Texts in Conversation
The Psalms of Solomon echoes Proverbs and the image of the tree of life to link wisdom with blessing and order. Proverbs depicts wisdom and the Torah as life-giving, and the Psalms of Solomon describes the righteous as trees planted in God’s garden.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Proverbs 3:18
Hebrew Bible
16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 17 Her ways are very pleasant, and all her paths are peaceful. 18 She is like a tree of life to those who grasp onto her, and everyone who takes hold of her will be blessed. 19 By wisdom the Lord laid the foundation of the earth; he established the heavens by understanding. 20 By his knowledge the primordial sea was broken open, so that the clouds drip down dew.
Date: 600–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Psalms of Solomon 14:3
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
1 The Lord is faithful to those who truly love Him, to those who endure His discipline, 2 to those who walk in the righteousness of His commandments, In the law which He commanded us so that we might live. 3 The Lord’s faithful people shall live by it forever; The Paradise of the Lord, the trees of life, are His faithful people. 4 Their planting is rooted forever; They shall not be uprooted as long as the heavens last: 5 For Israel is God’s portion and inheritance.
Date: 65–30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... The theme of God’s absolute knowledge constitutes the author’s direct introduction to the climax of the collection of psalms, which is the coming of the Lord’s Messiah and the Last Judgment (compare Psalms of Solomon 1:6). In regard to the description of the everlasting relationship of the devout with God in Psalms of Solomon 14:3, the author had in mind all the main terms (garden, paradise, tree of life) that played an important role in the Jewish religious tradition with regard to the description of the Garden of Eden. Therefore, this relationship also includes God’s commandments, because they are for the devout the primary source of wisdom and right behavior (compare Jubilees 36:6; Proverbs 3:18; Odes of Solomon 11:18). The place of everlasting dwelling for the righteous with God is compared to the trees in the garden planted and cared for by the Lord, and since the pious live in God’s garden, they naturally are subject to the Lord’s commandments as well as to God’s discipline (Psalms of Solomon 14:3–4; compare Leviticus 18:5) ..."
František Ábel, The Psalms of Solomon and the Messianic Ethics of Paul (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016), 165–166.
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,