Texts in Conversation
The Psalms of Solomon and Revelation both use the image of the tree of life to describe the destiny of the faithful. In Psalms of Solomon, the faithful are depicted as the trees in a restored garden, and Revelation shows the tree of life as central.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
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. 6 But this is not true of sinners and those who break the law, who love (the brief) day (spent) in the company of their sin;
Date: 65–30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Revelation 22:2
New Testament
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life—water as clear as crystal—pouring out from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 flowing down the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations. 3 And there will no longer be any curse, and the throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him, 4 and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more, and they will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever. 6 Then the angel said to me, “These words are reliable and true. The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must happen soon.”
Date: 92–96 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The tree of life is mentioned five times in Revelation (2:7; 22:2, 14, 19; see Comment on 2:7). In Psalms of Solomon 14:3, the trees of life in Paradise are metaphors for the faithful (see also 1QH 6:14–19; 10:25–26; Odes of Solomon 11.16; Gos. Truth 36.35–37); Andreas understands the phrase collectively of Christians who share in the tree of life (Schmid, Studien 1:251). For the metaphor of the faithful as trees, see Psalm 92:12–13; Isaiah 61:3; 1 Enoch 93:2; Odes of Solomon 1.2; 11.1 ..."
David E. Aune, Word Biblical Commentary: Revelation 17-22 (Dallas: Word, 1998), 357.
* 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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