Psalms of Solomon

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The Psalms of Solomon is a Jewish writing, generally included in collections of Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.

Overview

The Psalms of Solomon is a collection of eighteen pseudonymous Jewish poems that recount an unknown community’s response to a series of military attacks and political persecutions. The Psalms of Solomon was likely written by several authors, and collected together in its present form at some unknown date. The collection contains numerous historical allusions (esp. Pss. Sol. 2, 8, 17) to the Roman general Pompey’s 63 B.C.E. conquest of Jerusalem. The Psalms of Solomon is a highly polemical composition that denounces Judea’s Hasmonean rulers. Several poems appear to condemn the struggle over the high priesthood between the two sons of queen Salome Alexandra (76-67 B.C.E.), John Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II. Since the latest identifiable historical reference is to Pompey’s assassination in Egypt in 48 B.C.E. (Pss. Sol. 2:26-7), they were likely completed sometime after that date, but before the Romans appointed Herod the Great as Judea’s king in 40 B.C.E. It is possible that the poems were updated to reflect the Herodian period.

Manuscript tradition

The Psalms of Solomon was composed in Hebrew, but survive only in Greek and Syriac translations. There are eleven known Greek and five Syriac manuscripts that date from the tenth to the sixteenth centuries C.E. In some Greek manuscripts the work is titled Psalms of Solomon whereas others label it as Psalms of Salomon. Three Greek manuscripts label them as the Wisdom of Solomon. In two Syriac manuscripts the collection follows the 42 Odes of Solomon and the first Psalm of Solomon is numbered as the 43rd Ode. This may indicate that Syriac speaking Christians used the composition in their worship. Scholars continue to debate the relationship between the Greek and Syriac versions. At the present time, the bulk of scholarship holds that Syriac’s close relationship with the Greek text makes it more probable that the Syriac is a translation of the Greek and not the Hebrew. The titles to the individual psalms were likely added at an unknown date to imitate the headings affixed to the biblical psalter. The Psalms of Solomon was unknown to scholars until its discovery (sometime before 1604) and publication (1626) in the seventeenth century.

Although the Psalms of Solomon’s manuscripts are rather late, a reference to the collection in the fifth century C.E. Codex Alexandrinus provides evidence of its early use by Christians. The collection was once quite popular and is listed in numerous catalogs such as pseudo-Athanasius’ Synopsis Scripturae Sacrae (early sixth century C.E.), the ninth-century C.E. Sticometria of Nicephorus, the Armenian Canon list transmitted by Mechitar of Ayrivank’ (1285 C.E.), and six Slavic lists (eleventh-sixteenth centuries C.E.) that are likely copied from more ancient catalogues.

Synopsis

(1) Introduces the theme of warfare that dominates much of the collection. The poem was likely added to the corpus to provide it with an introduction. It is the only poem that lacks a title. (2) “A Psalm. Pertaining to Solomon. Concerning Jerusalem.” Describes the siege of Jerusalem by a foreign general called “the dragon” (Pss. Sol. 2:25). The psalmist views his later assassination in Egypt (Pss. Sol. 2:26-7) as God’s punishment for defiling Jerusalem. (3) “A Psalm. Pertaining to Solomon. Concerning the Righteous.” This short poem describes the fates of the righteous and the sinner. It appears to espouse a belief in the afterlife. (4) “Discourse of Solomon. Pertaining to the men-pleasers.” Describes the crimes of a hypocrite who presides over the “council of the pious” (Pss. Sol. 4:1), which is likely the Jewish court known as the Sanhedrin. The poet implores God to punish this man and his associates. (5) “A Psalm. Pertaining to Solomon.” This poem describes poverty as a sign of God’s favor. It teaches that excessive wealth leads to sin. The author encourages the devout to praise God as king. (6) “In Hope. Pertaining to Solomon.” This psalm encourages the righteous to pray to God. It acknowledges that God fulfills the prayers of the righteous. (7) “Pertaining to Solomon. Of returning.” This poem pleads with God to protect Jerusalem and the temple from an impending invasion. (8) “Pertaining to Solomon. Regarding Victory.” Blames the recent invasion of Jerusalem on the sins of its inhabitants. (9) “Pertaining to Solomon. Regarding Rebuke.” This poem encourages the devout to seek repentance for their sins. (10) “Among Hymns. Pertaining to Solomon.” This poem discusses God’s punishment of the devout. The author believes that even the righteous have sinned, but acknowledges that the Torah guarantees that God will limit divine discipline. (11) “Pertaining to Solomon. Regarding Expectation.” The author describes how God will eventually return all the Jews from the Diaspora to Jerusalem. (12) “Pertaining to Solomon. Against the Tongue of the Transgressors of the Law.” The poet pleads to God to save him and his community from suffering inflicted by some “wicked” man. (13) “A Psalm. Pertaining to Solomon. Comfort for the Righteous.” The psalms describes how God spared the poet during a recent attack on Jerusalem. (14) “A Hymn. Pertaining to Solomon.” The psalmist urges the devout to accept suffering as a sign of God’s protection. (15) “A Psalm. Pertaining to Solomon. With an Ode.” The poet describes how God protected him and his community from persecution by placing a mark of divine protection upon them. (16) “A Hymn. Pertaining to Solomon. Regarding help for the devout.” This poem thanks God for delivering the psalmist from some crisis. (17) “A Psalm. Pertaining to Solomon. With an Ode. Pertaining to the king.” This poem describes the destruction of Jerusalem by a foreign army and the author’s expectation of the Davidic Messiah. (18) “A Psalm. Pertaining to Salomon. Again of the Anointed of the Lord.” This poem describes the coming Davidic messiah.

