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Psalms of Solomon

Eighteen Jewish psalms about invasion, justice and hope for a son of David, with language readers may recognise from Luke.^{10 sources}10 sources1. Rath 2021 2. Bible 3. Toy 1906 4. Rath 2021 5. Gray) 1913 6. Gray) 1913 7. Ryle 1891 8. Luke 2:11 9. Lamentations 4:20 10. Gray 1913

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At a glance

Length: Eighteen psalms.^{1 2}
Written: 70-40 BC in Ryle and James's dating; Gray dates Psalm 2 after 48 BC if its invader is Pompey.^{4 sources}4 sources11. Ryle 1891 12. Toy 1906 2. Bible 13. Gray 1913
Language: Preserved in Greek and Syriac; Gray argues for Hebrew origins, while Rath reports proposals of Greek composition.^{1 2 14}
Author: Later writers attributed them to Solomon; their precise Judean group is uncertain (Rath; Chai).^{4 sources}4 sources1. Rath 2021 2. Bible 15. Chai 2011 16. Chai 2011

Summary

A prayer for a son of David to overthrow unjust rulers gives these psalms their hope. Elsewhere, foreign invaders trample Jerusalem’s altar. The eighteen psalms address invasion, judgment, prayer and the Messiah; Gray compares the coming king’s title with Luke 2:11. Julia Rath says the collection was attributed to Solomon later. Ryle and James, Gray and Toy identified Pharisaic authors. Unha Chai concludes that the available information cannot identify the authors precisely.^{18 sources}18 sources3. Toy 1906 4. Rath 2021 17. Gray) 1913 18. Gray) 1913 19. Gray 1913 5. Gray) 1913 6. Gray) 1913 7. Ryle 1891 8. Luke 2:11 9. Lamentations 4:20 10. Gray 1913 1. Rath 2021 2. Bible 20. Ryle 1891 13. Gray 1913 21. Toy 1906 15. Chai 2011 16. Chai 2011

Jerusalem under attack
Psalms 1-2
Foreign invasion brings ruined walls and a desecrated altar. Psalm 2 ends with the invader dead in Egypt; scholar G. Buchanan Gray identifies him as Pompey.^{8 sources}8 sources3. Toy 1906 4. Rath 2021 17. Gray) 1913 18. Gray) 1913 19. Gray 1913 22. Gray) 1913 23. Gray 1913 12. Toy 1906
Judgment, hypocrisy and prayer
Psalms 3-16
These psalms address God’s just judgment, condemn flatterers and ask for help. Psalm 8 describes foreign invasion.^{3 4}
Hope for the coming king
Psalms 17-18
The final psalms turn to the Messiah. Psalm 17 asks for a son of David who will break unjust rulers and cleanse Jerusalem of its oppressors.^{5 sources}5 sources3. Toy 1906 4. Rath 2021 5. Gray) 1913 6. Gray) 1913 7. Ryle 1891

Stories

Foreigners at the altar
Psalm 2 (Gray 1913)
A battering ram brings down fortified walls, and foreign nations trample God's altar. Gray relates the siege details to Pompey's attack.^{17 18 19}
The invader's end
Psalm 2:30-31 (Gray 1913)
The speaker sees the arrogant invader slain in Egypt. The psalm does not name him; Gray's identification with Pompey supplies his argument for a date after 48 BC.^{4 sources}4 sources22. Gray) 1913 23. Gray 1913 12. Toy 1906 13. Gray 1913
A son of David
Psalm 17:23-25 (Gray 1913)
The prayer asks God for a king descended from David. Ryle and James read this hope against the rule of the non-Davidic Hasmonean kings.^{5 6 7}

Connections to the Bible

Echoes and allusions

Isaiah 11:4 · Psalm 17:39 (Gray 1913)medium confidence
Gray and Ryle and James read Psalm 17’s king striking the earth through his words as an echo of Isaiah 11:4.^{4 sources}4 sources24. Isaiah 11:4 25. Gray) 1913 26. Gray 1913 27. Ryle 1891
Luke 2:11 · Psalm 17:36 (Gray 1913)medium confidence
Gray notes shared Greek wording for the anointed Lord in Luke 2:11 and the Greek version of Lamentations 4:20. The psalm's wording is disputed: Toy proposes a copying error, while Ryle and James retain Lord Messiah. Shared wording does not establish Luke's dependence.^{7 sources}7 sources8. Luke 2:11 9. Lamentations 4:20 10. Gray 1913 28. Toy 1906 29. Gray) 1913 30. Ryle 1891 31. Bible

Background

Luke 1:46–55 · The collection's prayersmedium confidence
Ryle and James find a resemblance in thought and structure between the Psalms of Solomon and the songs in Luke’s opening chapters.^{32 33}

Where each church stands

Psalms of Solomon Full table →

Protestant: Not included³⁴
Catholic: Not included³⁵
Greek Orthodox: Not included³⁶
Russian (Slavonic) Orthodox: Not included³⁷
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo: Not includedConfidence: medium³⁸

Preservation and authority

The collection reached biblical manuscripts and book lists without acquiring a uniform standing. Gray points to the contents list of Codex Alexandrinus, although the presumed text leaves are lost. Greek lists attributed to Athanasius and Nicephorus class it among disputed works; their dates are debated. Rath notes its inclusion in most modern Septuagint editions. Neither a manuscript's contents list nor a modern edition, by itself, settles a church's canon.^{4 sources}4 sources39. Gray 1913 40. Bible 41. Ryle 1891 1. Rath 2021

