פירוש 'לקח טוב' על שיר השירים: מקומו בתולדות פרשנות שיר השירים ויחסו לפירוש רש"י למגילה

For centuries, no systematic literal commentary was written on the Song of Songs. The emphasis in Jewish exegesis was always on allegorical interpretations. This article addresses the commentaries of the first two pioneers who departed from the allegorical approach: Rabbi Tubia ben Eliezer, compiler of the Midrash Leqah Tov, and Rashi (Rabbi Shelomo Yitzhaki), comparing their exegetical approaches and pointing out their respective uniqueness, with emphasis on the approach of R. Tubia, which has been neglected in scholarship. Contrary to common opinion, credit for the groundbreaking first literal commentary on Song of Songs belongs not to Rashi, but rather to R. Tubia, and to his father, R. Eliezer. We posit that these authors were influenced by the Byzantine school of literal exegesis, and might well have belonged to it. They were the first to propose both a literal commentary on Song of Songs and also to attempt a systematic allegorical interpretation of the text.