The Psalms of Solomon in Scholarship (History of research)

The Psalms of Solomon’s text was unknown until D. Höschel discovered a manuscript containing the Greek version sometime before 1604. It became available to scholars in a faulty edition published by J. de la Cerda (Adversaria Sacra (Lyon: Ludovici Prost Haeredis Roville, 1626), Cerda and several of his contemporaries (J. E. Nieremberg [1641] and L. Ferrandus [1683]) accepted a Christian dating for the composition. H. Graetz (Geschichte der Judaean [Leipzig, 1856]) believed that the messianism in the collection supported a Christian authorship. The most recent scholar to advocate a this position is J. Efron (Studies on the Hasmonean Period (Brill, 1987). P. D. Heutius (Demonstratio Evangelica, 4th ed.; [Leipzig, 1694) identified the author as a Hellenistic Jew influenced by the Septuagint. Cellier (Histoire Générale des Auteurs Sacrés et Ecclésiastiques [Paris, 1858) identified allusions to Titus’s 70 C.E. destruction of Jerusalem in the poems. K. G. Bretschneider (Die historisch-dogmatische Auslegung des Neuen Testaments [Leipzig, 1806]) dated the poems to the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem. H. W. Ewald dated them to 320 B.C.E. and identified the invader as Ptolemy I (Die jüngsten Propheten des Alten Bundes, III [Göttingen, 1868]. H. Winckler identified Psalms of Solomon 2, 8, and 17 with the time of Jason as described in 2 Maccabees 4-5 (“Jason und die Zeit der Psalmen Salomos,” Altorientalische Forschungen 2 (1901): 556-64. F. K. Movers was the first to date the collection against the backdrop of Pompey’s 63 B.C.E. conquest of Jerusalem (Kirchen-Lexikon, oder Encyklopädie der katholischen Theologie und ihrer Hilfswissenschaften, vol. 1 [Freiburg im Breisgau, 1847]). Since that time the majority of scholars have accepted Movers’s dating. Some prominent examples include: K. Atkinson, I Cried to the Lord: A Study of the Psalms of Solomon’s Historical Background and Social Setting (Leiden, 2004); idem, An Intertextual Study of the Psalms of Solomon: Pseudepigrapha (Lewiston, 2001); J. J. Collins, The Scepter and the Star: The Messiahs of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Ancient Literature (New York, 1995); G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Faith and Piety in Early Judaism (Philadelphia, 1981); K. E. Pomykala, The Davidic Dynasty Tradition in Early Judaism: Its History and Significance for Messianism (Atlanta, 1995); J. Schröter, “Gerechtigkeit und Barmherzigkeit: das Gottesbild der Psalmen Salomos in seinem Verhältnis zu Qumran und Paulus,” New Testament Studies 44 (1998): 557-77; J. L. Trafton, Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 6.115-17; J. Viteau, Les Psaumes de Salomon: Introduction, texte grec et traduction, avec les principales variantes de la version syriaque par François Martin (Paris, 1911). Scholars continue to debate the religious community of the Psalms of Solomon. Many consider the work to be a product of the Pharisees. Prominent proponents of this identification include: S. Holm-Nielsen, “Religiöse Poesie des Spätjudentums,” Aufstieg Und Niedergang Der Romischen Welt 19.1:156-7; J. Klausner, The Messianic idea in Israel from its Beginning to the Completion of the Mishnah (New York, 1955); W. L. Lane, “Paul’s Legacy from Pharisaism: Light from the Psalms of Solomon.” Concordia Journal 8 (1982): 130-38; J. O’Dell, “The Religious Background of the Psalms of Solomon (Re-Evaluated in the Light of the Qumran Texts),” Revue de Qumran 3 (1961): 244-5; H. E. Ryle and M. Rhodes James, Psalms of the Pharisees, Commonly Called the Psalms of Solomon (Cambridge, 1891); J. Schüpphaus, Die Psalmen Salomons: Ein Zeugnis Jerusalemer Theologie und Frömigkeit in der Mitte des vorchristlichen Jarhunderts (Leiden, 1977); M. Winninge, Sinners and the Righteous: A Comparative Study of the Psalms of Solomon and Paul’s Letters (Stockholm, 1995. The Sadducees have been proposed by F. Hitzig, Geschichte des Volkes Israel von Anbeginn bis zur Eroberung Masada’s im Jahre 72 nach Christus (Leipzig, 1869); J. Le Moyne, Les sadducéns (Paris, 1972). The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls encouraged several experts to postulate that the collection was the product of, or closely associated with, the Essenes. See R. R. Hann, “The Community of the Pious: The Social Setting of the Psalms of Solomon.” Studies in Religion 17 (1988): 169-89; R. B. Wright, “The Psalms of Solomon, the Pharisees and the Essenes” in 1972 Proceedings for the International Organization for Septuagint and Cognate Studies and the Society of Biblical Literature Pseudepigrapha Seminar (Missoula, 1972): 136-54. K. Atkinson (I Cried to the Lord;An Intertextual Study) recently argued that it is impossible to identify the sectarian community responsible for the Psalms of Solomon with any known Jewish group. The collection may have been shaped for liturgical use. See also, P. N. Franklyn, “The Cultic and Pious Climax of Eschatology in the Psalms of Solomon,” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 18 (1987): 1-17. The term “the congregations of the devout” (Pss. Sol. 17:16) may suggest that the authors considered themselves to be God-fearing and members of a community that gathered for worship to recite these poems. See, K. Atkinson, “Toward a Redating of the Psalms of Solomon: Implications for Understanding the Sitz im Leben of an Unknown Jewish Sect,” Journal for the Study of the Psepudepigrapha 17 (1998), 109-10; S. Holm-Nielsen, “Religiöse Poesie des Spätjudentums,” Aufstieg Und Niedergang Der Romischen Welt 19.1:156-7; G. W. E. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature Between the Bible and Mishnah: A Historical and Literary Introduction (2d ed.; Philadelphia, 2005), 247; Mark A. Seifrid, Justification by Faith: The Origin and Development of a Central Pauline Theme (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992), 113-15. The Psalms of Solomon is widely regarded, along with the Dead Sea Scrolls, as among the earliest witnesses to the Davidic Dynasty tradition. The seventeenth psalm is particularly important for its detailed portrayal of the Davidic Messiah and its relationship to the Hasmonean and/or Herodian kings. See K. Atkinson, “On the Herodian Origin of Militant Davidic Messianism at Qumran: New Light from Psalm of Solomon 17,” Journal of Biblical Literature 118 (1999): 135-60; B. Embry, “The Psalms of Solomon and the New Testament: Intertexuality and the Need for a Re-Evaluation,” Journal for the Study of the Psepudepigrapha 13 (2002): 99-136. Although the Psalms of Solomon contains some apocalyptic elements, its lack of interest in the angelic or heavenly world shows that it should not be classified as an apocalyptic text. See, J. J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to the Jewish Matrix of Christianity (2d ed.; Grand Rapids, 1998), 143; R. A. Werline, “The Psalms of Solomon and the Ideology of Rule,” in Conflicted Boundaries in Wisdom and Apocalypticism (Atlanta, 2005), 69-87. Until recently, the only critical text was the still useful edition of O. L. von Gebhardt, Die Psalmen Salomo’s zum ersteMale mit Benutzung der Athoshandschriften und des Codex Casanatensis (Leipzig, 1895). A new critical edition was recently published by R. B. Wright, The Psalms of Solomon: A Critical Edition of the Greek Text (New York, 2007). A recent English translation of the Psalms of Solomon was made by K. Atkinson, “Psalms of Salomon,” in A New English Translation of the Septuagint. Albert Pietersma and Benjamin G. Wright, Editors (Oxford, 2007), 763-76.

The Psalms of Solomon in Fiction

An unattributed quotation from Psalms of Solomon 17:20 appears in the novel The King of Flesh and Blood by Moshe Shamir.

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