Abstract

This article intends to establish the date of composition of Ps 2, a problem tackled by various authors but not yet resolved. The proposed solution is of a diachronic type supported by various historico-literary reasons. It envisages an original nucleus from the time of Josiah (640-609 B.C.); this was followed by a second rereading from the time of Nehemiah (445-425 B.C.); and a third, messianic in character, from the end of the fifth century. The final stage, strongly Aramaicising, is placed in the Maccabean period (170-50 B.C.): contained in the introductory verses and in the final macarism, it manifests a situation of tension between Judaism and the Seleucids. Perhaps it is Antiochus IV who «rages» against God and against his Messiah.