Texts and Languages of the Psalms of Solomon
The Psalms of Solomon exist today in 15 either partial or whole manuscripts consisting of eleven Greek and four Syriac translations.1 Of the eleven Greek manuscripts, eight are complete, two are defective, and one is only a fragment (viz. 17:2-18:14). Of the four Syriac manuscripts, two are defective and two are mere fragments (viz. 16:6-13 in both fragments).2 There is very little debate that the Vorlage of the Greek manuscripts is Hebrew.3 There is dispute, however, regarding the Vorlage of the Syriac versions. Lattke states the problem this way: "The question of whether the Syriac version is 'primarily' based on a Hebrew text ...or is a translation of a Greek version ...must be regarded as an open problem."4 According to Wright, Hilgenfeld virtually stands alone in arguing for a Greek original, appealing to the LXX quotations found within the collection as support for his thesis. But as Wright suggests, this only affirms the translator's knowledge of the LXX--enough to allow for a harmonization of its readings.5
From a historical perspective, there is evidence of the existence of the Psalms of Solomon as early as the fifth century in that they are found listed at the beginning of Codex Alexandrinus. Presumably, had the twelve missing pages in Codex Alexandrinus been preserved, so also would the Psalms of Solomon have been preserved, providing the earliest manuscript witness to this collection (viz. fifth century A.D.).
Notes
1 R. B. Wright, "Psalms of Solomon," in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth, Vol. 1 (New York: Doubleday, 1985): 639.
2H. F. D. Sparks, ed., "The Psalms of Solomon," The Apocryphal Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1984): 649.
3Viz. D. Flosser, L. Helyer, R. B. Wright, J. VanderKam, and C. Evans, to name a few.
4Michael Lattke, "Psalms of Solomon," in Dictionary of New Testament Background, eds. Craig A. Evans and Stanley Porter (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000): 854.
5Wright, p. 640.
6Wright, p. 639.
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