The last clause of Eccl. i. 11 is applied to the days of the Messiah in the Targum.
Eccl. vii. 24 is thus paraphrased in the Targum: 'Behold, it is remote from the sons of men
that they should know what was done from the beginning of the world, but a mystery is
the day of death - and the day when shall come King Messiah, who can find it out by his
wisdom?'
In the Midr. on Eccl. xi. 8 it is noted that, however many years a man might study, his
learning would be empty before the teaching of Messiah. In the Midr. on Eccl. xii. 1 it is
noted that the evil days are those of the woes of Messiah.
Canticles. Here we have first the Talmudic passage (Sheb. 35 b ) in which the principle is
laid down, that whenever throughout that book Solomon is named, except in chap. viii.
12, it applies, not to Solomon, but to Him Who was His peace (there is here a play on
these words, and on the name Solomon).
To Cant . i. 8 the Targum makes this addition: 'They shall be nourished in the captivity,
until the time that I shall send to them the King Messiah, Who will feed them in
quietness.'
So also on verse 17 the Targum contrasts the Temple built by Solomon with the far
superior Temple to be built in the days of the Messiah, of which the beams were to be
made of the cedars of Paradise.
Cant . ii. 8, although applied by most authorities to Moses, is by others referred to the
Messiah (Shir haShirim R., ed. Warsh., p. 15 a, about the middle; Pesiqta, ed. Buber, p.
47 b). Cant . ii. 9 is Messianically applied in Pesiqta, ed. Buber, p. 49, a and b.
The same may be said of verse 10; while in connection with verse 12, in similar
application, Is. lii. 7 is quoted.
In connection with verse 13, in the same Midrash (p. 17 a ), Rabbi Chija bar Abba speaks
of a great matter as happening close to the days of the Messiah, viz., that the wicked
should be destroyed, quoting in regard to it Is. iv. 3.
Cant . iii. 11, 'the day of his espousals.' In Yalkut on the passage (vol. ii. p. 178 d ) this is
explained: 'the day of the Messiah, because the Holy One, blessed be His name, is
likened to a bridegroom; "as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride"' - and 'the day of
the gladness of his heart,' as the day when the Sanctuary is rebuilt, and Jerusalem is
redeemed.
On Cant . iv. 5 the Targum again introduces the twofold Messiah, the one the son of
David, and the other the son of Ephraim.