The Late David M. Scholer

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If you are interested in learning more about the origins and influences of the Odes of Solomon, below is a detailed bibliography that offers some great guidance for your learning. This information was pulled together by David M. Scholer. Dr. Scholer has served on the Fuller School of Theology faculty as professor of New Testament since 1994, and was associate dean of the Center for Advanced Theological Studies (CATS) from 1997 to 2006.

 

 

Manuscript information about the Odes of Solomon:

  • A more or less complete manuscript of the Odes of Solomon was not “discovered” until 1909 by J. Rendal Harris. He identified a Syriac MS [Manchester, John Rylands Library, Cod. Syr. 9; usually labeled H] as the Odes of Solomon (it contains 3.1b-42.20 [end]).
  • Five of the Odes of Solomon had been known for a long time, since they were quoted in the Coptic gnostic text Pistis Sophia, contained in the MS Codex Askewianus. These five Odes occur in Pistis Sopia chapters 58, 59, 65, 69 and 71 in this order: 5.1-11; 1; 6.8-18; 25; and 22. This Coptic witness is the only known text for Ode 1.
  • In 1912 F. C. Burkitt identified a Syriac MS [tenth century], in the British Museum since the 1840s, as the Odes of Solomon 17.7-42.20 [London, British Museum, MS. Add. 14538; known also as Codex Nitriensis; usually labeled N or B].
  • In 1955/1956 Ode 11 was discovered in Greek in Papyrus Bodmer XI [Cologny-Geneve, Bibliotheque Bodmer, P. Bod. XI; this is a third century MS. This MS includes six additional lines in verse 16 not attested in the Syriac.
  • There is no known text of Ode 2.
  • There is a citation of Ode 19.6-7 in Lactantius, Divine Institutions 4.12.3, which notes it only as a saying of Solomon.
  • It is unknown and debated whether the original language of the Odes was Greek or Syriac.Here are more useful resources for you to study on your own


Here are more useful resources for you to study on your on your own:

 

1. The first edition of the Odes of Solomon was prepared by J. R. Harris: Harris, J. R. The Odes and Psalms of Solomon: Now First Published from the Syriac Version. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1909.

See also:

  • Harris, J. R The Odes and Psalms of Solomon: Published from the Syriac Edition. 2d ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911.
  • Harris, J. R. An Early Christian Psalter. London: James Nisbet, 1909 [the first English translation only publication].

2. Harris’ “final” edition:

Harris, J. R. and Mingana, A. The Odes and Psalms of Solomon. 2 Vols. Manchester: Manchester University Press/London and New York: Longmans, Green, 1916, 1920.

3. Probably the most useful edition and English translation of the Odes of Solomon is:

Charlesworth, The Odes of Solomon: The Syriac Texts edited with Translation and Notes. (SBL Texts and Translations 13; Pseudepigrapha Series 7.) Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1977 [this is a corrected reprint of The Odes of Solomon: Edited, with Translation and Notes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973)].

Another important work by Charlesworth:
Critical Reflections on the Odes of Solomon. (JSPSuppl 22.) Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998.

4. The current “great” edition and work on the Odes of Solomon is the four volume contribution of Mihael Lattke:

  • Lattke, M. Die Oden Salomos in ihrer Bedeutung ffir Neues Testament and Gnosis. Band I: Ausfuhrliche llandschriftenbeschreibung; Edition mit deutscher ParallelUbersetzung; Hermeneutischer Anhang zur gnostischen Interpretation Salomon in der Pistis Sophia.
  • Band Ia: Der syrische Text der Edition in Estrange! ; Faksimile des griechischen Papyrus Bodmer XI.
  • Band II: Vollstandige Wortkonkordanz zur handschriftlichen, griechischen, koptischen, lateinischen und syrischen Uberlieferung der Oden Salomos; mit einem Faksimile des Kodex N. (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 25/1, 25/1a, 25/2.) Fribourg: Editions Universitaires/Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1979, 1980, 1979.
  • Lattke, M. Die Oden Sal4mos in Hirer Bedeutung fur Neues Testament und Gnosis. Band III: Forschungsgeschichtliche Bibliographie 1799-1984; Mk einem Beitrag von Majella Franzmann: A Study of the Odes of Solomon with Reference to the French Scholarship 1909-1980.Band IV (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 25/3, 25/4) Freiburg: Universitatsverlag and Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986, 1998.

5. Other editions (and translations) of the Odes of Solomon include:

  • Azar, E. Les Odes de Salomon: Presentation et Ttraduction. Paris: Les Editions du Cerf, 1996.
  • Bauer, W. Die Oden Salomos. (Kleine Texte flkr Vorlesungen und Ubungen 64.) Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1933.
  • Bernard, J. H. The Odes of Solomon. (Texts and Studies 8,3.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1912.
  • Franzmann, M. The Odes of Solomon: An Analysis of the Poetical Structure and Form. (NTOA 20.) Freiburg: Universitatsverlag/Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1991.
  • Grimme, H. Die Oden Salomos: Syrisch-Hebraisch-Deutsch. Heidelberg: Carl Winters Universitatsbuchhandlung, 1911.
  • Lattke, M. Oden Salomos: Ubersetzt und Eingeleitet. (FC 19.) Frieburg: Herder, 1995.
  • Pierre, M.-J. Les Odes de Salomon. (Apocryphes 4.) Turnhout: Brepols, 1994.

6. One of the anomalies concerning the Odes of Solomon is the fact that it has been included in collections both of Old Testament pseudepigrapha and of New Testament apocrypha. A German translation of the Odes appeared in the New Testament apocrypha collection edited by E. Hennecke (Neutestamentliche Apokryphen; by H. Gressmann in the 2d ed.; by W. Bauer in the 3d ed.) The first English edition of this work (New Testament Apocrypha) retained the introduction to the Odes, but omitted the translation. The second English edition does not include the Odes at all. J. H. Charlesworth’s The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha includes the Odes (Vol. 2, pp. 725-71; by J. H. Charlesworth [1985]) as does H. F. D. Sparks, The Apocryphal Old Testament (pp. 683-731; by J. A. Emerton [1984]).

7. For bibliography on the Odes of Solomon consult:

  • Charlesworth, J. H. [listed above], pp. 149-67.
  • Franzmann, M. The Odes of Solomon: An Analysis of the Poetical Structure and Form. (Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus 20.) Freiburg: Universitat and Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1991; pp. 419-45; pp. 1-7 provide a brief history of research on the Odes.
  • Lattke, M. [listed above; Band III and Band IV (these cover publications through 1997)].

8. Although James Charlesworth, one of the foremost scholars on the Odes, calls them “the earliest Christian hymnbook” (The Odes…., p. vii), it is not a certain judgment of the genre. Clearly the Odes are poetry, and it is virtually certain that they were used in worship. Since there is no evidence available on how the Odes were actually used in the early church, it remains problematic to talk about their precise use. Michael Lattke, the other major scholar of the Odes, calls them poems, noting that various scholars also call them prayers, hymns, songs or psalms (Band IV, p. 169).

9. Alan Hovhaness in his recording entitled Songs: Selections (Camas, WA: Crystal, 2001) includes three of the Odes of Solomon.