Texts in Conversation
The Psalms of Solomon connects judgment with a person's actions. In Romans 2, Paul uses the same principle for Jewish people and Gentiles, placing his argument within a wider Jewish tradition of judgment based on deeds.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalms of Solomon 9:5
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
3 For no one who acts unjustly is hidden from Your knowledge, And the righteous deeds of Your faithful people (are) in Your presence, Lord. Where, then, can a man hide himself from Your knowledge, God? 4 Our actions are subject to our own choice and power, to do right or wrong with our hands. And in Your righteousness You attend to human beings. 5 The person who acts righteously stores up life for himself with the Lord; And the person who does wrong forfeits his life to destruction; For the judgments of the Lord are (given) in righteousness to (every) man and (his) house. 6 To whom are You good, God, except those who call on the Lord? He cleanses a soul of sins when it confesses and acknowledges them; For shame is upon us and upon our faces because of all these things.
Date: 65–30 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Romans 2:5
New Testament
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! 6 He will reward each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 8 but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness. 9 There will be affliction and distress on everyone who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek.
Date: 55–58 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Both the Hebrew Scriptures and Second Temple literature are replete with the concept that an eschatological judgment will take place during which everyone will be judged on the basis of their works. For instance, the phrase occurs in Psalm 61:13; Proverbs 24:12; Job 34:11 (LXX). Lamentations expresses the biblical concept of divine retribution in similar fashion through a plea for God’s curse upon his enemies: (Pay them back what they deserve, Lord, for what their hands have done; Lamentations 3:64). The concept of judgment according to works is expressed in the OT Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha as well. For example, the author of Psalms of Solomon 9:5 declares, “The one who does righteousness stores up life for himself with the Lord, but the one who does unrighteousness causes his life to be destroyed, for the righteous judgments of the Lord are according to the individual and the household.” In the eschatological vein of Judaism, the apostle Paul refers to an eschatological judgment, enumerating the rewards given to those who faithfully practice good works in this life and the dire consequences of practicing evil ..."
Martin E. Sheldon, A Theology of Good Works: The Apostle Paul's Concept of Good Works within the Context of Second Temple Judaism (Liberty University, 2015), 19–20.
* 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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