Song of Songs Rabbah 7:6

¹“Your head is upon you like the Carmel, and the locks of your head are like purple wool; the king is bound in the tresses” (Song of Songs 7:6). “Your head is upon you like the Carmel,” the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: “Your head [ roshekh ] is upon you like the Carmel”—the indigent [ rashim ] among you are as dear to Me as Elijah who climbed Mount Carmel, as it is stated: “Elijah climbed to the peak of the Carmel and he placed his face between his knees” (I Kings 18:42). Why did he place his face between his knees? He said before the Holy One blessed be He: We have no merit, look to the covenant. “And the locks [ dalat ] of your head [ roshekh ] are like purple wool.” The Holy One blessed be He said: The poor [ dalim ] and the indigent [ rashim ] in Israel are as dear to me as David, as it is stated: “The feeble among them will on that day be like David” (Zechariah 12:8). Some say like Daniel, about whom it is written: “They clothed Daniel in purple wool” (Daniel 5:29). “The king is bound in the tresses,” this is the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, in whose regard it is written: “The Lord reigns, He is clothed in grandeur” (Psalms 93:1). “Bound in the tresses [ barehatim ],” as He bound Himself with an oath that He would rest His Divine Presence in the midst of Israel, in the beams [ barehatim ] of Jacob our patriarch. By whose merit? Rabbi Abba bar Kahana and Rabbi Levi, one said: By the merit of Abraham our patriarch, as it is stated: “Abraham ran . to the cattle” (Genesis 18:7). And one said: By the merit of Jacob our patriarch, in whose regard it is written: “He displayed the rods [that he had peeled in the troughs [ barehatim ]]” (Genesis 30:38). Rabbi Berekhya said: “King,” this is Moses, as it is stated: “He became king in Yeshurun” (Deuteronomy 33:5). “In the tresses [ barehatim ],” as it was decreed upon him that he would not enter the Land of Israel. For what reason? It was due to the water troughs [ barehatim ] of the waters of contention. That is what is written: “They are the waters of contention” (Numbers 20:13). Rabbi Neḥemya said: “King,” this is Moses, as it is stated: “He became king in Yeshurun” (Deuteronomy 33:5). The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: ‘I appointed you king over Israel and it is the way of a king to issue decrees and have others fulfill them. Thus, you shall issue decrees upon Israel and they will fulfill them.’ That is what is written: “Command the children of Israel” (Leviticus 24:2).