An Intertextual Study of the Psalms of Solomon: Pseudepigrapha [Hardcover]

Atkinson writes lucidly and his commentary is well researched. I recommend it strongly.

James H. Charlesworth Director, Princeton Dead Sea Scrolls Project -- from publisher

The author’s analysis of the texts and their contexts is thorough and insightful.

Robert B. Wright Professor of Hebrew Bible Temple University -- from publisher

This is a study of the Psalms of Solomon, which were composed between 63-37 BC as a series of reflections on the violence that accompanied the Roman dominance of Palestine.

Prof. Atkinson’s intertextual commentary is the first English study on the Psalms of Solomon in over a century, and the only work to benefit from complete access to the full corpus of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Even though it contains the earliest pre-Christian description of the Davidic messiah, scholars have unfortunately paid scant attention to the pseudepigraphical work known as the Psalms of Solomon. Atkinson’s commentary remedies this neglect by providing a complete exegesis of the Psalms of Solomon, with an exhaustive review of literature about this text from its discovery until the present day.

Among the many insights in Atkinson’s commentary is that the Psalms of Solomon was composed between 63 B.C.E. to 37 B.C.E. as a series of reflections upon the violence that accompanied the Roman dominance of Palestine. Faced with overwhelming foreign aggression, this unknown Jerusalem synagogue community used poetry as a vehicle to oppose the Romans and their Jewish allies. With the emergence of the Herod the Great, this sect changed its theology, and used scripture to fashion a militant Davidic Messiah, who was envisaged as a righteous counterpart to the very Jewish and Roman rulers he was to destroy.

In addition to a detailed commentary of the text, including many new insights based upon the newly-released Dead Sea Scrolls, Prof. Atkinson’s commentary also contains the Greek text with the scriptural parallels used by the Psalms of Solomon’s authors in adjacent columns. This intertextual commentary shows that the pious writers of these psalms not only searched scripture to make sense of their world, but also wrote poetic compositions that contain many previously overlooked references to historical events. Prof. Atkinson’s commentary should be of interest to students, scholars, clergy, as well as anyone wishing to understand the Bible, Hellenistic Judaism, nascent Christianity, and the classical period in the Middle East.

Kenneth Atkinson, Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Northern Iowa, holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and Temple University. He has worked extensively as an archaeologist throughout Israel as well as in London, England. Prof. Atkinson has published widely on biblical archaeology, biblical literature, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. He is currently writing a commentary on the Assumption of Moses (Testament of Moses).