Sexy stuff, huh? In our pew Bibles, the heading on the page we just read says "Song of Songs" but, as you know, in many Bibles the heading says "Song of Solomon." So saying, it is not generally thought that King Solomon was the author - granted he was a lusty fellow with 700 wives and 300 concubines, but that in itself, in my view, would mitigate against his authorship (when would he have had time?). More likely, Solomon's name became attached to the book in some sort of dedication. The original-language title of this book (Song of Songs) is a Hebrew way of talking about the FINEST song just as "king of kings" means the greatest king.(1) Somebody, somewhere, way back, thought these love poems were the best of the bunch.

Not only the passage we just read but the whole book is an ode to the…