Psalm of Solomon 2 is a lament for Jerusalem after Pompey captured the city in 63 B.C. Although his name is not specifically mentioned, the author of the psalm clearly has Pompey in mind. He is called an “arrogant sinner” who brought battering rams against the walls of the Temple (2:1). According to Josephus, the city surrendered to the Romans but the Temple itself was captured. Pompey therefore brought “mechanical engines, and battering-rams from Tyre” (Antiq. 14.4.2).
Once inside the Temple, “They trampled it down (καταπατέω) with their shoes in arrogance” (PsSol 2:2). This description is a possible allusion to 1 Maccabees 3:51, “Your sanctuary is trampled down (καταπατέω) and profaned, and your priests mourn in humiliation” (RSV). In verse 19, the arrogant Gentiles dragged the beauty of the Temple “down from the throne of glory.” According to Josephus, Pompey entered the Temple and “saw all that which it was unlawful for any other men to see, but only for the high priests” (Antiq. 14.4.2).
PsSol 2:20-21 alludes to Isaiah 3:24 by personifying Jerusalem as a beautiful woman who has gone into mourning: “She put on sackcloth instead of beautiful clothes, a rope around her head instead of a crown. She took off the wreath of glory which God had put on her; in dishonor her beauty was thrown to the ground.” Since Isaiah was looking forward to the fall of Jerusalem Babylon is the “arrogant sinner” who desecrated the Temple. The writer of this psalm once again sees the Jerusalem of his day as a ravished, enslaved woman driven into exile.
Like 1 Maccabees, the author of this psalm blames the disaster on the “sons of Jerusalem” who have profaned (μιαίνω, 1 Macc 1:46, 63) and defiled (βεβηλόω, 1 Macc 1:43) the holy place with lawless acts. Although this lawlessness is not defined, verses 11-13 describe the sons and daughters of Jerusalem as prostitutes, a common metaphor for idolatry in the Old Testament. Psalm of Solomon 8 has an extended condemnation of the priesthood in control of the Temple, “plundered the sanctuary of God” (Ps.Sol 8:12).
Based on these observations, it is not difficult to see why some scholars thought this description referred to Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the “arrogant sinner” who profaned the Temple. His audacity is well-known from Daniel 11 and it led to the Maccabean Revolt. In this view, sons of Jerusalem who were established by the gentiles (2:11-14) are the Hasmoneans. Even if the arrogant sinner is Pompey, then the sons of Jerusalem are still the last of the Hasmoneans, perhaps even Herod the Great (who certainly can be described as committing lawlessness). It is also possible Herod the Great is the psalmist’s target, if the desecration of the Temple is Herod’s extensive expansion of the Temple courts. However, the judgment on the arrogant sinner in verses 26-27 does not resonate with Herod’s death.
Considering the reference to the death of Pompey in 2:26-7, it seems more likely the author of PsSol 2 intentionally calls to mind the devastating loss of the Temple in 586 B.C. as well as the arrogance of Antiochus to describe a more recent desecration of the Temple, that of the Romans in 63 B.C. Biblical texts often look back to the events of the past to describe the realities of the present, so it is no surprise this anonymous author builds his psalm on the same model.
Like a biblical psalm, the author addresses God and calls on him to exact vengeance on the arrogant sinner who trampled the sanctuary. God ought to act quickly to repay their arrogance.
Psalm of Solomon 2:25-27 And I did not wait long until God showed me his insolence pierced on the mountains of Egypt, more despised than the smallest thing on earth and sea. 27 His body was carried about on the waves in much shame, and there was no one to bury (him), for he (God) had despised him with contempt.
The dishonorable death of the arrogant sinner seems to be a clear allusion to the assassination of Pompey in 45 B.C.
Cassius Dio, Roman History 42: Although he had subdued the entire Roman sea, he perished on it; and although he had once been, as the saying is, “master of a thousand ships” he was destroyed in a tiny boat near Egypt and in a sense by Ptolemy, whose father he had once restored from exile to that land and to his kingdom… Thus Pompey, who previously had been considered the most powerful of the Romans, so that he even received the nickname of Agamemnon, was now butchered like one of the lowest of the Egyptians themselves.
The final verses of the psalm are a confession of faith in the Lord (2:33-37). The Lord has mercy on those who fear him. The Lord will distinguish “between the righteous and the sinner” and “repay sinners forever according to their actions.” Knowing God had brought Pompey to a dishonorable end would be of great comfort to the readers of this psalm. If God has acted in history to bring down a tyrant like Pompey, then he will again bring down the present tyrant.
