The Aramaic Bible: Targums in their Historical Context

ALEXANDER The Targum of the Song of Songs 333
Songs: shir ha-shirim asher li-shelomoh; but more obliquely it helps
to establish the historical framework for the subsequent exposition. It
cleverly strikes a note of imminent eschatological hope, which will be
heard again and again throughout the Targum: Solomon's song is the
ninth song; the only song that remains to be sung is the song which the
exiles will sing when they are redeemed from captivity.
The first major section of the Targum runs from 1.4 to 3.4 and
covers the exodus, the wilderness wanderings and the setting up of the
Tabernacle. The same chronological period is covered, in effect, three
times over, in 1.4-8, in 1.9-2.7 and in 2.8-3.4. Each of these subsections
explores the pattern of deliverance (the exodus), sin (the incident
of the Golden Calf) and atonement (the setting up of the Tabernacle).
The second major section runs from 3.5 to 5.1. After a brief allusion
to the entry into the land (inspired, no doubt, by Song 3.6, 'Who
is this coming up from the wilderness?'), the targumist jumps to the
time of Solomon. The account of Solomon's 'litter' and his 'palanquin'
made 'from the wood of Lebanon' (3.7-11) is read as a cryptic
description of the building and dedication of the Temple. This account
of the Temple balances and echoes the account of the Tabernacle in
the previous section of the Targum. The praises of the bride in 4.1-15
are interpreted as an elaborate description of the ideal, theocratic
polity of Israel, in which the targumist depicts the king, the commoners,
the priests and the scholars as living in harmony under the
rule of Torah. This is, arguably, the pivot of the targumist's reading
of the Song. For him Israel as a polity reached near perfection in the
early years of Solomon's reign. Echoes of the language which he uses
here can be found earlier in his account of Israel under Moses in
Tabernacle times, and later in his account of the Second Temple and
of the messianic age.
The third major section runs from 5.2-7.9 and corresponds to the
Babylonian exile, the return under Cyrus, and the rebuilding of the
Temple. Once again the pattern of sin, exile, repentance and restoration
of communion is uncovered. The two long descriptions of the
beauties of the bride in 6.4-10 and 7.1-9 are exploited (following the
repetition of 4.1-2 at 6.5-6) to assert the re-establishment of the ideal
Solomonic polity in the post-exilic period. This leads him, somewhat
surprisingly, to a flattering and positive evaluation of the Hasmoneans.
The final major section runs from 7.12-8.14. It covers the 'exile of
Edom' and the coming of the messiah, who will, so it is hinted,