Midrash
Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:11 שיר השירים רבה ב׳:י״א
Part of: Chapter 2
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כִּי הִנֵּה הַסְּתָו עָבָר, אֵלּוּ אַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה שֶׁנִּגְזְרוּ עַל אֲבוֹתֵינוּ בְּמִצְרַיִם. הַגֶּשֶׁם חָלַף הָלַךְ לוֹ, אֵלּוּ מָאתַיִם וְעֶשֶׂר שָׁנִים, וְלֹא הוּא הַגֶּשֶׁם וְלֹא הוּא הַסְּתָו. אָמַר רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא עִקַּר טַרְחוּתָא מִטְרָא הוּא, כָּךְ עִקַּר שִׁעְבּוּדָן שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּמִצְרַיִם שְׁמוֹנִים וְשֵׁשׁ שָׁנִים הָיוּ מִשָּׁעָה שֶׁנּוֹלְדָה מִרְיָם [פרושה, שלכך נקרא שמה מרים, על שום שנאמר (שמות א, יד): וימררו את חייהם, כי מרים לשון מרור הוא].
“For, behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone” (Song of Songs 2:11).
“For, behold, the winter is past,” these are the four hundred years that were decreed upon our ancestors in Egypt.107See Genesis 15:13. “The rain is over and gone,” these are the two hundred and ten years.108This was the actual length of the exile and enslavement in Egypt. Is the rain not identical to the winter?109In Israel, winter is the rainy season. Rabbi Tanḥuma said: The primary trouble [of the winter] is the rain. Similarly, the main enslavement of Israel was eighty-six years, from the time Miriam was born. vaymareru] their lives” (Exodus 1:14), as Miriam is an expression of bitterness [maror]>.
“For, behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone” (Song of Songs 2:11).
“For, behold, the winter is past,” these are the four hundred years that were decreed upon our ancestors in Egypt.107See Genesis 15:13. “The rain is over and gone,” these are the two hundred and ten years.108This was the actual length of the exile and enslavement in Egypt. Is the rain not identical to the winter?109In Israel, winter is the rainy season. Rabbi Tanḥuma said: The primary trouble [of the winter] is the rain. Similarly, the main enslavement of Israel was eighty-six years, from the time Miriam was born. vaymareru] their lives” (Exodus 1:14), as Miriam is an expression of bitterness [maror]>.