II. PATRIARCHS.)

_Psalms of Solomon._--These psalms, in all eighteen, enjoyed but small
consideration in early times, for only six direct references to them are
found in early literature. Their ascription to Solomon is due solely to
the copyists or translators, for no such claim is made in any of the
psalms. On the whole, Ryle and James are no doubt right in assigning
70-40 B.C. as the limits within which the psalms were written. The
authors were Pharisees. They divide their countrymen into two
classes--"the righteous," ii. 38-39, iii. 3-5, 7, 8, &c., and "the
sinners," ii. 38, iii. 13, iv. 9, &c.; "the saints," iii. 10, &c., and
"the transgressors," iv. II, &c. The former are the Pharisees; the
latter the Sadducees. They protest against the Asmonaean house for
usurping the throne of David, and laying violent hands on the high
priesthood (xvii. 5, 6, 8), and proclaim the coming of the Messiah, the
Son of David, who is to set all things right and establish the supremacy
of Israel. Pss. xvii.-xviii. and i.-xvi. cannot be assigned to the same
authorship. The hopes of the Messiah are confined to the former, and a
somewhat different eschatology underlies the two works. Since the Psalms
were written in Hebrew, and intended for public worship in the
synagogues, it is most probable that they were composed in Palestine.
(See SOLOMON, THE PSALMS OF.)

_The Assumption of Moses_.--This book was lost for many centuries till a
large fragment of it was discovered by Ceriani in 1861 (_Monumenta
Sacra_, I. i. 55-64) from a palimpsest of the 6th century. Very little
was known about the contents of this book prior to this discovery. The
present book is possibly the long-lost [Greek: Diatheke Mouseos]
mentioned in some ancient lists, for it never speaks of the assumption
of Moses, but always of his natural death. About a half of the original
Testament is preserved in the Latin version. The latter half probably
dealt with questions about the creation. With this "Testament" the
"Assumption," to which almost all the patristic references and that of
Jude are made, was subsequently edited. The book was written between 4
B.C. and A.D. 7. As for the author, he was no Essene, for he recognizes
animal sacrifices and cherishes the Messianic hope; he was not a
Sadducee, for he looks forward to the establishment of the Messianic
kingdom (x.); nor a Zealot, for the quietistic ideal is upheld (ix.),
and the kingdom is established by God Himself (x.).