Why Rebecca Was a Lily Among Thorns and Abraham Stood as a Wall

Shir HaShirim Rabbah, the classical Midrash on Song of Songs, holds two passages on how individual righteousness operates against hostile surroundings through specific structural images. One passage interprets Song of Songs 2:2's like a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the girls as Rabbi Yitzchak's reading of Rebecca, with Genesis 25:20's Rebecca daughter of Betuel the Aramean sister of Laban the Aramean from Padan Aram emphasized three times to mark her father, brother, and region as ramai swindlers, with Rebecca rising as the lily among that thorny patch and Rabbi Pinchas extending the swindler-label across the whole region. The other passage interprets Song of Songs 8:9-10's if she is a wall we will build upon her a silver turret as Abraham standing firm in conviction with God establishing him through silver turrets, while if she is a door dal in mitzvot then God only stands with him briefly like a fleeting tzura drawing, with Abraham declaring I am a wall and my breasts as the offspring he raises to righteousness.

Both passages share one structural claim. Individual righteousness operates against hostile surroundings through specific structural images that the midrash documents.

What it means for Rebecca to be the lily among the thorns

Shir HaShirim Rabbah's account of Rebecca opens with Song of Songs 2:2: like a lily among the thorns, so is my love among the girls. Rabbi Yitzchak uses this verse to understand Rebecca's unique situation. Genesis 25:20: Isaac was forty years old, and he took Rebecca, daughter of Betuel the Aramean of Padan Aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean. The Midrash Rabbah tradition records the structural question. Why does the Torah emphasize that Rebecca's father was an Aramean, her brother was an Aramean, and that she was from Padan Aram?

The structural answer is operational. They were ethically flexible. The text uses the term ramai, which means swindler or deceiver. Her father was a swindler, her brother was a swindler, the people of Padan Aram were known as swindlers. From this thorny patch of less-than-reputable characters emerged Rebecca, a woman of exceptional righteousness. She was surrounded by dishonesty, yet she remained honest. She was immersed in a culture of deception, yet she chose integrity. The structural lily-among-thorns image is operational.

How Rabbi Pinchas extended the swindler-label across the whole region

Rabbi Pinchas, in the name of Rabbi Simon, takes this further. He points to the verse where Isaac sends Jacob to Padan Aram, to Laban son of Betuel the Aramean. The inclusion of the Aramean at the end implicates everyone mentioned, Laban, Betuel, the whole region, in this culture of trickery. Etz Yosef clarifies that Jacob himself did not succumb to their corrupt ways.

The structural point is operational. It is about the strength of character it takes to rise above one's circumstances, to choose good even when surrounded by bad. Rebecca is that lily among the thorns, a beacon of light in a potentially dark place. The midrash compiles this as the structural pattern. Righteousness against hostile surroundings is the operational mechanism by which the matriarchal line was sustained. Genesis 25:20's triple-emphasis on Aramean ancestry encodes the structural hostility that Rebecca rose against.

What it means for Abraham to be the wall

Shir HaShirim Rabbah's account of Abraham as wall takes up the parallel structural picture. The verse is Song of Songs 8:9-10: if she is a wall, we will build upon her a silver turret, and if she is a door, we will affix upon her a cedar panel. I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers, then I was in his eyes as one who finds peace. Shir HaShirim Rabbah interprets the wall as Abraham himself.

The structural question is operational. What if Abraham stands firm in his convictions, unyielding like a wall? The answer is we will build upon her a silver turret. God will rescue him and establish him firmly in this world. The structural image is the firm wall that receives the silver turret as reward. The midrash compiles this as the operational mechanism by which Abraham's standing was secured. His firmness was the structural precondition for the silver-turret reward.

How the door-versus-wall framing encodes the conditional structural reward

The text continues with the alternative. If she is a door delet, we will affix upon her a cedar panel. The interpretation takes a turn. If Abraham is dal, poor in mitzvot, and wavers in his actions like a door swinging back and forth, then God will only stand with him for a short time, like a fleeting drawing tzura. The play on words, delet/dal/tzura, adds another layer of richness. This is not to say that Abraham was ever poor in mitzvot, but rather serves as a hypothetical to emphasize the importance of unwavering commitment.

Abraham declares, I am a wall, and I will establish my good deeds like a wall. And my breasts are like towers. The breasts represent Abraham's offspring, those he will nourish and raise to be righteous. He will establish groups of righteous individuals, like himself, throughout the world. God's response is operational. Just as you descended into the fiery furnace, so I will extricate you intact. This is a direct reference to the story of Abraham and Nimrod, where Abraham was thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship idols. Genesis 15:7: I am the Lord who took you out of Ur of the Chaldeans. Ur in Aramaic also means fire. The verse is a reminder of Abraham's trial by fire and God's promise of salvation.

How Rebecca-lily and Abraham-wall share one structural principle

The two passages converge on the same kind of structural righteousness-against-surroundings. Individual righteousness operates against hostile surroundings through specific structural images. Rebecca as the lily among the thorns encodes her righteousness amid the Aramean swindler-region. Abraham as the wall encodes his unyielding conviction against the idolatrous Ur. Both situations show that the cosmic system tracks individual righteousness through structural images that highlight the surrounding hostility.

The Shir HaShirim Rabbah tradition teaches the reader that they may be a lily or a wall in their own surroundings. The two passages close with a composite image. A Rebecca rising as the lily among the thorns while her Aramean father, brother, and region carried the structural label of ramai swindlers. An Abraham standing as the wall whose silver turret was the structural reward for unyielding conviction while his offspring became towers of righteousness and Ur of the Chaldeans encoded the trial by fire. A reader, situated within their own surroundings, recognizing that the cosmic system tracks their righteousness through the structural images the midrash documents.