Another matter: “Your hair is like a flock of goats that streams down [shegaleshu] from Mount Gilad” (Song of Songs 4:1) – the mountain from whose midst you took away [shegelashten], I rendered a memorial for the nations of the world. Which is this? These are the sacrificial offerings. What is it that you took from its midst?
“Your teeth are like a flock of ordered ewes” (Song of Songs 4:2) – defined matters, “the one lamb you shall offer in the morning, [and the second lamb you shall offer in the afternoon]” (Numbers 28:4). “That have come up from bathing” (Song of Songs 4:2) – that continually atone for Israel. “That are all paired” (Song of Songs 4:2) – as we learned: A ram is offered with eleven…with fifteen (Yoma 26b).58The mishna states that when a ram is brought as a burnt-offering, eleven priests participate in bringing the different parts of the offering to the altar.
It then states that twenty-four priests would participate in the offering of a bull, of which fifteen would assist in carrying the limbs of the bull to the altar. The midrash is calling attention to the fact that there were clear guidelines delineating all of these aspects of the offerings, and that the guidelines were tailored to the particular offering under discussion. “And there is none missing among them” (Song of Songs 4:2) – as we learned: The intestines, the fine flour, and the wine are carried by three each (Yoma 26b).