In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

427 CHAPTER TWENTY THE BIBLE, THE PSALMS OF SOLOMON, AND QUMRAN Joseph L. Trafton Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were few Jewish writings that could be dated with some degree of certainty to the first century B.C.E. and, hence, could be used as witnesses to Judaism in the era just prior to the rise of Christianity. One such book was a collection of eighteen noncanonical psalms called the Psalms of Solomon1 (hereafter Pss. Sol.). Apparently the product of a specific group within Judaism, the Pss. Sol. came to be regarded by scholars as the classical source for pre-Christian Pharisaism. In addition, for a long time the Pss. Sol. stood out as containing the clearest example of Jewish Messianism prior to the turn of the eras. The excitement that continues unabated since the discovery of the Scrolls has to a large extent pushed documents such as the Pss. Sol. into the background. Though this turn of events might give cause for regret, the new window that the Scrolls have opened upon Judaism of this period has at the same time given us a fresh perspective from which to examine the Pss. Sol. and its contributions to an understanding both of Judaism in the first century B.C.E. and of the NT. Although the Pss. Sol. are preserved only in Greek and Syriac, most scholars agree that they were probably composed in Hebrew. I have argued elsewhere that both the Greek and the Syriac are independent witnesses to the original.2 In addition, there is a general consensus that certain historical allusions in Pss. Sol. 2, 8, and 17 refer to the Roman general Pompey, who captured Jerusalem in 63 B.C.E. and was slain in Egypt in 1. For an introduction to the Psalms of Solomon, see Joseph L. Trafton, “Solomon, Psalms of,” ABD 6:115–17. For the current state of research, see Robert B. Wright, “Psalms of Solomon,” OTP 2:639–50; Joseph L. Trafton, “Research on the Psalms of Solomon Since 1977,” JSP 12 (1994): 3–19; Mikael Winninge, Sinners and the Righteous: A Comparative Study of the Psalms of Solomon and Paul’s Letters (ConBNT 26; Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell, 1995), 9–21; and Kenneth Atkinson, An Intertextual Study of the Psalms of Solomon (Studies in the Bible and Christianity 49; Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen, 2000), 396–429. 2. Joseph L. Trafton, The Syriac Version of the Psalms of Solomon: A Critical Evaluation (SBLSCS 11; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985), and “The Psalms of Solomon: New Light from the Syriac Version?” JBL 105 (1986): 227–37. 428 THE BIBLE, THE PSALMS OF SOLOMON, AND QUMRAN 48 B.C.E. This points to a date for the Pss. Sol. shortly after Pompey’s death.3 The Pss. Sol. exhibit a strong we/they emphasis throughout, suggesting that the psalms are the product of some Jewish party or sect.4 Whether they were all written at the same time, or even by the same author, is debated. Most scholars agree, however, that the Pss. Sol. were probably composed in or near Jerusalem in the latter half of the first century B.C.E. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has thrown an enormous amount of unexpected light upon Judaism in the last two centuries B.C.E. and the first century C.E. In this article we shall examine three elements in the Pss. Sol.—the community that produced them, the Messianic expectation contained therein, and the poetic style that characterizes them—and place them within the larger context provided by the Scrolls and by the NT. COMMUNITY Before the Scrolls were discovered most scholars interpreted the partisan outlook of the Pss. Sol. against the background of Josephus’ report of the intense rivalry between the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the first century B.C.E. (Ant. 13.10–14.3). The arguments of H. E. Ryle and M. R. James are typical of this period. The Jewish opponents in the Pss. Sol., Ryle and James pointed out, receive several strong and specific criticisms: they have profaned the Temple and its sacrifices (1:8; 2:3; 8:12, 22), they sit hypocritically in the council of the righteous (4:1), they have spoken the Law with deceit (4:8), and they have set up a non-Davidic monarchy (17:6). The last accusation clearly refers to the Hasmonean dynasty, which established a non-Davidic kingship among the Jews from...

Share