The Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The ... - josephprestonkirk

JOHN J. COLLINS 79
king are those of Alexander Jannaeus (103–76 B.C.E.), some of which
read, in Hebrew and Greek, “Yehonathan the King—King Alexander.” 27 It
may be said that the earlier Hasmonean rulers, Simon and Jonathan
Maccabee and John Hyrcanus, were de facto monarchs. 1 Maccabees extols
Simon in terms that imply that prophecy was fulfilled in his rule: “The land
had rest all the days of Simon…All the people sat under their own vines
and fig trees and there was none to make them afraid…” (1 Macc 14:4, 12;
cf. Mic 4:4). Yet neither he nor his immediate successors claimed the title
of king, and there is no reason to say that they had messianic aspirations.
The relationship of the Hasmoneans to messianic hope can be seen
clearly in the Psalms of Solomon. 28 These Psalms were written after the
Roman general Pompey had conquered Jerusalem in 63 B.C.E. and had
insisted on entering the Holy of Holies. More precisely, they were written
after the death of Pompey in Egypt in 48 B.C.E. They celebrate his
downfall in Pss. Sol. 2:26–28: “and I did not wait long before God showed
me his body, stabbed, on the mountains of Egypt…” But much of the
blame for what had befallen is laid on Jewish shoulders: “Foreign nations
went up to thine altar; in pride they trampled it with their sandals;
because the sons of Jerusalem had defiled the sanctuary of the Lord…”
Specifically, the blame rests on the illegitimate Jewish rulers:
“Thou, Lord, didst choose David as king over Israel,
and thou didst swear to him concerning his posterity for ever,
that his kingdom would never fail before thee.
But for our sins, there rose up against us sinners:
they assailed us and thrust us out,
they took possession with violence, and did not praise thy honorable name.
They set up in splendor a kingdom in their pride,
They laid waste the throne of David in the arrogance of their fortune.” (Pss.
Sol. 17:1–6)
The psalmist prays for a legitimate ruler in contrast to these non-Davidic
usurpers:
“Behold, O Lord, and raise up for them their king, the son of David,
For the time which thou didst foresee, O God, that he may reign over Israel
thy servant.
27. Emil Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ (ed. G. Vermes,
F. Millar, and M. Black; rev. ed.; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1973), 1:227.
28. Gene L. Davenport, “The ‘Anointed of the Lord’ in Psalms of Solomon 17,” in
Ideal Figures in Ancient Judaism (ed. G. W. Nickelsburg and J. J. Collins; Chico, CA:
Scholars Press, 1980), 67–92; Pomykala, The Davidic Dynasty, 159–70. See the thorough
study of Kenneth Atkinson, I Cried to the Lord. A Study of the Psalms of Solomon’s
Historical Background and Social Setting (JSPSup 84; Leiden: Brill, 2004), 129–79.