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At a glance
- Traditional author
- Bearing Solomon's name; not received as Scripture by the major traditions
- Traditional date
- Mid-1st century BCE (medium confidence)
- Traditional audience
- Readers of Corpus Witness’s Canon & Books shelves
Listed in: Septuagint (LXX).
Meaning of Psalms of Solomon
A collection of Jewish psalms sometimes appended to Greek biblical manuscripts.
Traditional understanding
Eighteen psalms bearing Solomon's name, listed in some ancient Bible manuscripts (such as Codex Alexandrinus's table) but not received as Scripture by the Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant traditions. They long for the Messiah, the Son of David.
Historical context
Related literature for later Christian canons; not a Trent or Protestant 66 book.
Setting of the writing
Related literature for later Christian canons; not a Trent or Protestant 66 book.
Literary shape
second-temple-jewish work curated for historical study.
Themes
- second-temple-jewish
Psalms of Solomon chapter by chapter
Lament
Psalms of Solomon 1 — Alarm over Jerusalem’s sin
The first psalm voices shock that prosperity hid lawlessness in Jerusalem. Sudden war and humiliation expose sins that looked secure under wealth.
Meaning: Security without righteousness is brittle. The collection begins by refusing to confuse blessing with innocence.
Psalms of Solomon 2 — Nations in the sanctuary
Foreign boots in the holy place and the desecration of Jerusalem are confessed as judgment for the people’s sins, yet the psalmist also asks God to repay arrogant gentile power.
Meaning: Judgment and hope travel together: Israel’s guilt is owned, but pagan triumph is not treated as final or righteous.
Wisdom
Psalms of Solomon 3 — The righteous and the sinner
A contrast song distinguishes the righteous who repent when they stumble from sinners who multiply transgression. Discipline is received as mercy.
Meaning: Righteousness here is a path of return, not flawless performance. Softness toward correction marks the godly.
Rebuke
Psalms of Solomon 4 — Against hypocritical leaders
The psalm attacks those who sit in the council of the devout while practicing deceit and lust. Public piety masking private corruption is placed under curse.
Meaning: The collection’s piety is socially sharp. Devotion that exploits trust is treated as a special offense.
Trust
Psalms of Solomon 5 — God the provider
God is praised as the one who feeds birds and kings alike, who hears the poor, and whose generosity cannot be bribed. Human kings are small beside divine care.
Meaning: After judgment oracles, the book teaches dependence. Provision is personal, not merely national.
Psalms of Solomon 6 — Help for the God-fearer
Happy is the one whose heart is ready to call on the Lord; sleep and waking are kept by God. Fear of the Lord becomes a refuge in trouble.
Meaning: Everyday piety—ready prayer—is the quiet center of resistance when public life is unstable.
Petition
Psalms of Solomon 7 — Discipline, not abandonment
The people ask God to discipline them in mercy rather than hand them over to the nations. Dwelling under God’s rod is preferred to exile under foreign rage.
Meaning: Covenant pain is still covenant. The worst fate imagined is to be discarded from God’s household care.
Lament
Psalms of Solomon 8 — Sin exposed in the city
Jerusalem’s secret sins—impurity, injustice, hypocrisy—are catalogued as the reason invaders entered peacefully and then seized power. God’s righteousness in judgment is confessed.
Meaning: The psalm refuses conspiracy-only explanations. Internal unfaithfulness invited external domination.
Trust
Psalms of Solomon 9 — Refuge in the Lord
Israel’s help is located in the Lord’s remembrance of the covenant with the patriarchs. Human power is dismissed as insufficient for salvation.
Meaning: Identity under pressure returns to promise, not to military arithmetic alone.
Wisdom
Psalms of Solomon 10 — Blessed discipline
Happy is the one the Lord remembers with chastening; the righteous are refined rather than destroyed. Praise rises from those who accept the whip as love.
Meaning: Suffering is interpreted inside sonship. Correction is evidence of belonging.
Hope
Psalms of Solomon 11 — Gathering the dispersed
Jerusalem is told to look up as God gathers children from east and west. Holy cities and a restored sanctuary fill the horizon of hope.
Meaning: Exile is not the last word. The collection sings restoration as God’s own pilgrimage route home.
Petition
Psalms of Solomon 12 — Rescue from the slanderer
A prayer asks deliverance from the lawless tongue that spreads lies and inflames violence. The quiet of the devout is set against the noise of destructive speech.
Meaning: Words are treated as weapons. Community survival includes protection from malicious speech.
Wisdom
Psalms of Solomon 13 — Different ends for righteous and sinner
The psalm contrasts how famine, sword, and death meet the righteous versus the sinner. God’s discipline of the faithful is distinguished from the ruin of the wicked.
Meaning: Outward disasters still require theological discernment. Not every shared wound means a shared verdict.
Psalms of Solomon 14 — Faithful to the end
The Lord’s mercy rests on those who love him in truth and endure his discipline. Paradise and inheritance language encourage perseverance.
Meaning: Hope has an ethical edge: enduring love of God, not momentary enthusiasm, inherits life.
Judgment
Psalms of Solomon 15 — Mark of the righteous
In a day of the Lord’s judgment, the righteous are marked for salvation while sinners face fire and darkness. Praise becomes the portion of those who fear God.
Meaning: Apocalyptic sorting sharpens present choices. Worship is already alignment with the coming verdict.
Petition
Psalms of Solomon 16 — Kept from sin’s sleep
The psalmist thanks God for waking him when sin nearly overcame him, asking to be held by divine strength and satisfied with righteousness rather than illicit desire.
Meaning: Grace interrupts self-destruction. Moral failure is answered with dependence, not bravado.
Messianic hope
Psalms of Solomon 17 — The coming Davidic king
After condemning unlawful rulers, the psalm prays for a righteous Davidic king who will purge Jerusalem, shepherd Israel, and judge nations in the fear of God—without trusting horse and rider.
Meaning: This is among the clearest pre-Christian portraits of a pious messiah-king: just, Torah-formed, and restorative rather than merely military.
Close
Psalms of Solomon 18 — Mercy over the remnant
The final psalm asks God to cleanse Israel for an appointed day, celebrating the Lord’s everlasting mercy over the remnant and the under-shepherd care of the coming king.
Meaning: The collection ends in petition and praise: history’s wounds are held inside hope for purified people and faithful rule.