Why it was read

Academic (critical)

Ryle and James infer from the surviving references that circulation was limited, but that readers seem to have treated the collection with respect.^{41 42}

Limits on its reception

Early church: Greek

The Synopsis attributed to Athanasius and the list attributed to Nicephorus class the Psalms of Solomon as disputed. These lists should not be confused with a decision to canonise them.^{39 40}

Early church: Greek

The Sixty Books list attached to a work of Anastasius of Sinai places the collection among apocryphal books. Anastasius's lifetime does not securely date that appended list.^{39 41 43}

Sources

43 sources from 17 works

Julia Rath, “Psalms of Solomon (Bible Odyssey, Society of Biblical Literature)” (2021)
- 1
  section "What are the Psalms of Solomon?"↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f ↩^g
- 4
  section "What is the content of these psalms?"↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible, “Psalms of Solomon (Encyclopedia of the Bible, on Bible Gateway)”
- 2
  section 2, "Date, authorship, etc."↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e ↩^f
- 31
  section 4, "Messianism"↩
- 40
  section 1, "History"↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
Crawford Howell Toy, “Psalms of Solomon, The (Jewish Encyclopedia)” (1906)
- 3
  paragraph 2↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
- 12
  paragraph 3↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 21
  paragraph 4↩
- 28
  paragraph 5↩
- 43
  paragraph 1↩
Psalms of Solomon (tr. G. Buchanan Gray), The Psalms of Solomon, in R. H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, vol. 2 (1913)
- 5
  Ps. Sol. 17.23-25 (Gray's numbering), p. 649↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 6
  Ps. Sol. 17.24-25 (Gray's numbering), p. 649↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 17
  Ps. Sol. 2.1-2 (Gray's numbering), p. 631↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 18
  Ps. Sol. 2.2 (Gray's numbering), p. 631↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 22
  Ps. Sol. 2.30 (Gray's numbering), p. 633↩^a ↩^b
- 25
  Ps. Sol. 17.39 (Gray's numbering), p. 650↩
- 29
  Ps. Sol. 17.36 (Gray's numbering), p. 650↩
Herbert Edward Ryle and Montague Rhodes James, Psalmoi Solomontos: Psalms of the Pharisees, commonly called the Psalms of Solomon (1891)
- 7
  Introduction, section vi (the Messiah)↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 11
  Introduction, section iv (Date), p. xliv↩
- 20
  Introduction, section v↩
- 27
  note on 17.27↩
- 33
  Introduction, section viii↩
- 41
  Introduction, section ii, p. xxiv↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
8
Luke 2:11↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
9
Lamentations 4:20↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
G. Buchanan Gray, The Psalms of Solomon, in R. H. Charles (ed.), The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, vol. 2 (1913)
- 10
  note on 17.36, p. 650↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 13
  Introduction, section 5, p. 630↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d
- 14
  Introduction, section 4, p. 627↩
- 19
  note on 2.1, p. 631↩^a ↩^b ↩^c
- 23
  note on 2.30, p. 633↩^a ↩^b
- 26
  note on 17.39, p. 650↩
- 39
  Introduction, section 5, p. 627↩^a ↩^b ↩^c ↩^d ↩^e
- 42
  Introduction, section 1, p. 625↩^a ↩^b
Unha Chai, “The Identification of "the Righteous" in the Psalms of Solomon (Journal of Biblical Text Research 29)” (2011)
- 15
  section 1, p. 150↩^a ↩^b
- 16
  section 4 (Conclusion)↩^a ↩^b
24
Isaiah 11:4↩
30
Psalms of Solomon (tr. Ryle and James), Psalmoi Solomontos: Psalms of the Pharisees, commonly called the Psalms of Solomon (1891), Ps. Sol. 17.36, translation↩
32
Luke 1:46↩
34
Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (1571), Article VI, as printed in E. J. Bicknell, A Theological Introduction to the Thirty-Nine Articles (1919)↩
35
Council of Trent, Session IV (8 April 1546), Decree concerning the canonical Scriptures↩
36
Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece, online Old Testament (Septuagint text)↩
37
Russian Synodal Bible, as published by Azbuka Very (azbyka.ru): contents and chapter notes↩
38
R. W. Cowley, 'The Biblical Canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Today', Ostkirchliche Studien 23 (1974) 318–323↩

Psalms of Solomon

At a glance

Summary

Contents

Jerusalem under attack

Judgment, hypocrisy and prayer

Hope for the coming king

Stories

Foreigners at the altar

The invader's end

A son of David

Connections to the Bible

Echoes and allusions

Background

Where each church stands

Psalms of Solomon Full table →

Preservation and authority

Why it was read

Academic (critical)

Limits on its reception

Early church: Greek

Early church: Greek

Further reading

Sources

Report a problem

At a glance

Summary

Contents

Jerusalem under attack

Judgment, hypocrisy and prayer

Hope for the coming king

Stories

Foreigners at the altar

The invader's end

A son of David

Connections to the Bible

Echoes and allusions

Background

Where each church stands

Psalms of Solomon Full table →

Preservation and authority

Why it was read

Academic (critical)

Limits on its reception

Early church: Greek

Early church: Greek

Related books

Further reading

Sources

Report a problem