It had been falsely attributed nearly unanimously in the manuscript tradition to Jacob of Serugh (451–521), and for this reason, the author is sometimes referred to as Pseudo-Jacob (or Ps-Jacob).
The first was proposed originally by Theodor Nöldeke and asserts that the Song textually depended on the Legend.
In this legend, Alexander is travelling along with his company in search of the Fountain of Life that grants the drinker immortality.
He encounters a wise old man who tells Alexander that he might identify the water of life by washing salted fish in the diverse springs in his region.
[7][8] This story draws on Christian iconography, where bathing in the fountain is represented in baptismal terminology, and the fish symbolizes Jesus who rises from the dead.