Pseudo-Solomon and Solomon Magus: A Response

This response considers the four essays included in this thematic issue on the authority attached to Solomon in the Wisdom of Solomon, the Psalms of Solomon, the Testament of Solomon, and Gnostic, Hermetic, and ritual literature. I discuss what each essay contributes and clarify the textual and reception history on which the account of the Psalms of Solomon depends. The essays do not yield a single history of Solomonic attribution. They show how Solomon's name could lend authority to very different forms of knowledge and efficacious speech, ranging from reflection on creation and communal prayer to demonology and ritual practice. Their comparison also raises questions about the boundary between specialized discourse and practical use, and about the place of human and nonhuman agents within a divinely ordered world.