Psalms of Solomon

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The Psalms of Solomon are a collection of 18 poems that are based on Old Testament psalms and are ascribed to the biblical King Solomon . The script is to be distinguished from the Odes of Solomon .

Lore

The Psalms of Solomon are preserved in eleven manuscripts in the Greek language - the oldest, manuscript Copenhagen and manuscript Vienna, date from the 10th and 11th centuries - as well as two manuscripts and other fragments in Syrian . The first printing took place in Lyon in 1626 . The first evidence is the Codex Alexandrinus of the New Testament from the 5th century. In his table of contents he mentions the Psalms of Solomon after the first and second letters to Clement , but they are quite different from the canonical writings . Since the back pages of the Codex Alexandrinus were lost, its text of the Psalms of Solomon has not survived either. The Psalms of Solomon are probably based on a Hebrew original from the 1st century BC. Chr. Based.

Completion time, place and authorship

Except for the first psalm, all others contain a reference to Solomon in their title. The attribution to this results from his legendary wisdom and poetic talent. This information has no historical value. Allusions to contemporary history may be found in Ps 2; 8 and 17: They refer to the conquest of Jerusalem by Pompey in 63 BC. And his death in Egypt 48 BC However, it cannot be ruled out that individual psalms are older and reflect the reign of Alexander Jannäus . Whether there are also references to Herod the Great is disputed. This gives an approximate time of writing the last pieces in the 2nd half of the first century BC. Chr.

It is obvious to look for the authoring circles in Judea, perhaps even in Jerusalem itself. Since there are some polemical verses directed against the Sadducees , the work was assigned to Pharisaic circles. However , this thesis has been controversial since the discovery of Qumran , where there are in part similar ideas, although the Psalms of Solomon were not found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Theological guiding principles

The main theme of Solomon's psalms is God's righteousness. It is reflected again and again using the example of the pious relationship to God, but also in the relationship between the righteous and the wicked. Suffering is generally understood as a punishment, in the case of what is basically just as an educational measure.

The last two poems have a special feature: in them an eschatological figure of salvation of Davidic origin plays an essential role. These descriptions and the sovereign titles that appear in them form the spiritual milieu from which the first Christians also drew their theological ideas.

literature

  • Text output
    • Oscar von Gebhardt : The Psalms of Solomon. For the first time using the Athos manuscripts and the Codex Casanatensis. Leipzig 1895. Digital at archive.org.
    • Robert Wright: The Psalms of Solomon: A Critical Edition of the Greek Text (Jewish and Christian Texts in Contexts and Related Studies 1). T & T Clark, London and New York 2007, ISBN 0-567-02643-4 .
    • Felix Albrecht: Psalmi Salomonis edidit Felix Albrecht (Septuagint. Vetus Testamentum Graecum auctoritate Academiae Scientiarum Gottingensis editum vol. XII, pars 3). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2018, ISBN 978-3-525-53450-2 .
  • Translations
    • Rudolf Kittel : The Psalms of Solomon. in: The Apocrypha and Pseudepigraphs of the Old Testament, ed. by Emil Kautzsch , 2 vol. Tübingen 1900, vol. 2, pp. 127–148.
    • Svend Holm-Nielsen: The Psalms of Solomon. Jewish writings from the Hellenistic-Roman period IV / 2. Gütersloh 1977. ISBN 3-579-03942-3
  • Secondary literature
    • Joachim Schüpphaus: The Psalms of Solomon. A testimony to Jerusalem theology and piety in the middle of the pre-Christian century. Works on the literature and history of Hellenistic Judaism 7, Leiden 1977. ISBN 90-04-04813-8
    • Andreas Lehnardt: Bibliography on the Jewish writings from the Hellenistic-Roman period. YEAR VI / 2. Gütersloh 1999, 357-363.

Web links

Wikisource: The Psalms of Solomon in the translation by Rudolf Kittel  - sources and full texts