Psalms

About this book

Psalm 135

1 Praise the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Offer praise, you servants of the Lord, 2 who serve in the Lord’s temple, in the courts of the temple of our God. 3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant. 4 Indeed, the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel to be his special possession.⁠ 5 Yes, I know the Lord is great, and our Lord is superior to all gods. 6 He does whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all the ocean depths. 7 He causes the clouds to arise from the end of the earth, makes lightning bolts accompany the rain, and brings the wind out of his storehouses.⁠ 8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt, including both men and animals. 9 He performed awesome deeds and acts of judgment in your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. 10 He defeated many nations, and killed mighty kings— 11 Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan. 12 He gave their land as an inheritance, as an inheritance to Israel his people. 13 O Lord, your name endures, your reputation, O Lord, lasts.⁠ 14 For the Lord vindicates his people and has compassion on his servants.⁠ 15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold; they are man-made.⁠ 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see, 17 and ears, but cannot hear. Indeed, they cannot breathe. 18 Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them. 19 O family of Israel, praise the Lord. O family of Aaron, praise the Lord. 20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord. You loyal followers of the Lord, praise the Lord. 21 The Lord deserves praise in Zion—he who dwells in Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 135:15 and Wisdom of Solomon 15:15

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

Summary

Psalm 135 describes idols as objects of silver and gold that have mouths, eyes, and ears but lack life or power. The Wisdom of Solomon echoes this description, calling such images gods of the nations yet insisting they exist only as human creations.

Passages

Psalm 135:15

Hebrew Bible

12 He gave their land as an inheritance, as an inheritance to Israel his people. 13 O Lord, your name endures, your reputation, O Lord, lasts. 14 For the Lord vindicates his people and has compassion on his servants. 15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold; they are man-made. 16 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see, 17 and ears, but cannot hear. Indeed, they cannot breathe.

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Wisdom of Solomon 15:15

Deuterocanon

13 For this man, beyond all others, knows that he sins, out of earthy matter making brittle vessels and engraved images. 14 But most foolish and more miserable than a baby, are the enemies of your people, who oppressed them; 15 because they even considered all the idols of the nations to be gods, which have neither the use of eyes for seeing, nor nostrils for drawing breath, nor ears to hear, nor fingers for handling, and their feet are helpless for walking. 16 For a man made them, and one whose own spirit is borrowed molded them; for no one has power as a man to mold a god like himself. 17 But, being mortal, he makes a dead thing by the work of lawless hands; for he is better than the objects of his worship, since he indeed had life, but they never did.

50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

References

"... Even though, for example, Asklepios was “so-called a god” by the pagans, the only real existence that Asklepios had was in the imagination of the pagan and the physical representation in the idol. Thus Philo, Wisdom of Solomon, Paul, and the Strong can argue that the god is only the idol, the idol is nothing, and therefore the god is nothing. This is why a common form of criticizing pagan gods is to label them to be the “work of human hands.” (One way to describe idols and thus pagan gods is to combine the terms for “hands” with another root meaning “make” or ‘form” e.g., χειροποίητος: Wisdom of Solomon 14:8; χειροκμήτος: Decalogue 66, but it is even more common to describe the process of making idols: e.g., Psalm 135:15-18; Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 10:3-14; Hosea 8:4-6; 13:2; Habakkuk 2:18-19; Wisdom of Solomon 13:10-19; 14:8-31) There is, however, a difference in the way Paul and the Strong understand the non-existence of idol-gods. As we have seen in preceding chapters, the agreement that gods do not exist can result in radically different theological and ethical interpretations of how to interact with idols. Subsequent correction and instruction by Paul will get to the heart of the matter concerning the implications of the non-existence of idols. The problem addressed in 1 Cor 8 is that the actions of the Strong have the potential to “destroy” the Weak. Paul will later argue that despite the non-existence of the idol, there is still a demonic reality behind it (1 Corinthians 10:20). The Strong admit that many people continue to recognize other deities, and thus the Strong state that “even if there are those called gods, either in heaven or on earth.” A parallel to the idea of pagan deities being “so-called gods” is found in Wisdom of Solomon 15:15, where the idols of the nations are called gods. According to Wisdom of Solomon, associations with idols are to be avoided, even though Wisdom makes no mention of a demonic presence ..."

Trent A. Rogers, “The Representation of God in First Corinthians 8-10: Understanding Paul in the Context of Wisdom, Philo, and Josephus” (diss., Cedarville University, 2015), 244–245.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Psalm 135:15 and Wisdom of Solomon 15:15

Summary

Passages

Psalm 135:15

Wisdom of Solomon 15:15

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library