ Below 7:2. ¹⁸ Yirmiyahu 31:21.

My soul departed as he spoke. For he said, “I will not come into your house because at first you did not wish to open [the door].”

I sought him, etc. The watchmen found me, those who go about the city. And apprehend thieves who prowl at night.

They struck me they wounded me. They inflicted a wound upon me.¹⁹ Every “פֶּצַע” denotes a wound [inflicted] by a weapon,²⁰ navredure in O.F.

footnotes: ¹⁹ I.e., by striking me they inflicted a wound. Alternatively, the double expression [struck, wounded] represents the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdosh and the second Beis Hamikdosh. ²⁰ Rashi in Shemos 25:21 defines “פצע” as “a wound that draws blood.”

My ornament. My jewelry that was hammered and beaten out, upon me. The entire episode is an expression [using the terms] of the wife of one’s youth who grieves for the husband of her youth and searches for him. The following is the allegorical meaning:

My beloved sent forth his hand from the portal. When I said, “I have washed my feet,”²¹ and I will not open for You, and I will not repent of the idolatry that I have chosen.

footnotes: ²¹ Above Verse 3.

Sent forth his hand. And He demonstrated His vengeance in the days of Achaz, and He brought upon him the king of Aram’s army. [It states,] “and they smote him and captured from him a great captivity, etc. And Pekach the son of Remalyah slew in Yehudah one hundred and twenty thousand in one day.”²²

footnotes: ²² II Divrei Hayomim 28:5-6.

And my innards longed for him. Chizkiyahu, his son, came and repented with all his heart to seek the Holy One, Blessed Is He, and his entire generation was wholehearted; there never arose a generation like them in Yisroel, as is explained in “Cheilek,” “They searched from Dan to Be’ersheva and did not find an ignoramus, from Gabas to Antochya, and did not find a man or a woman who was not proficient in the laws of ritual contamination and purity.”²³ This is [the meaning of], “my hands dripped myrrh, etc.” Also, regarding Yoshiyahu it is stated, “Before him there had never been a king like him, etc.,”²⁴ Because he saw the punishment which had come upon Menashe and upon Ammon, thereby fulfilling [the words], “he sent forth his hand from the portal, and my innards longed for him.”

footnotes: ²³ Maseches Sanhedrin 94b. The eleventh chapter in entitled “Cheilek.” ²⁴ II Melochim 23:25.

I opened for my beloved but my beloved had vanished and gone. He did not annul His decree, as it is stated about Chizkiyahu, “Behold, days are coming when everything in your palace will be carried off, etc. ... [some] of your sons ... whom you will beget.”²⁵ These are Doniyeil, Chananyah, Misha’eil, and Azaryah, and also concerning Yoshiyahu, through Chuldah the prophetess [it states], “Behold, I am bringing calamity upon this place and upon its inhabitants, etc.”²⁶ And it states, “Before him there had never been a king like him... Nevertheless, God did not relent from His great wrath, for His wrath burned against Yehudah, because of all the provocation with which Menashe had provoked Him. And Adonoy said, ‘I will remove Yehudah, too, from My Presence as I have removed Yisroel, and I will reject this city.’”²⁷

footnotes: ²⁵ Yeshayahu 39:6-7. ²⁶ II Melochim 22:16. ²⁷ Ibid. 23:25-27.

My soul departed as he spoke. It left me when He spoke of this matter.²⁸

footnotes: ²⁸ Alternatively, my soul departed as a result of my intense prayers by which I sought to annul these harsh decrees.

I sought him but could not find him. Now if you should ask, “Was not Yirmiyahu standing and prophesying during the days of Yehoyakim and Tzidkiyahu,²⁹ [And similarly Malachi said,] ‘Return to Me, and I will return to you’³⁰”? [This was] not to nullify the decree, but to lighten the punishment and to prepare their kingdom upon their return from the exile, to plant them without uprooting and to build them without demolishing.

footnotes: ²⁹ See Yirmiyahu 3:14, 22. ³⁰ Malachi 3:7. This indicates that their sincere repentance would completely have annulled the decree. Therefore, Rashi explains that repentance would “not nullify the decree entirely, but to lighten, etc.”

The watchmen found me. Nevuchadnetzar and his armies.

Those who go about the city. To wreak the vengeance of the Omnipresent.

They stripped my ornament. The Beis Hamikdosh.

[Even] the guards of the walls. Even the ministering angels, who were guarding its walls, as the matter is stated: “On your walls, O Yerusholayim [I posted guards], etc.”³¹ They ignited the fire upon it, as the matter is stated, “From above He has hurled fire, etc.”³²

footnotes: ³¹ Yeshayahu 62:6. ³² Eichah 1:13.

I bind you under oath. The nations, Nevuchadnetzar’s men, who saw Chananyah, Misha’eil, and Azaryah submit themselves to the fiery furnace,³³ and Doniyeil to the lions’ den³⁴ because of prayer, and Mordechai’s generation in the days of Haman.

footnotes: ³³ See Daniyeil 3:20-23. ³⁴ See Ibid. 6:17-18.

When you find my beloved. In the future, on the Day of Judgement, when it will be requested of you to testify about me, as the matter is stated, “Let them present their witnesses, and they will be vindicated.”³⁵

footnotes: ³⁵ Yeshayahu 43:9. See Maseches Avodah Zarah 3a.

What will you tell him. You will testify on my behalf that because of love for Him, I suffered harsh afflictions among you. Let Nevuchadnetzar come and testify, let Eliphaz and Tzophar and all the prophets of the nations come and testify about me that I fulfilled the Torah.

With what does your beloved excel another beloved. This is what the nations were asking Yisroel, “What is it about your God more than all the other gods, that you allow yourselves to be burned and hanged because of Him?”³⁶

footnotes: ³⁶ I.e., why are you so loyal to a God Who has forsaken you? (Metzudas Dovid)

That you bind us under oath. To testify before Him about your love.

My beloved is pure white. White, as in, “they were whiter צַחוּ than milk.”³⁷

footnotes: ³⁷ Eichah 4:1.

And ruddy. I will first explain the entire section according to its simple meaning, as the praise of the handsomeness of a young man, when he is white and his face is ruddy.

Surrounded by myriads. He is surrounded by many armies; His armies are many. Many myriads are called ‘רְבָבָה’, as it is stated, “Myriads רְבָבָה like the vegetation of the field have I made you.”³⁸

footnotes: ³⁸ Yechezkeil 16:7.

His head. Shines like the finest gold. ‘כֶּתֶם’³⁹ is a term referring to the treasures of kings which they store in their treasure houses, and similarly, “the finest gold כֶּתֶם has changed,”⁴⁰ and similarly, “and fine gold וְלַכֶּתֶם I called my security,”⁴¹ and similarly, “and an ornament of fine gold כֶּתֶם.”⁴²

footnotes: ³⁹ ‘ם‘ת‘כ is an acronym representing the three crowns: תורה [=Torah], כהונה [=priesthood], and מלכות [=kingship], mentioned in Avos 4:13. (Gra) ⁴⁰ Eichah 4:1. ⁴¹ Iyov 31:24. ⁴² Mishlei 25:12.

His locks hang. תַּלְתַּלִּים is] is an expression of hanging תְּלוּיִים, pendelojes in O.F.

They are raven-black. All these are handsomeness for a young man.

His eyes are like doves upon brooks of water. His eyes by brooks of water are as beautiful as doves’ eyes. Brooks of water are pleasant to behold, and the young men go there to swim. And so the poet praises the eyes of “my beloved,” when he gazes upon the brooks of water, they resemble the beauty of the eyes of doves.

Bathed. [I.e.,] the eyes of my beloved in milk.

Well set in their fullness. All this is an expression of beauty. They neither protrude excessively nor are they sunken, but they are well set מִלֵּאת in their socket. (Other editions: the eye according to the socket.) The literal meaning parallels the allegorical meaning. It מִלֵּאת is a term used for anything made to fill a socket which is made for it as a setting, as in, “stones for setting מִלֻּאִים,”⁴³ [and as in,] “And you shall set וּמִלֵּאתָ into it settings מִלֻּאַת of stone.”⁴⁴

footnotes: ⁴³ Shemos 25:7. ⁴⁴ Ibid. 28:17.

His cheeks are like a bed of spice. Wherein those beds are growths of perfume.

Like towers of perfumes. Aromatic plants, growths מִגְדָּלוֹת of spices מֶרְקָחִים. which are compounded with the art of an apothecary.⁴⁵

footnotes: ⁴⁵ And processed into perfume.

Rolls of gold. Like gold wheels.

Studded with precious gems. Every term referring to the setting of a precious stone in gold is called מִלֵּאת [=setting].

Sparkle. An expression as in, “They became fat; they became thick עָשְׁתוּ.”⁴⁶ A thick mass is called עֶשֶׁת,⁴⁷ masiz in O.F.

footnotes: ⁴⁶ Yirmiyahu 5:28. ⁴⁷ Alternatively, עשת means sparkle or radiate, as in, “shining [עשות] iron,” in Yechezkeil 27:19. (Metzudas Tzion)

Ivory. From an elephant’s tusks.

Overlaid with sapphires. Adorned and decorated with sapphires, an expression [as in], “וַתִּתְעַלָּף,”⁴⁸ which the Targum renders, “and she adorned herself.”

footnotes: ⁴⁸ Bereishis 38:14.

His legs. Are like pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold.

Pillars of marble. Pillars of marble שַׁיִשׁ=שֵׁשׁ, and a similar word appears in Megillas Esther, “upon silver rods and marble שֵׁשׁ columns.”⁴⁹ His appearance is as tall as the cedars of the Levanon.

footnotes: ⁴⁹ Esther 1:6.

Chosen like the cedars. Chosen among the sons as the cedar among the other trees.

[The words of] his palate are sweet. His words are pleasant.

This is my beloved. This is the likeness of my beloved, and this is the likeness of my friend, and because of all these [attributes] I have become sick for his love. The allegorical meaning, regarding the Holy One, Blessed Is He, is as follows:

My beloved is pure white. And white, [anxious] to whiten my iniquities. [He is] clear and white, when He appeared at Sinai, He appeared as an old man, teaching instructions, and similarly, when He sits in judgment, “His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like clean wool.”⁵⁰

footnotes: ⁵⁰ Doniyeil 7:9.

And ruddy. To exact punishment from His enemies, as the matter is stated, “Why is Your clothing red?”⁵¹

footnotes: ⁵¹ Yeshayahu 63:2.

Surrounded by myriads. Many armies⁵² surround Him.

footnotes: ⁵² I.e., angels, as it is written “a thousand thousands served Him, and myriad myriads stood before Him,” in Daniyeil 7:10. (Metzudas Dovid)

His head is [like] finest gold. The beginning of His words shone like finest gold, and similarly it says, “The introduction of Your words illuminates.”⁵³ He began, “I am Adonoy your God.”⁵⁴ He showed them first that He has the right of sovereignty over them, and He then issued His decrees upon them.

footnotes: ⁵³ Tehillim 119:130. ⁵⁴ Shemos 20:2.

His locks hang. Upon every point [=קוֹץ are heaps [=תִּלִּים and heaps of laws.⁵⁵

footnotes: ⁵⁵ See Maseches Eruvin 21b.

They are raven-black. Because it [the Torah] was written before Him in black fire on white fire.⁵⁶ Another explanation, “His locks hang,” when He appeared on the sea, He appeared like a young man mightily waging war.

footnotes: ⁵⁶ See Rashi Devarim 33:2.

His eyes are like doves upon brooks of water. Like doves, whose eyes gaze toward their windows, so His eyes [gaze] upon the synagogues and study halls, for over there are the sources of Torah, which is compared to water.⁵⁷

footnotes: ⁵⁷ See Maseches Bava Kama 17a.

Bathed in milk. When they look into the judgment, they clarify the law truthfully, to justify the just, to give him what he deserves, and to condemn the guilty, to repay his [evil] way upon his head.

Well set in their fullness. In the fullness of the world. They wander over the entire earth,⁵⁸ gazing upon the good and the evil.⁵⁹ Another explanation, עֵינָיו symbolizes] Torah scholars,⁶⁰ whom the Holy One, Blessed Is He, designates as eyes to enlighten the world, just as the eyes enlighten man. “Like doves” that wander from dovecote to dovecote to seek their food, so do they [Torah scholars] go from the study hall of one sage to the study hall of another sage, to seek out explanations of Torah.

footnotes: ⁵⁸ See Zecharyah 4:10. ⁵⁹ See Mishlei 15:3. ⁶⁰ See Rashi in Maseches Ta’anis 24a.

Upon brooks of water. Upon study halls, which are the sources of the water of Torah.

Bathed in milk. Since he calls them [Torah scholars] eyes, and the eye is a feminine noun, “bathed” רוֹחֲצוֹת is in the feminine conjugation. They cleanse themselves with the milk of Torah and whiten⁶¹ its secrets and mysteries.

footnotes: ⁶¹ I.e., clarify.

Well set in their fullness. They resolve the matters appropriately. Another explanation, “His eyes,” [means] “its contents” עִנְיָנָיו=עֵינָיו; the sections of the Torah, the laws, and Mishnayos, are “like doves” which are beautiful in their walk, “upon brooks of water,” [i.e.,] in the study halls, “bathed in milk,” they are made clear as milk, as I have explained.

His cheeks. The commandments at Mount Sinai, where He showed them a friendly and smiling demeanor.

His lips are like roses. The commandments that He spoke in the Tent of Meeting, which were for appeasement and for atonement and for a pleasant fragrance; [these are] the law of the sin offering, the guilt offering, the meal offering,⁶² the burnt offering, and the peace offering.

footnotes: ⁶² Alternatively, “his lips” represent His prophets who spread His word like the fragrance of spices. (Metzudas Dovid)

His hands. The Tablets, which He gave with His right hand, and are His handiwork.⁶³

footnotes: ⁶³ See Shemos 32:16. The Tablets are symbolized by hands, each one with five fingers, corresponding to the five commandments on each Tablet. (Melo Haomer)

Rolls of gold. These are the commandments, about which it is said, “They are more desirable than gold, than even much fine gold.”⁶⁴ Rabbi Yehoshua the son of Nechemyah said, “They [i.e., the Tablets] were made miraculously; they were of sapphire, yet they were rolled גְּלִילֵי.” Another explanation [of ‘גְּלִילֵי’], because they [i.e., the Tablets] bring about מְגַלְגְּלוֹת much good to the world.

footnotes: ⁶⁴ Tehillim 19:11.

Studded with precious gems. For He included in the Ten Commandments the six hundred and thirteen commandments.⁶⁵ to the Ten Commandments.

footnotes: ⁶⁵ See Rashi in Shemos 24:12. There he quotes Rav Sa’adia Gaon’s Sefer Hamitzvos wherein he connects the 613 mitzvos

His innards sparkle like ivory. This is [Chumash] Vayikra which was placed in the center of the five books [i.e., the Pentateuch], like the intestines, which are set in the center of the body.

Sparkle like ivory overlaid with sapphires. It [Chumash Vayikra] appears as smooth as a block of ivory, and is arranged with many details, [e.g.] similar wordings, general principles, and inferences drawn from minor premises to major ones.

Set in sockets of fine gold. Rabbi Elazar Hakapar said, “This pillar has a capital above and a base below.” Rabbi Shmuel the son of Gada said, “The sections of the Torah have a capital above and a base below, and they are connected [to the sections] preceding them and [to the sections] after them, e.g., the sections of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee are [connected to] ‘And if you sell something,’⁶⁶ to inform you how severe a minor infraction of the Sabbatical year is,”⁶⁷ as it appears in Tractates Sukkah⁶⁸ and Arachin.⁶⁹ Also, for example [the section], “May Adonoy ... appoint a man over the assembly,”⁷⁰ is [connected to] “Command...My offering, My food.”⁷¹ Before you command Me about My children,⁷² command them about Me [i.e., My offering], and similarly, there are many. Therefore, it is stated, ‘His legs are like pillars of marble set in, etc.’”

footnotes: ⁶⁶ Vayikra 25:14. ⁶⁷ If one does business with produce during the Sabbatical year, he will eventually be forced to sell all his property. ⁶⁸ 40b. ⁶⁹ 30b. ⁷⁰ Bamidbar 27:16. ⁷¹ Ibid. 28:2. ⁷² To appoint a leader over the congregation of Yisroel.

His appearance is like Levanon. Whoever reflects and ponders over His words finds in them blossoms and sprouts, like a blooming forest. So are the words of Torah, whoever meditates over them constantly discovers new explanations in them.

Chosen. Selected, like the cedars, which are chosen for building and for strength and for height.⁷³

footnotes: ⁷³ Alternatively, referring to Bnei Yisroel, who became His “chosen” people at Mount Sinai when He gave us the Torah, as Scripture states in Shemos 19:5-6.

[The words of] his palate are sweet. His words are pleasant, [as in,] “And an incision for the dead you shall not make in your flesh ... I am Adonoy,”⁷⁴ faithful to pay reward. Is there a palate sweeter than this? Do not wound yourselves, and you will receive reward. [In addition,] “And when a wicked man repents from his wickedness and performs justice and righteousness, he shall live because of them.”⁷⁵ Iniquities are accounted to him as merits [after he repents]. Is there a palate sweeter than this?

footnotes: ⁷⁴ Vayikra 19:28. ⁷⁵ Yechezkeil 33:19.