Song of Songs Rabbah 5:15

¹“His calves are pillars of marble, set on sockets of fine gold; his appearance is like Lebanon, choice like cedars” (Song of Songs 5:15). “His calves are pillars of marble”; “his calves” – this is the world; “pillars of marble [ shesh ]” – as it was established in six [ shisha ] days, as it is written: “For in six days the Lord made…” (Exodus 31:17). “Set on sockets of fine gold” – these are the portions of the Torah that are expounded with what precedes them and are expounded with what follows them. To what are they comparable? To a pillar that has a base beneath it and a capital above it. So too, the portions of the Torah are expounded with what precedes them and what follows them. From where [is it derived that they are expounded with] what precedes them? As it is stated: “If a man lies carnally with a woman” (Leviticus 19:20). What is written thereafter? “When you will come into the land and plant any food tree [you shall consider its fruit forbidden; three years it shall be forbidden for you, it shall not be eaten]” (Leviticus 19:23). What does one have to do with the next? Rather, when [a laborer] hoes he gradually becomes a member of the household, and because he enters and exits [the homeowner’s] house, he becomes suspected regarding his maidservant. He says: Am I not liable to bring a sin offering, am I not liable to bring a guilt offering? I will bring a sin offering, I will bring a guilt offering. Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Those who practice leniency regarding maidservants in this world are destined to be hung by the crowns of their heads in the future. That is what is written: “Indeed, God will crush the heads of His enemies, hairy skulls of those walking in their guilt” (Psalms 68:22). What is “walking in their guilt”? His liability is with him. [People] say: Let this man go in his liability. They are expounded with what follows them; how so? As it is written: “Three years it shall be forbidden for you, it shall not be eaten” (Leviticus 19:23). What is written thereafter? “You shall not eat over the blood; you shall not practice divination…” (Leviticus 19:26). The Holy One blessed be He said: For orla you wait three years, but for your wife, you do not wait until she purifies from her menstruation? For orla you wait three years, but for your animal, you do not wait until its blood is completely squeezed out? ), and to the prohibition of eating meat if the blood of the animal was not fully drained. Thus, the midrash derives from the juxtaposition of the verses that just as one waits for the fruit of the fourth year, he must wait in order to avoid these prohibitions, despite the fact that people might be less inclined to wait for them (see Etz Yosef ; Midrash HaMevo’ar ). Who upheld the mitzva of blood? Saul began to uphold the mitzva of blood. That is what is written: “They told Saul, saying: Behold, the people are sinning to the Lord by eating with the blood” (I Samuel 14:33). “Saul said: Spread out among the people and say to them: Let each man bring to me his ox and each man his sheep, and you shall slaughter here [ bazeh ] and eat” (I Samuel 14:34). What is bazeh ? The Rabbis say: He showed them a knife fourteen fingerbreadths long: bet – two, zayin – seven, heh – five; that is fourteen. He said to them: Slaughter and eat in accordance with this protocol. When did the Holy One blessed be He reward him? In the Philistine war, as it is written: “It was on the day of war that there was not to be found sword or spear in the possession of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan; but they could be found with Saul…” (I Samuel 13:22). “It was not found,” and you say: “It was found”? Who provided it to him? Rabbi Ḥagai [said] in the name of Rabbi Yitzḥak: An angel provided it for him. The Rabbis say: The Holy One blessed be He provided it for him. It is written: “Saul built an altar to the Lord; he was the first to begin building [altars to the Lord]” (I Samuel 14:35). The members of the early generations built numerous altars: Noah built an altar, Abraham built an altar, Isaac built an altar, Jacob built an altar, Moses built an altar, Joshua built an altar, and you say “he was the first to begin building [altars]”? Rather, he was the first of the kings to do so. Rabbi Yudan said: Because he devoted himself to this matter, the verse ascribes to him as though he were the first to build an altar to the Lord. ²Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi Yosei bar Lakoneya [said]: In this world one person builds a building and another demolishes it, one person plants a sapling and another eats from it. However in the future, what is written? “They will not build and have another inhabit, they will not plant and have another eat.… they will not exert themselves in vain, and they will not give birth to panic; for they are the descendants of the blessed of the Lord…” (Isaiah 65:22–23). “Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them will recognize them, for they are the descendants of the blessed of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:9).