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Psalms of Solomon

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The Faithful as Trees of Life

Psalm 14

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; 7 Their delight is in fleeting corruption, and they do not remember God. 8 For He knows people’s ways at all times, And He knows the secrets of the heart before they happen.⁠ 9 Therefore their inheritance is Sheol and darkness and destruction, and they shall not be found in the day when the righteous obtain mercy; 10 But the Lord’s faithful people shall inherit life in gladness.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalms of Solomon 14:3 and 1 Corinthians 3:!6

Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry · New Testament

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Summary

In 1 Corinthians, Paul describes believers as a new temple, sacred space where God and creation connect. This follows existing Jewish tradition, like the Psalms of Solomon, also describing the faithful as a new garden of Eden, a point of sacred space.

Passages

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:
65–30 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Psalms of Solomon

1 Corinthians 3:!6

New Testament
14 If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.
55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

References

"... the symbol of the trees by the waters is based upon Ezekiel 31, the same chapter that provides the main features of the description in Baruch. Among the water trees that grow in the garden of Eden, the cedar stands out here as beyond compare with any of the other trees of the garden, but because of its haughtiness it will be cut down by strangers and descend to Sheol together with the other trees of Eden that drink water. The present description also depicts the garden of Eden, whose fruits God protects ‘with the mystery of powerful heroes and spirits of holiness,’ and the garden is identified with the sect itself (Ringgren, ‘The Branch and the Plantation,’ 5; Licht, Thanksgiving Scroll, 132). The tree of life that grows in the garden of Eden appears here in the plural (see, similarly, Psalms of Solomon 14:3; Odes of Solomon 11 ..."
Rivḳah Nir, The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Idea of Redemption in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2002), 172.

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

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Psalms of Solomon 14:3 and 1 Corinthians 3:!6

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