Texts in Conversation
In Revelation, heaven sings a new song for the people the Lamb has redeemed. The Aramaic Targum Song of Songs counts ten great songs in Israel's history and saves the last one for the day the exiles are finally redeemed.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Revelation 5:9
New Testament
8 and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground before the Lamb. Each of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints). 9 They were singing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. 10 You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
Targum Song of Solomon 1:1
Targum Song of Songs
Targum
1 Songs and praises which Solomon the prophet, king of Israel, spoke by the Spirit of Prophecy before the Lord of all the World, The Lord Ten songs were spoken in this world, this song being the best of them all. The first song Adam spoke at the time his guilt was forgiven him and the Sabbath Day arrived and protected him. He opened his mouth and said, “A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath Day” (Psalm 92). The second song Moses said with the children of Israel at the time the Master of the World divided the Reed Sea for them. All of them opened their mouths together and spoke the song, as it is written: “Then sang Moses and the Israelites” (Exodus 1). The third song the children of Israel spoke at the time the well of water 2 was given to them, as it is written, “Then sang Israel” (Numbers 17). The fourth song Moses, the prophet, uttered, when his time had come to depart from the world. And by it he reproved the people of the house of Israel, as it is written, “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak” (Deuteronomy 1). The fifth song Joshua, son of Nun, spoke when he waged war in Gibeon, and the sun and moon stood for him thirty-six hours and they ceased to utter the song [of their praise]. He opened his mouth and sang the song, as it is written: “Thus sang Joshua before The Lord” (Joshua 12). The sixth song Barak and Deborah said on the day The Lord delivered Sisera and his camp into the hands of the Children of Israel, as it is written: “Then sang Deborah and Barak, son of Abinoam” (Judges 1). The seventh song Hannah said at the time she was granted a son from before The Lord, as it is written: “And Hannah prayed in the Spirit of prophecy and said” (1Samuel 1). The eighth song David, king of Israel, said because of all the miracles which The Lord had performed for him. He opened his mouth and spoke a song, as it is written, “And David praised in prophecy before The Lord” (2Samuel 1). The ninth song Solomon, King of Israel, said by the Holy Spirit, before the Master of all the World, The Lord (Song of Songs). And the tenth song the children of the Exile are destined to say at the time they are redeemed from Exile, as it is written and explained by the hand of Isaiah the prophet, as it is written: “You shall have this song for joy, as on the night the feast of Passover is sanctified, and for gladness of heart, as the people who go to appear before The Lord three times a year with varieties of music and the sound of the drum, to come up to the mountain of The Lord and to worship before The Lord, the Strength of Israel” (Isaiah 29).
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Notes and References
“... 5:9 A: They sang a new song. Israel will sing a new song only in the days of the Messiah as a song of praise for the wonders of his redemption. Targum Song of Songs 1:1 enumerates ten songs of Israel, among which the tenth and last is the song that “the sons of the exile will say at the time when they will go up from the exile” (to Jerusalem, so in the days of the Messiah). ‖ Targum Isaiah 26:1: “In that time a new song of praise will be sung in the land of the house of Judah: ‘We have a city of strength, salvation (redemption) is set on its walls and mercy.’ ” ...”
Strack, Hermann L., and Paul Billerbeck
A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, Volume 3: Romans through Revelation
(p. 1605) Lexham Press, 2023
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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