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Audiobook edition · 1 h 4 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 44 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 44 pagesAbout this book
What does a faithful community pray when Jerusalem falls and justice seems far away?
The Psalms of Solomon gathers eighteen Jewish songs of prayer, lament, warning and hope. Ascribed to King Solomon, they are understood by scholars as the work of unknown devout Jews. In the shadow of Pompey's capture of Jerusalem, these voices wrestle with foreign rule, failed rulers and their own community's sins.
The songs ask how suffering and mercy can belong together. Their speakers describe God as just even in punishment, and call the righteous to accept correction without losing hope. Psalm 11 pictures exiles coming home; the best-known songs, Psalms 17 and 18, envision the Lord's Messiah, a righteous king from David's line.
What you’ll discover
- Prayer amid war Hear Psalm 1's speaker turn toward prayer at the first noise of war.
- Two paths through crisis Explore how the songs distinguish the devout from sinners through conduct, correction and hope.
- Discipline and mercy Consider the songs' belief that divine correction expresses love rather than rejection.
- The hoped-for king Meet the portrait of David's coming heir in Psalms 17 and 18.
- The exiles return Encounter Psalm 11's picture of homecoming amid a collection shaped by national disaster.
Who will love it
For readers who love ancient poetry, the Psalms of David and the prophets, and for anyone curious about early hopes for a Messiah.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A pen name hides a wounded community
- Distress breaks into a comfortable faith
- A foreign general becomes an instrument of judgment
- God is a righteous judge who shows no partiality
- The poor trust in a generous God
- The faithful look toward life beyond the grave
- A sinless king from David's line is awaited
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The Psalms of Solomon
by Traditionally Attributed to King Solomon
A devout community responds to a Roman general entering its sacred space with songs of sorrow and hope.
Medium levelUnder 2 hours to readEnglish
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“Why do you sleep, O my soul, and not bless the Lord?”
In short
Picture a man in Jerusalem who hears a sound like a rushing wind. A trumpet announces slaughter, and a great crowd moves toward the holy city like a firestorm through the Negeb desert.
The Psalms of Solomon at a glance
- Reading time
- About 30 min25 min fast, 35 min slow
- Length
- 6,880 words28 chapters
- Pages
- 44 pages64 in large print
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- about 50 BCby Traditionally Attributed to King Solomon
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A pen name hides a wounded community
The collection is traditionally counted as eighteen poems, and it carries the name of Israel's wise king. Scholars agree the name is a pen name. Solomon lived centuries earlier, and the true authors are unknown. The songs give voice to a devout community's grief, faith and hope amid the devastation of Jerusalem.
The poems survive in Greek and Syriac. Many scholars think the Greek translates a Hebrew original that is now lost. No major tradition placed the collection among its recognised scriptures, so it stayed at the edges.
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A devout community responds to a Roman general entering its sacred space with songs of sorrow and hope.
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Details
- Language
- English
- Listening time
- 1 h 4 min
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 44 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 44 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 64 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Large print hardcover
- 64 pages · 8.5 × 11 in
- Delivery and returns
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For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Solomon. The Psalms of Solomon. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-psalms-of-solomon.
Solomon. (2026). The Psalms of Solomon. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-psalms-of-solomon (Original work published ca. 50 B.C.E.)
Solomon. The Psalms of Solomon. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-psalms-of-solomon.
@book{solomon2026psalms,
author = {Solomon},
title = {The Psalms of Solomon},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-psalms-of-solomon},
note = {First published ca. 50 BCE}
}
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What are the Psalms of Solomon about?
They are Jewish songs responding to the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 63 BCE. They lament the city's fall, praise God's justice, comfort the faithful, and pray for a righteous king from the line of David.
Did Solomon write the Psalms of Solomon?
No. Scholars agree that the name is a pen name. The poems come from the first century BCE, many centuries after Solomon, and their real authors are unknown. Writing under a revered name was a common ancient practice.
Why are the Psalms of Solomon not in the Bible?
They never formed part of the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament, and most Apocrypha lists omit them. Some Greek Bible manuscripts carried them alongside the other books, and they survive in Greek and Syriac.
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