PSALMS OF SOLOMON
FTOLEMAIS
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were written in Palestine (and probalily indeed in Jerusalem) within a single generation, and not improliably by a single writer ; absolute proof, however, of single authorship is not forthcoming, and some of tlie more colourless of the I'salms miif/it then belong to anotlier age. The second Psalm, which refers to the death of the foreign invader, must have been written after, but prob- ably soon after, Pompey's death in 48 B.C. ; the rest of the P.salms (except 18) were probably written rather earlier, most of them soon after Pompey's capture uf Jeru.salem in 63 n.C, but one or two (4 and 12) perhaps earlier still, before the Jews in general haa sulfered at Pompey's hands and the party of the ' sinners ' had received that severer treatment which Pompey measured out to Aristo- biilus and his party.
4. Main ideas.— (1) Pharisees and Sadducees. — The chief interest of these Psalms is that they reveal the temper and ideals of those two partie.? which in the period of the formation of the NT played so cons]iic\ious a part in Jewish life : the author is a Pharisee, and the opponents whom he denounces are Sadducees. The Psalms indeed run back two or three generations before the separation of the Christian Church from the Jewish religion, but we can trace in them much that was still characteristic of the two p.arties later.
The Sadducees are to the writer ' the unright- eous' (IlSlkoi), ' sinners ' {afiapTuXot), ' transgressors' (Trapavo/xoi), ' the profane ' (;3^/3r;XoO, the ' men- pleasers' {ivSpuwapfaKOi). The use of these terms and the charges brought against the Sadducees of insolence, self-reliance, disregard of Ciod, and gross sensual sins may largely represent the generaliza- tions, exaggerations, or inventions of a political or religious opponent. But in charging them with profanation of the sanctuary and its sacritices he implies that somewhat intimate association of the priesthood with the Sadducees wdiich is conspicuous later. So again in charging them with setting up a non-Davidic monarchy (17''*), i.e. with recog- nizing the royal dignity which the Hasmonteans had claimed since Aristobulus I. (104 B.C.), he im- plies a readiness in that party to acquiesce in an existing polity, even though it was inconsist- ent with the Messianic promises, which seems natural enough in the ancestors of the Sadducees of the 1st cent. A.D.
Over against these 'sinners' the writer sees in his own party, i.e. the Pharisees, 'the righteous' {SiKaioi), ' the pious' (dirioi, repre.senting tlie Hebrew hnsidiin), ' those that fear the Lord ' ([oi] (po^ovixevoi tAv Kvpiof), ' the guileless '((SkaKoi) ; occasionally too this party ap)iears as 'the poor' (tttwxo/, Tr^prjTe^). They were devoted to the Law (14'), troubled about sins done in ignorance yet convinced that the punishment of the righteous for sins done in ignorance was something very unlike that which awaited the 'sinners' (13^-'). As a matter of fact, though 'righteous' and 'sinners' alike must have suffered greatly from tlie necessary results of Pompey's attack on and capture of Jerusalem, it was the party of the Sadducees, the adherents of Aristobulus, who with his children were taken captive, that sufiered most. But in their view of a future life the.se Pharisees of the 1st cent. B.C. already found further ground for dili'erentiating the lot of the sinners and the righteous. ' They that fear the Lord shall rise to life eternal, and their life shall be in the light of the Lord, and shall come to an end no more ' (3'"). When the wicked depart into 'Sheol and darkness and destruction,' the righteous will obtain mercy and ' the pious of the Lord shall inherit life in gladness' (14«-' ; cf. also 13»-" 14- ' 15'^ l&-^). On the other hand, the end of the wicked, if not actual annihilation, is but the miserable life of Sheol in-
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delinitely prolonged : whereas the righteous 'rise to life eternal,' the sinner ' fall.'i and rises no more ' and his destruction is for ever (S'*"'" ; cf. 9" 1'2' 13'" 14" 15"). With this hojie the righteous jiray that they maj», and the writer claims that they already <lo, accept with patience the present passing chas- tisement of God.
(■2) Free-will. — In their view of man's free-will the author of the Psalms and his Jiartj' are at one with the Pharisees of the l.st cent. A.D. as described by Josephus(.4n<. II. viii. 14) : i.e. like the Sadducees they assert man's freedom, but at tlie same time they dillcr from the Sadducees by asserting and indeed em|diasizing the iJivine knowledge and control of human action : ' .Man and his portion lie before Thee in the balance ; he cannot add to, so as to enlarge, what has been prescribed by Thee ' {5"). ' Our works are subject to our own choice and power to do right or wrong in the work of our hantfs.'
(3) The Messianic hope. — Lastly, we may note the very important light cast by J'ss 17 and 18 on the Messianic hope as cherished in this circle. The Messiali is to be, unlike the actual king whom the sinners had presumptuoiisly set up (H'-"), a de- scendant of David (v.-''). He will enjoy the old title of the Hebrew kings — the anointed of Jahweh (or the Lord) ; for the phrase ' Christ (the) Lord ' (cf. Lk 2") which occurs in the MSS at IT** is prob- ably, even if it be the original Greek reading, nothing but a mistranslation (as in La 4-") of the ordinary Hebrew genitival phrase ' the anointed of the Lord.' This Messiah is also called 'the king of Israel' (17") and 'the son of David' (v.-^). He will appear at a time determined by God (18'^), being raised up, or brought forward again (though the idea of a pre-existing Messiah detected by some in this phrase is very doubtful) by God Him- self. He will purge Jerusalem alike from heathen enemies who profane it, and from native unrighteous rulers. He will then restore the true kingdom to Israel — a kingdom righteous, holy, glorious, woi Id- wide — and rule as the vicegerent of God, who Him- self remains over and above this human ruler, the king of Israel, 'for ever and ever' (17^').