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.
Cant. iv. 16. According to one opinion in the Midrash (p. 25 b, line 13 from the bottom) this applies to the Messiah, Who comes from the north, and builds the Temple, which is in the south. See also Bemidbar R. 13, p. 48 b.
On Cant. v. 10 Yalkut remarks that He is white to Israel, and red to the Gentiles, according to Isaiah lxiii. 2.
On Cant. vi. 10 Yalkut (vol. ii. p. 184 b) has some beautiful observations, first, likening Israel in the wilderness, and God's mighty deeds there, to the morning;and then adding that, according to another view, this morning-light is the redemption of the Messiah: For as, when the morning rises, the darkness flees before it, so shall darkness fall upon the kingdoms of this world when the Messiah comes. And yet again, as the sun and moon appear, so will the Kingdom of the Messaih also appear - the commentation going on to trace farther illustrations.
Cant. vii. 6. The Midrash thus comments on it (among other explanations): How fair in the world to come, how pleasant in the days of the Messiah!
On Cant. vii. 13, the Targum has it: When it shall please God to deliver His people from capitivity, then shall it be said to the Messiah: The time of captivity is past, and the merit of the just shall be sweet before Me like the odour of balsam.'