Texts in Conversation
Psalms of Solomon 7 echoes Exodus 12 by treating death as an agent under God’s control like the destroyer. In Exodus, the destroyer is held back from those protected, and the Psalms present affliction and death as tools of divine discipline.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 12:23
Hebrew Bible
22 Take a branch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and apply to the top of the doorframe and the two side posts some of the blood that is in the basin. Not one of you is to go out the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike Egypt, and when he sees the blood on the top of the doorframe and the two side posts, then the Lord will pass over the door, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You must observe this event as an ordinance for you and for your children forever. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give to you, just as he said, you must observe this ceremony.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Psalms of Solomon 7:4
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
1 Do not live far away from us, God, so that those who hate us without cause do not attack us. 2 For You have rejected them, God; Do not let their feet trample Your holy inheritance. 3 Discipline us Yourself as You see fit; But do not hand (us) over to the nations; 4 For, if You send death, You Yourself give it instructions concerning us; 5 For You are merciful, And will not be angry to the point of destroying us.
Date: 65–30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The first verse is the author’s pleading that God not depart from Israel in the challenging situation of an oncoming assault from the Gentiles (Psalms of Solomon 7:1). The next two verses are the plea of the psalmist God’s help, while the author asks God about God’s discipline (Psalms of Solomon 7:2–3). The author distinguishes between evil that comes from the Gentiles and the punishment of God, whose aim is to rectify the nation. God’s discipline is a contradiction to the destructive wrath of the Gentiles. Besides this, the psalmist states that his trust in God could protect the community of the devout and that he is convinced that all is in God’s hands and under God’s guidance (even the affliction of death could be understood as a way to preserve the community), which is for the author the assurance of God’s mercy (Psalms of Solomon 7:4–6). The author believes that God will respond to the prayer and will have compassion on the nation of Israel and will not reject them (Psalms of Solomon 7:7–8). Then, he again stresses that the righteous are under God’s discipline (Psalms of Solomon 7:9–10) ..."
František Ábel, The Psalms of Solomon and the Messianic Ethics of Paul (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016), 131.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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