550, A.D.—The Targum or Chaldee paraphrase is the first entire commentary upon the Song of Songs which has been handed down to us. The author is unknown. Kitto erroneously affirms, that it was “made several centuries before the time of Christ, and probably before the traditionary interpretation of the author himself (i.e. the author of this Song) would entirely be lost.” [33] The inferior style in which it is written, the copious use it makes of legends of a very late date, and especially the mention it makes of the Gemara (Ch. i. 2), which was not completed till nearly the middle of the sixth century, prove most distinctly that this paraphrase was made in the sixth century. Hävernick, [34] however, is equally wrong in affirming that the Mahomedans are mentioned in Ch. i. 7. That the sons of Ishmael here alluded to are not the Mahomedans, is evident from Ch. vi. 7. of the same paraphrase, where we are told that these ‏בְּנוֹי דְיִשְׁמָעֵאל‎ headed by Alexander the Great, came to wage war against Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabees. The Targum takes the Song of Songs as an allegory, describing prophetically the history of the Jewish nation, beginning with their Exodus from Egypt, and detailing their doings and sufferings, down to the coming of the Messiah, and the building of the third Temple. Thus, according to this allegory, Ch. i. 3, describes Jehovah’s fame, which went abroad in consequence of the wonders he wrought when bringing the Israelites out of Egypt; verse 12 describes the departure of Moses to receive the two tables of stone, and how the Israelites, in the mean time, made the golden calf; verse 14 describes the pardon of that sin, and the erection of the Tabernacle; Ch. iii. 6–11, describes the passage of the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua, over the Jordan, their attacking and conquering the Canaanites, and the building of Solomon’s Temple; Ch. v. 2, describes the Babylonian captivity; Ch. vi. 2, the deliverance of Israel through Cyrus; and the building of the second Temple; Ch. vi. 7, &c., describes the battles of the Maccabees; Ch. vii. 11, 12, the present dispersion of the Jews, and their future anxiety to learn the time of their restoration; Ch. viii. 5, &c., describes the resurrection of the dead, the final ingathering of Israel, the building of the third Temple, &c., &c. “The beloved,” according to the Targum, is the Lord; “the loved one” is the Congregation of Israel; “the companions of the beloved” (Ch. i. 7) are the Edomites and the Ishmaelites; “the daughters of Jerusalem” are, in Ch. i. 5, the Gentile nations; in ii. 7, iii. 5, viii. 4, the Congregation of Israel; and in v. 8, the prophets; “the brothers of the loved one” are the false prophets; “the little sister,” in viii. 8, is the people of Israel; the speakers in the same verse are the angels; the speaker in viii. 13, is the Lord; “the companions,” in the same verse are the Sanhedrim.