Psalms of Solomon 17

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C. S. Bartholomew
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Psalms of Solomon 17

Post by C. S. Bartholomew »

C. Wanamaker (1-2 Thes NIGTC 1990) points out that Man of Lawlessness 2Th. 2:3 may reflect a tradition evidenced in Psalms of Solomon 17:11-22. This is a text for which we don't not have a Hebrew equivalent.

2Th. 2:3 Μή τις ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατήσῃ κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον. ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ ἔλθῃ ἡ ἀποστασία πρῶτον καὶ ἀποκαλυφθῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς ἀνομίας, ὁ υἱὸς τῆς ἀπωλείας,

Psa. Sol. 17 is an eschatological messianic text dated by some to the 1st century BC which perhaps accounts for its absence from the Hebrew canon. In fact we have no Hebrew text for Psalms of Solomon only Syriac and Greek which are considered independent translations of a Hebrew vorlage now lost. I suspect most of the canonical Psalter is earlier.

Sol. 17:11 Ἠρήμωσεν ὁ ἄνομος τὴν γῆν ἡμῶν ἀπὸ ἐνοικούντων αὐτήν,
ἠφάνισαν νέον καὶ πρεσβύτην καὶ τέκνα αὐτῶν ἅμα·
Sol. 17:12 ἐν ὀργῇ κάλλους αὐτοῦ ἐξαπέστειλεν αὐτὰ ἕως ἐπὶ δυσμῶν
καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῆς γῆς εἰς ἐμπαιγμὸν καὶ οὐκ ἐφείσατο.
Sol. 17:13 ἐν ἀλλοτριότητι ὁ ἐχθρὸς ἐποίησεν ὑπερηφανίαν,
καὶ ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ ἀλλοτρία ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν.
Sol. 17:14 καὶ πάντα, ὅσα ἐποίησεν ἐν Ιερουσαλημ,
καθὼς καὶ τὰ ἔθνη ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι τοῦ σθένους αὐτῶν.
Sol. 17:15 Καὶ ἐπεκρατοῦσαν αὐτῶν οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς διαθήκης ἐν μέσῳ ἐθνῶν συμμίκτων,
οὐκ ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς ὁ ποιῶν ἐν Ιερουσαλημ ἔλεος καὶ ἀλήθειαν.
Sol. 17:16 ἐφύγοσαν ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν οἱ ἀγαπῶντες συναγωγὰς ὁσίων,
ὡς στρουθία ἐξεπετάσθησαν ἀπὸ κοίτης αὐτῶν.
Sol. 17:17 ἐπλανῶντο ἐν ἐρήμοις σωθῆναι ψυχὰς αὐτῶν ἀπὸ κακοῦ,
καὶ τίμιον ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς παροικίας ψυχὴ σεσῳσμένη ἐξ αὐτῶν.
Sol. 17:18 εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐγενήθη ὁ σκορπισμὸς αὐτῶν ὑπὸ ἀνόμων,
ὅτι ἀνέσχεν ὁ οὐρανὸς τοῦ στάξαι ὑετὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν.
Sol. 17:19 πηγαὶ συνεσχέθησαν αἰώνιοι ἐξ ἀβύσσων ἀπὸ ὀρέων ὑψηλῶν,
ὅτι οὐκ ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς ποιῶν δικαιοσύνην καὶ κρίμα.
Sol. 17:20 ἀπὸ ἄρχοντος αὐτῶν καὶ λαοῦ ἐλαχίστου ἐν πάσῃ ἁμαρτίᾳ,
ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν παρανομίᾳ καὶ ὁ κριτὴς ἐν ἀπειθείᾳ καὶ ὁ λαὸς ἐν ἁμαρτίᾳ.
Sol. 17:21 Ἰδέ, κύριε, καὶ ἀνάστησον αὐτοῖς τὸν βασιλέα αὐτῶν υἱὸν Δαυιδ
εἰς τὸν καιρόν, ὃν εἵλου σύ, ὁ θεός, τοῦ βασιλεῦσαι ἐπὶ Ισραηλ παῖδά σου·
Sol. 17:22 καὶ ὑπόζωσον αὐτὸν ἰσχὺν τοῦ θραῦσαι ἄρχοντας ἀδίκους,
καθαρίσαι Ιερουσαλημ ἀπὸ ἐθνῶν καταπατούντων ἐν ἀπωλεί

here is a link to an interlinear http://www.embarl.force9.co.uk/Other...sofSolomon.pdf
here is a link to NETS translation http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/editi...pssal-nets.pdf

The first question that caught my eye was the unlikely expression Sol. 17:12 ἐν ὀργῇ κάλλους.
C. Stirling Bartholomew

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