The arrogant sinner in the Psalm of Solomon is typically agreed on to be referring to Pompey. Gurtner explains that the text refers to an assassination of a dragon which is typically believed to be the assassination of Pompey (Gurtner, 343). There are many other details in the text that explain Pompey in more detail which make it seem clearer that it is him, as you have described in your blog post. Understanding that Pompey is the ruler that is talked about in the Psalms of Solomon helps the reader to date the book and understand why this extra book was written at this time. Why would someone decide to write more psalms from Solomon during the reign of Pompey? The book actually includes some information about the Messiah. As Gurtner describes, it is one of the best ancient artifacts that describes the early Jewish view of the Messiah, prior to Jesus (Gurtner, 349). The book explains the Messiah as one who will come and defeat their enemies, like how the arrogant Pompey was assassinated and defeated. This would give a future hope for the Jewish people who were living at this time. Psalm of Solomon also talks about eschatology explaining that the crisis’s in their lives can only be resolved through God’s divine intervention (Gurtner, 349). Both the themes of eschatology and the coming Messiah give a hope to the Jewish people who lived through Pompey’s rule.
In the blog, you write, “Like a biblical psalm, the author addresses God and calls on him to exact vengeance on the arrogant sinner who trampled the sanctuary”. I remember a few years ago Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes became the center of a controversy when she, a womanist theologian and clinical psychologist, wrote a prayer called “Prayer of a Weary Black Woman”. The prayer starts by stating, “Dear God, help me hate white people…”. The prayer goes on to locate the center of the “hatred” on those whites who are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” in that they have the veneer of not being racist when truly they are. This got a lot of attention, especially during the pandemic and all the race issues going on in 2020-2021. She wrote that she was angry when writing it because a white person she considered a friend used the N-word in front of her, and wrote this prayer as a way to give her emotions to God. In the end, she, “… asked to be able to continue to love those who hate me. I prayed to remain true to the biblical mandate for peace, justice and reconciliation even when I have very little hope of its possibility”.
What is fascinating here, which ties back to this article, is that she bases her prayer on the imprecatory psalms. Psalms that are much more violent than the prayer she made. Psalms calls on God to take vengeance on people, which she never does. Why was this prayer so controversial, when biblical and extra-biblical Jewish works have more hatred and vengeance in them than her prayer? What is the role of rage and vengeance in the spiritual life? How do you, as she has stated in her blog, hold holy rage and holy hope together? Is holy rage even a thing? This is the train of thought I got on I would love to hear other people’s thoughts.
Hey Isiah! This is such a great reflection. You’re right to draw a connection between Dr. Walker-Barnes’ prayer and the tradition in both biblical and extra-biblical texts like the Psalms of Solomon. The outrage at her prayer reveals a discomfort with honest expressions of lament and anger especially when voiced by Black women. Yet, the Psalms teach us that rage can be sacred when it’s brought before God, not weaponized but surrendered. I think “Holy rage” is real and it names injustice without enacting it, holding space for both lament and the hope of transformation. It’s uncomfortable, but deeply biblical and profoundly human.
In your blog Psalm of Solomon 2 stands out as a powerful theological and political lament, reflecting the suffering and devastation felt by struggling Jews after Pompey’s desecration of Jerusalem in 63 B.C. This psalm, rich in biblical allusion and emotional intensity, skillfully reinterprets the past particularly the Babylonian destruction of the Temple and the arrogance of Antiochus IV to make sense of the present crisis. The figure of the “arrogant sinner” functions not only as a stand-in for Pompey, whose death is vividly displayed in verses 26–27, but also as a timeless symbol of foreign oppression and divine justice. The psalmist draws on familiar scriptural imagery to portray Jerusalem as a defiled, mourning woman, abandoned and disgraced, echoing prophetic texts like Isaiah and 1 Maccabees. Yet, rather than placing blame solely on Rome, the poet indicts the corrupt leadership within Jerusalem the Hasmonean rulers and possibly Herod as complicit in the disaster. Their moral failure, compared to prostitution and idolatry, violated the holy space from within before the Gentiles did so from without. The psalm ultimately ends not in despair but in hope. The death of Pompey serves as a reminder that God intervenes in history to humble the proud and deliver the faithful. This blend of lament, historical memory, and eschatological hope gives the psalm a prophetic edge, assuring readers that divine justice remains active.