Such literary similarities are hardly surprising, however, as love songs are not restricted to one country, one ethnic group, or even one period of time. They represent regional literary features that influenced Hebrew poetry at the time Song of Songs was written. Claims that the Song was also influenced by Indian love poetry seem much weaker, however. Rabin (1973), for example, notes the Sanskrit origin of the word “aloes” in 4:14 and believes a relationship to Tamil love songs is possible. Linguists