Shir Ha-Shirim Zutta - Characteristics

Characteristics

The De Rossi Manuscript No. 541, at Parma, was discovered by S. Buber to contain, among other things, midrashim on four of the five "megillot": Canticles, Book of Ruth, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes; these he published (Berlin, 1894) under the title of "Midrash Zuṭa," to distinguish them from the "Midrash Rabbah." At the same time the midrash to Canticles only was published by S. Schechter, under the title "Agadat Shir ha-Shirim" (J.Q.R. vi.-viii; reprinted, Cambridge, 1896). Shir ha-Shirim Zuṭa, or Agadat Shir ha-Shirim, does not at all resemble Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah, or Midrash Ḥazita. The former is an uneven homiletic commentary on the whole text, and does not contain any proems; some verses are treated at length, while others are dismissed very briefly, sometimes only one word being discussed.

Although the two collections contain a few parallels, the Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah does not contain those numerous haggadot which especially distinguish the second collection. In this latter they occur in the first verse of the first chapter, in the fourth verse of the same chapter, in the fifth verse of the same chapter (a long homily on charity), and in verses 2 and 6 of the fifth chapter (Messianic interpretations). The Messianic haggadot may be derived from the Pirḳe Rabbi Eli'ezer; the name of R. Eleazar (or Eliezer) quoted in the part on Cant. v. 2, as well as the ascription of a Messianic apocalypse to Simeon b. Sheṭah, is in support of this supposition. Other passages are found in the Babylonian Talmud, the Pesiḳtot, the Midrash Rabbot, the Mekilta, and the Abot de-Rabbi Natan.