Critical Essay | Critical Essay by R. Abraham b. Isaac ha-Levi TaMaKH

Critical Essay by R. Abraham b. Isaac ha-Levi TaMaKH

SOURCE: An introduction and "Chapter I," in Commentary on the Song of Songs, translated by Leon A. Feldman, Van Gorcum & Comp., 1970, pp. 50-3, 57-75.

In the following commentary, written sometime in the fourteenth century, the author provides both a literal interpretation of the Song's "plain meaning," and a parallel "occult interpretation" in which the Song is construed as an allegory of Jewish exile.

Here Begins The Commentary Of R. Abraham Halevi B. R. Isaac Ta Makh …:

The wise king has said: "Honor not thyself in the presence of a king and stand not in the place of the great." This precept should suffice to keep us from overreaching ourselves, particularly in conjectural matters; so were we instructed by God speaking through the greatest of prophets: "Lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze." It is very dangerous, indeed, to probe into matters which are the very foundation of our faith; it is also presumptuous to write books for the instruction...
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