167. “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.” There are seven words here [in Hebrew], corresponding to the seven degrees on Malchut, and opposite them the seven damsels that are fit to give her, who decorate the Malchut to bring her to the king, ZA.
168. The seven words in the verse correspond to the seven degrees on Malchut. “Will kiss me” corresponds to the one who lives forever, Yesod of ZA, “with the kisses” corresponds to the Hassadim of David [David’s mercy], NH of ZA, “his mouth” correspond to Ysrael Saba, Tifferet of ZA, “is better” correspond to the first light, Hesed, the first in the ZAT, “your love” correspond to Isaac, a friend from the womb, Gevura of ZA, “than wine” correspond to the upper wine, Bina, which is always kept.
The seven words “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine” correspond to the seven degrees of Malchut: Bina, HGT, NHY.
169. The seven damsels that are fit to give her, who decorate Malchut, to bring her before the king, are seven angels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Tzadkiel, Yofiel, Raziel. Several thousand and myriad camps are with them, as it is written, “and maidens without number.”
170. There are three verses here, and in all of them, the words in the count are according to their matters: 1) The Song of Songs, in which there are four words, the Merkava of the four names ADNI, Hosts, HaVaYaH, EKYEH, 2) the words “Let him kiss me…” seven words in seven degrees, 3) the verse, “The fragrance of your oils is good …” ten words corresponding to the ten utterances, the ten Sefirot.
This is the praise for the one, first rule, that all ten Sefirot in the verse, “The fragrance of your oils,” are all in the one, the first degree in the seven degrees in the verse “Let him kiss me with the kisses,” which is the degree of Bina.
The praise of Shabbat [Sabbath], “God, Master,” is founded on this, as there are fifty words there, corresponding to the fifty gates of Bina, except for the final twelve words in that praise which are a praise that all the hosts of heaven give Him glory and greatness, Seraphim and animals and the holy wheels, which are in another praise.
171. In The Song of Songs, in the verse, nard and saffron, spice reed and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes.” Seven kisses in seven degrees in this verse are in seven kinds of perfumes: nard, saffron, spice reed, cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, and aloes. This is so because the kisses are seven, and one kiss is extended from each degree.
Also, regarding Jacob’s kisses, his kisses are incorporated in seven words [in Hebrew]: kissed, Jacob, Rachel, raised, the, his voice, and wept. There are seven words here, as in the verse, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.” “And wept” is weeping from the joy of love, which corresponds to the words “from wine,” which is the love of the lovers, love of the left, which is wine.
172. There are seven words in the verses of the kisses, to show that the kisses are seven Sefirot, and as Malchut is called Bat-Sheva [having seven], so are all her words in seven. This is why in the verse, “You will satiate me with joy in Your presence,” do not pronounce it “satiate” but “seven” [similar sounding words in Hebrew], which are seven joys, for Malchut is joy, and all the matters of Malchut are in seven.
173. In all the kisses of love, there are no kisses like these, which the assembly of Israel, Malchut, awakened in the verse, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.” Although they are seven kisses, three kisses are seen here in the verse: “Let him kiss me” is one kiss, “with the kisses” is two, thus three.
174. Now she demands of those three kisses. When she says “than the kisses,” it means that it is one kiss, since it is written “than the kisses,” and it is not written “kisses.” “Kisses” are two, and “than the kisses” is one of them. Indeed, we should say “than the kisses,” since one who asks, should not ask for much, since once he begins to give, he will take what he takes.
The Creator, we ask Him for little, and He gives a lot. Abraham asked for little, and the Creator gave him a lot. He asked for one son, and what is it written, “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore,” since such are the ways of the Creator. This is why she says “than the kisses” and not “kisses.”