Reading and Translating Shir Ha-Shirim
Thursday, April 21, 2011
How to reconcile the literal and allegorical readings of Shir Ha-Shirim (Song of Songs, henceforth SHS) was a problem that occupied our greatest exegetical minds. Rashi, the greatest among them, is a prime and fascinating example. Fortunately, in the introduction to his commentary on SHS — a text that should be required reading for any student of Jewish biblical exegesis — he spells out his methodology with great clarity. From the unedited version of Rashi’s introduction, it will be obvious that his approach is a conscious hybrid of contextual, plain-sense interpretation and midrashic embellishment.
The introductory paragraphs to SHS in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash (pp. 1263ff.) quote at some length from Rashi’s introduction. Even so, the citation is partial — Rashi’s words have been truncated. In an apparent act of ideological censorship, the editor omitted the opening and most critical lines of the text.
Such editorial tampering is glaring and surprisingly brazen, considering that unedited versions of Rashi’s introduction are widely available to anyone with a basic Jewish home library or an internet browser. The original text can be found in standard editions of Chumash Mikraot Gedolot, at the back of the Vayikra volume.
Here is my translation of the “missing” portion of Rashi’s introduction:
“God has spoken once; twice have I heard it (Ps. 62:12): A single verse of Scripture may bear multiple interpretations” (Sanhedrin 34a). After all is said and done, no scriptural verse may be interpreted in a way that deviates completely from the simple, literal meaning. While the prophets spoke allegorically, one must interpret their allegories according to the structure of the text and the sequence of the verses, one following the next . . . I have endeavored to preserve the literal meaning of the text and to interpret the verses in sequence. I shall also cite the midrashim of our Sages, each one in its appropriate place . . .
From Realia Judaica, here.