5. The time when the Song was written by Solomon is searched out.
At what time this Song was written by Solomon is uncertain. That he wrote before his fall, they generally think, as many as deny his repentance. Some maintain that he wrote the Song of Songs first, then the Proverbs, and finally Ecclesiastes: taking this conjecture from the manner of men, who in youth delight their hearts with songs, as adults are occupied with proverbial wisdom, and finally in old age deplore the vanity of human affairs. We are not displeased by the opinion of those that argue that this was written by him in his old age, and already penitent, from the very nature and character of the writing, which shows itself to be of an age advanced and subdued, and of a spirit altogether free from perturbations and passions. And perhaps his Spirit turned itself from the love of women, from which chastity he was not being enticed, to a most pious meditation on the spiritual love between Christ and believers, and a profoundly wise Prophecy.