Other ancient texts · Read in Jesus' day
Psalms of Solomon
The Psalms of Solomon are 18 Jewish poems written after the Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 BC. They mourn that disaster as God's judgment on sinful leaders and pray for a coming son of David, the "Lord Messiah". People read them because they show what devout Jews hoped for in the century before Jesus.
- mid-1st century BC
- Hebrew (lost)
- Protestant Catholic Orthodox Ethiopian
Listed at the end of Codex Alexandrinus (5th century), one of the oldest Bibles.
Should it be in the Bible?
The case for
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Some early Christians copied it as part of their Bible.
The evidence
The table of contents of Codex Alexandrinus (5th century) lists the Psalms of Solomon, although the pages holding the text are now lost. Several later Greek Old Testament manuscripts copy it next to Wisdom of Solomon and Sirach, among the books of Solomon.
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Its faith and language follow the biblical Psalms and prophets closely.
The evidence
It speaks of God's justice, repentance, mercy to the righteous and the promise to David's line (2 Samuel 7), much as the canonical Psalms do. Its picture of the Messiah draws directly on Psalm 2 and Isaiah 11.
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It is a real, datable witness to the messianic hope found in the Gospels.
The evidence
Psalm 17 speaks of a 'son of David' king called 'Lord Messiah', the same titles the Gospels use for Jesus (Luke 2:11, Mark 10:47). It also says those who fear the Lord 'shall rise to life eternal' (3:12), which matches the resurrection hope of Jesus' day.
The case against
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No Jewish or Christian canon has ever accepted it.
The evidence
It is not in the Hebrew Bible, and no council (Hippo, Carthage, Trent) or church tradition, including the Orthodox and Ethiopian churches, includes it. The Stichometry of Nicephorus and the Synopsis of Pseudo-Athanasius list it among disputed books outside the canon.
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Even in Codex Alexandrinus it is set apart as an appendix.
The evidence
There it is listed after the whole New Testament and the letters of Clement, not among the Old Testament books. No New Testament writer or early church father clearly quotes it.
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Its title is not authentic, and its Messiah differs from the New Testament one.
The evidence
It was written roughly 900 years after Solomon, so the title was added later. Its Messiah is a sinless human king who drives Gentiles and 'sinners' out of Jerusalem by force, a narrower, more political hope than the suffering Messiah of the Gospels. It also attacks rival Jewish leaders in partisan terms.
Both sides are written as strongly as the honest evidence allows, so you can decide for yourself. Researched by claude-opus-5-5.
When, where and by whom
The title links the book to King Solomon, but the poems themselves never claim him as author. Scholars agree they were written in Jerusalem by one or more devout Jewish poets between about 63 and 40 BC, since Psalm 2 seems to describe Pompey's death in Egypt in 48 BC. They have often been linked to the Pharisees, though many scholars now hold that view more loosely.
Jesus, the New Testament and this book
- Psalm 17 describes a coming "Lord Messiah", son of David: the hope Jesus' first hearers carried.
- Psalm 17 hopes God will 'raise up their king, the son of David'. This is the title crowds use for Jesus in the Gospels (Mark 10:47; Matthew 21:9). It reflects a shared hope rather than a quotation. (strong link)
- 'Christ the Lord' (christos kyrios) in Luke 2:11 matches the Greek of Psalms of Solomon 17:32 and the title of Psalm 18. Some scholars think the Greek text there should be corrected to 'the Lord's Messiah'. (likely link)
- The Messiah shattering enemies with a 'rod of iron' (17:24, from Psalm 2:9) parallels Revelation 2:27, 12:5 and 19:15. Both probably draw on Psalm 2 independently. (possible link)
- The style of its hymns resembles the Magnificat and Benedictus in Luke 1, which share themes of God humbling the proud and keeping his promise to David. (possible link)
- Its hope for resurrection to eternal life for the righteous (3:12) matches the Pharisees' belief in resurrection, as described in Acts 23:6–8. (likely link)
How it came down to us
The original was almost certainly Hebrew, but that text is lost. No copy turned up among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The book survives in Greek in about a dozen Byzantine manuscripts from roughly the 10th to the 16th century, often copied with the Septuagint wisdom books. It also survives in a few Syriac manuscripts, often bound with the Odes of Solomon. The Greek was first printed in 1626, and J. Rendel Harris published the Syriac in 1909. The 5th-century Codex Alexandrinus once held the text, but those pages are lost and only the title remains in its table of contents.
- Greek manuscript tradition (critical edition by R. B. Wright, 2007)
- Syriac manuscripts published by J. Rendel Harris with the Odes of Solomon
- Codex Alexandrinus table of contents (5th century)
- Stichometry of Nicephorus and Synopsis of Pseudo-Athanasius (lists of disputed books)
- English translations with introductions: R. B. Wright in Charlesworth's Old Testament Pseudepigrapha; K. Atkinson in the New English Translation of the Septuagint
- Historical accounts of Pompey's capture of Jerusalem in 63 BC (Josephus, Antiquities 14)
- Comparison with the Psalms, Isaiah 11, Luke 1–2, the Gospels and Revelation