Raise up to them their King - Psalms of Solomon 17-18 in the Context of Early Jewish Messianism

This study looks at Psalms of Solomon 17 and 18 in both their early Jewish and immediate literary contexts. The prominence of messia­nism in the two psalms has sometimes overshadowed their connec­tions with the rest of the Pss. Sol. corpus. This study identifies and discusses a number of thematic connections between pss. 17 and 18 and the earlier psalms and it also examines the unique messianic portrait painted in psalm 17. Its distinctive portrayal is compared to that found in other pre-Christian Jewish messianic texts particularly those of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The messianism of psalm 17 is then compared to the messianism that surrounded Jewish messianic clai­mants at the turn of the era including Jesus as he is portrayed in the Gospels. While Pss. Sol. 17 and the other pre-Christian Jewish messianic texts have much in common this study highlights two im­portant and unique aspects of the psalm: the non-militant character of the Messiah described therein and the absence of the temple or priesthood from its portrayal of the Messiah's rule. Such a portrait of the Messiah coheres in many important respects with the portrayal of Jesus in the Gospels.