Texts in Conversation
The Psalms of Solomon and Matthew describe hope for a Davidic king expected to remove corrupt leaders and free Jerusalem from foreign rule, following traditions based on Isaiah and Psalm 2. In Matthew, the crowd identifies Jesus with this same hope.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalms of Solomon 17:21
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
20 From their leaders to the least (of them) all were sinful; The king was a lawbreaker, and the judge disobedient, and the people sinful. 21 Look, Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of David, at the time You see fit, God, so that he may reign over Your servant Israel. 22 And strengthen him so that he may shatter unrighteous rulers, and so that he may cleanse Jerusalem of nations that trample (her) down to destruction. 23 Wisely, righteously he shall drive out sinners from (the) inheritance; He shall destroy the pride of the sinner as a potter's jar. 24 With a rod of iron he shall shatter all their possessions; He shall destroy the godless nations with the word of his mouth; 25 At his rebuke nations shall flee from him, And he shall rebuke sinners for the thoughts of their heart.
Date: 65–30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 12:23
New Testament
22 Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus healed him so that he could speak and see. 23 All the crowds were amazed and said, “Could this one be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this they said, “He does not cast out demons except by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons!” 25 Now when Jesus realized what they were thinking, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, and no town or house divided against itself will stand. 26 So if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has already overtaken you.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The Psalms of Solomon are highly polemical, and do not necessarily give an accurate picture of the conduct of the Hasmoneans. The themes sounded in the critique, wealth, fornication, impurity, profanation of the temple, are very similar to those found in the Damascus Document columns 4-5, which also probably reflect the Hasmonean era ... We have, then, a distinct picture of the Davidic messiah in the Psalms of Solomon. He is first of all the one who will liberate Jerusalem, and defeat and subjugate the Gentiles. He will then usher in an era of peace and reign in a kingdom marked by holiness and righteousness. This picture draws its warrants from biblical prophecy, especially Isaiah 11 and Psalm 2. It is unlikely that the authors of the Psalms of Solomon were the first Jews to see in Isaiah 11 or Psalm 2 the promise of a future glorious king. As we have seen, the hope for a future Davidic king was explicit in several prophetic passages ..."
John J. Collins, The Scepter and the Star: Messianism in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 52–78.
* 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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