Ecclesiastes Rabbah - Specimens of Exegesis

Specimens of Exegesis

I made me great works, said Solomon; 'I made greater works than the works of my fathers'; as it is written, 'The king made a great throne of ivory' (I Kings x. 18). I builded me houses; as it is written, 'It came to pass at the end of twenty years, when Solomon had built the two houses' (ib. ix. 10). I planted me vineyards; as it is written, 'Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon' (Cant. viii. 11). I made me gardens and orchards , and I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruits, even pepper.

R. Abba bar Kahana said: 'Solomon commanded spirits whom he sent to India to fetch water for watering. I made me pools of water: fish-ponds wherewith to water a forest full of trees;—this is the land of Israel; as it is written, "And the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon" (I Kings x. 17). I got me servants and maidens; as it is written, "All the Nethinim, and the children of Solomon's servants, were three hundred ninety and two" (Neh. vii. 60). I had servants born in my house; as it is written, "and those officers provided victual for King Solomon . . . they lacked nothing" (I Kings v. 7).

R. Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: 'At Solomon's table there were carrots in summer and cucumbers in winter; they were eaten throughout the year. I had great possessions of great and small cattle; as it is written (I Kings v. 3), "u-barburim abusim." What does that mean? The scholars say, "Animals from Barbary" . . . . I gathered me also silver and gold; as it is written, "And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones" (I Kings x. 27). Is it possible?—like the stones on the roads and in the yards, and they were not stolen? No, there were stones eight and ten ells long. And the peculiar treasure of kings; as it is written, "And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon" (II Chron. ix. 23),—והמדינות is to be read מדיינת, that is, the Queen of Sheba, who disputed with him in her wisdom, and asked him questions, and could not vanquish him; as it is written, "She came to prove him with hard questions" (I Kings x. 1). I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men,—baths (δημόσια) and male and female demons who heated them.'

R. Ḥiyya bar Nehemiah said: 'Did Scripture intend to make us acquainted with Solomon's wealth? It probably refers only to the Torah: I made me great works; as it is written, "And the tables were the work of God" (Ex. xxxii. 16). I builded me houses,—those are synagogues and schoolhouses. I planted me vineyards,—those are the rows of scholars, who sit in rows in the vineyard. I made me gardens and orchards ,—those are the great mishnayot, such as the mishnah of R. Ḥiyya Rabbah and that of R. Hoshaiah Rabbah, and that of Bar Ḳappara. I planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit,—that is the Talmud, which is contained in them. I made me pools of water,—those are the derashot. To water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees,—those are the children who learn.'

R. Naḥman said: 'That is the Talmud. To water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees,—those are the scholars. I got me servants and maidens,—those are the nations; as it is written, "And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit" (Book of Joel iii. 2 ). And in the Messianic time the nations shall be subject to Israel; as it is written in Isa. lxi. 5, "And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks." And I had servants born in my house,—that is the Holy Ghost (Shechinah?). Also I had great possessions of great and small cattle,—those are the sacrifices; as it is written, "From the cattle and sheep ye shall sacrifice" (Lev. i. 2, Hebr.). I gathered me also silver and gold,—those are the words of the Torah; as it is written, "More to be desired are they than gold" (Ps. xix. 11). And the peculiar treasure of kings; as it is written, "By me kings reign" (Prov. viii. 15). והמדינות is to be read מדיינין ,—those are the scholars who dispute in the Halakah. "I gat me שרים ושרות "—those are the toseftas. "And the delights,"—those are the haggadot, which are the delights of Scripture.'

R. Joshua b. Levi interpreted the passage as referring to Israel on its entry into the country: ' I made me great works,—"When ye be come into the land of your habitations . . . and will make a burnt offering . . . unto the Lord" (Num. xv. 2, 3). I builded me houses,—"and houses full of all good things" (Deut. vi. 11). I planted me vineyards,—"vineyards and olive-trees which thou plantedst not" (ib.).'

Hadrian the Accursed said to R. Joshua b. Hananiah: 'The Torah says: "A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack anything in it" (ib. viii. 9). Can you bring me three things that I ask for?' 'What are they?' 'Pepper, pheasants, and silk .' He brought pepper from Niẓḥanah, pheasants from Ẓaidan, or, as another says, from 'Akberi, and silk from Gush Ḥalab.

R. Levi said: ' To water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees. The land of Israel did not even lack cane for arrows. I got me servants and maidens,—"And a mixed multitude" (Ex. xii. 38). And had servants born in my house,—those are the Gibeonites, whom Joshua turned into hewers of wood and drawers of water (Josh. ix. 27). I also had great possessions of great and small cattle,—"a very great multitude of cattle" (Num. xxxii. 1). I gathered me also silver and gold; as it is written, "He brought them forth also with silver and gold" (Ps. cv. 37). And the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces,—that is the booty of Og and Midian.'"