Texts in Conversation
The Psalms of Solomon 11 reflects an early interpretation of Isaiah 61, also found in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, by presenting a divinely chosen figure bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming liberty, and restoring Israel.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Isaiah 61:1
Hebrew Bible
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has chosen me. He has commissioned me to encourage the poor, to help the brokenhearted, to decree the release of captives and the freeing of prisoners, 2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor, the day when our God will seek vengeance, to console all who mourn, 3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion by giving them a turban, instead of ashes, oil symbolizing joy, instead of mourning, a garment symbolizing praise, instead of discouragement. They will be called oaks of righteousness, trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor.
Date: 740–450 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Psalms of Solomon 11:1
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
1 Blow the trumpet in Zion to summon (the) saints. Let Jerusalem hear the voice of the one who brings good news; For God has had pity on Israel by attending to them. 2 Stand on the height, Jerusalem, and look at your children, From the East and the West, gathered together by the Lord; 3 From the North they come in the gladness of their God, From the faraway islands God has gathered them.
Date: 65–30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... the position of Mark 1:2-3, occurring immediately after the introductory verse, shows the importance of the quotation. After mention is made of the beginning of the gospel, Mark is concerned to show the gospel is rooted in Old Testament prophecy, especially in the later chapters of Isaiah.' As we have seen, in Isaiah chapter 40, a few verses after verse 3 (which is quoted in Mark 1:3), Zion is named as 'herald of good tidings' (verse 9). This is the first of five occurrences of the verb בשׂר ('bring good tidings') in Isaiah, another being in Isaiah 52:7, the verse we are considering, whose 'kingdom' phraseology we have noted is duplicated in Targum Isaiah 40:9 (The other occurrences are Is. 41:27; 60:6; 61:1 ... Psalms of Solomon 11:1, 2 also has a reference to a messenger of good news) ..."
Robert D. Rowe, God's Kingdom and God's Son: The Background in Mark's Christology from Concepts of Kingship in the Psalms, AGJU 50 (Leiden: Brill, 2002), 117.
* 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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