The Royal Psalms and Eschatological Messianism

The messianic interpretation of the royal psalms has seemed self- evident to Christian interpreters from the first century to modern times. Arguments about the reinterpretation of the psalms are difficult to prove, or to disprove, without explicit evidence of alteration of the text. This chapter presents a debate concerning two issues; one concerns the ideology of monarchy in ancient Israel, and especially in Judah, in the preexilic period. The second issue at stake is the nature of messianic hope in the postexilic period. The chapter looks at the use of the royal psalms in messianic texts of the Hellenistic and Roman periods, in the hope that this investigation may shed some light on the question of continuity both between pre-exilic and Second Temple Judaism and between Judaism and early Christianity. The discussion is focused on the two psalms quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews.