“. . . every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” Matthew 13:52

My beloved is like a gazelle (Song of Songs 2:9). Rabbi Isaac said, “The community of Israel said before the Holy one, blessed be He: ‘Sovereign of the Universe, you say to us, My love, my love—You give us the greeting of love first. Just as a gazelle leaps from mountain to mountain and valley to valley, from tree to tree and fence to fence, so the Holy One, blessed by He, leapt from Egypt to the Red Sea and from the Red Sea to Sinai, and from Sinai he leaps to future redemption.” (Song of Songs Rabbah 2.9.1)

On its face, the Song of Songs is just a love song. There is no mention of God or worship. But the sages of Israel saw it as an expression of the mutual love between God and Israel. So, according to the sages, how does the Song function as a part of Scripture?

One answer comes in a beautiful collection of thoughts about the Song assembled in the seventh century C.E. This collection is called the Song of Songs Rabbah. For centuries, numerous stories and biblical interpretations based on the Song of Songs had been passed down. But Song of Songs Rabbah was the first to bring a large number of them together in one collection This anthology is arranged as a verse-by-verse commentary on the Song.