Psalms of Solomon

Historical printed page 631

THE PSALMS OF SOLOMON Ι. 1 11 cried unto the Lord when I was in distress [ 1, Unto God when sinners assailed. 2 Suddenly the alarm of war was heard before me ; (I said), He will hearken to me, for I am full of righteousness. 3 I thought in my heart that I was full of righteousness, Because I was well off and had become rich in children. 4 Their wealth spread to the whole earth, And their glory unto the end of the earth. 5 They were exalted unto the stars ; They said they would never fall. 6 But they became insolent in their prosperity, ATE. 7 Their sins were in secret, And even I had no knowledge (of them). 8 Their transgressions (went) beyond those of the heathen before them ; They utterly polluted the holy things of the Lord. 11. A Psalm. Of Solomon. Concerning Ferusalem. 2 τ When the sinner waxed proud, with a battering-ram he cast down fortified walls, And Thou didst not restrain (him). 2 Alien nations ascended Thine altar, They trampled (it) proudly with their sandals ; 3 Because the sons of Jerusalem had defiled the holy things of the Lord, Had profaned with iniquities the offerings of God. 1. 1. when I was in distress. So perhaps ® (cf. e.g. Ps. Ixvi. 14). (ἃ adds εἰς τέλος, which may be (1) a mis- translated and misplaced title = ‘ To the chief musician ’ (cf. Ps. liv (Iv)) ; the rhythm of # (3: 3) would have been complete without anything corresponding to this clause; or (2) an intensification: ‘When I was in sore distress’ ; cf. 2 Chron. xii. 12, xxxi. 1; 1 Thess. ii. 16. 3 ‘at my end’. ‘ 2. the alarm. 5% ‘the voice’. (I said). Not expressed in the MSS. of G, nor in 3, but possibly lost in the course of the transmission of &. full of righteousness. Cf. Isa.i.21. ‘Am full’; & ‘was full’. 4. The fame of the wealth and glory of the Jews, the children (v. 3) of Zion, passed from mouth to mouth till it filled the whole world. For διεδόθη (cf. 2 Macc. iv. 39), the reading of RJ LS, H has, erroneously, διέλθοι, ‘may their wealth go forth’. The exact force of # cannot be inferred. 5. they would ... fall. πέσωσιν (RH), πέσωσι (J), πέσωσι μέν (L). Perhaps, originally, πέσωμεν, ‘ we shall never fall’. Cp. Ps. xxx. 7 (6). 6. And... G οὐκ ἤνεγκαν, ‘they brought not’. Fabricius suggested that ‘ sacrifices’ was to be understood as the object of the verb: very improbable. Ryle and James, relying on Jer. xx. 9, Job. xxxi. 23, Jer. ii. 13, x. 10, Joel ii. 11, suggest that the meaning may be that they did not keep their ambition under control. IN» may point to an original Greek reading καὶ οὐκ ἔγνωκαν, ‘and they are without knowledge’ (cp. Isa. i. 2). Von Gebhardt suggests that ἤνεγκαν arose from misreading as 18°37 δὲ an original 13°37 hy, ‘and they were without understanding ’. 8. the holy things. & may also, and S can only, mean ‘the sanctuary’, i. 6. the Temple. Il. 1. Addressed to God. The 3rd pers. sing. in this verse and below may refer in particular to Pompey, or, being used collectively, to the Roman army (cp. v. 2). When the sinner waxed proud (Mix}2) . . . he cast down, or, ‘proudly (M823) the sinner . . . cast down.’ ao Ps. x. 2. Ἶ abattering-ram. Pompey brought up battering-rams from Tyre and therewith broke down the fortified wall that enclosed the Temple. See Jos. “1212. xiv. 4.2; B. 7.1. 7. 3. 2. The writer singles out for mention not Pompey’s personal intrusion into the Holy of Holies (Jos. At. xiv. 4. 4, &.1. i. 7. 6), but the irreverent treatment of the altar in front of the Temple by the Roman soldiers, To this Josephus does not specifically refer ; though cp., ‘ Many of the priests, even when they saw their enemies assailing them with their swords in their hands... went on with their divine worship, and were slain while they were offering their drink- offerings and burning their incense’ (Z. /. i. 7. 5). “ay ith their sandals. They not only trampled the altar, but that even without removing their sandals (cp. iii. 5). 3. the holy things. Seei. 8n. 631