Texts in Conversation
Psalm 79 asks God to let his compassion quickly overtake a people whose temple has been defiled. Simon’s prayer in 3 Maccabees repeats this prayer as he begs God to act quickly against an invading king.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Psalms 78:8
Septuagint
7 because they devoured Jacob and laid waste his place. 8 Do not remember our ancient acts of lawlessness. Let your compassions quickly overtake us, because we became very poor. 9 Help us, O God, our savior, on account of the glory of your name. O Lord, rescue us, and pardon our sins, on account of your name.
3 Maccabees 2:20
Pseudepigrapha
19 Wipe away our sins and disperse our errors, and reveal your mercy at this hour. 20 Speedily let your mercies overtake us, and put praises in the mouth of those who are downcast and broken in spirit, and give us peace." 21 Thereupon God, who oversees all things, the first Father of all, holy among the holy ones, having heard the lawful supplication, scourged him who had exalted himself in insolence and audacity.
Search:
Notes and References
... One more biblical citation warrants exploration. 3 Maccabees 2:20, the last verse of the prayer, reads: 'Let your compassion speedily overtake us and put praises in the mouth of those who are downcast and crushed in spirit, granting us peace.' The first clause of this verse is a direct citation taken from Psalm 78:8 (the Masoretic Text Psalm 79:8) ... The clause occurs nowhere else in the Bible. Given the careful interpretive reference made to the Temple dedication prayer and its context, the citation from this particular psalm is surely not accidental. The larger context of this quote from Psalm 78 should be mentioned because the subject of the psalm as a whole is a request for divine intervention in the face of the desecration of the Temple in Jerusalem. The theme corresponds to the situation that has given rise to Simon's prayer in 3 Maccabees 2. ...
Newman, Judith H.
Praying by the Book: The Scripturalization of Prayer in Second Temple Judaism
(pp. 196-197) Society of Biblical Literature, 1999
* 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.