love. Yet the language of the book indicates that it comes from a time many centuries after Solomon, for the Hebrew poet borrows Persian and possibly Greek words. It is likely that the poet was, like the author of Ecclesiastes, a Hellenistic Jew. Furthermore, the modern debate about authorship has raised a new and interesting possibility: a number of scholars now suggest that the author is a woman. They note accurately that female characters and voices are more prominent in the Song than male. Especially,