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Verse-by-Verse Notes (Academic)

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Welcome to the Verse-by-Verse Notes for Psalm 45!

The Verse-by-Verse Notes present scholarly, exegetical materials (from all layers of analysis) in a verse-by-verse format. They often present alternative interpretive options and justification for a preferred interpretation. The Verse-by-Verse Notes are aimed at consultant-level users.

The discussion of each verse of this psalm includes the following items.

A link to the part of the overview video where the verse in question is discussed.
The verse in Hebrew and English.^[1]
An expanded paraphrase of the verse.^[2]
A grammatical diagram of the verse, which includes glosses for each word and phrase.^[3]
A series of notes on the verse, which contain information pertaining to the interpretation of the psalm (e.g., meaning of words and phrases, poetic features, difficult grammatical constructions, etc.).

Introduction

Setting the scene

Psalm 45 is unique in the Book of Psalms in that it is a poetic dedication from the psalmist to a human king. The poet expresses awe and admiration towards the king throughout the poem, and uses the occasion of his wedding to a foreign bride as the opportunity to praise his military power, international domination and renown, luxurious wealth and attractiveness, as well as his just and righteous action and the kindness of his speech. The events preceding the poet's composition are the anointing of the king by God, his blessed reign and the proposition of entering into an alliance through marriage with the daughter of another king.

The propositional story of the psalm runs as follows: prior to the speech time of Psalm 45, YHWH uniquely anoints the king on the basis of his righteousness. The king then enjoys a blessed reign of prosperity and international renown and domination. The king has become so influential that a foreign king wants to forge an alliance with him by offering him his daughter in marriage. In Psalm 45, the psalmist composes a poem to celebrate the king and his marriage. The psalmist observes the preparation of the king's marriage to a foreign princess (vv. 9–10) and describes what will happen as the ceremony takes place. The psalm looks forward to a time, beyond the wedding, when the royal marriage will produce heirs in the future who will extend and expand the king's influence and authority. Finally, peoples of the earth will praise this king forever, because the psalmist, in large part through this psalm, professes the king's name in all generations. This can also be represented visually, as in the following story triangle:

The emotions are positive throughout the psalm, varying from more active to passive:

Structure and poetry

The poetic structure is determined by an A-B-C//A'-C'-B' structure between vv. 4–10 and 11–18, delimited by the first mention of "forever" in v. 3. The A sections are characterized by an exhortation—from the poet to the king in the first instance, and from the queen mother to the new bride in the second—followed by the result. The B sections contain the structurally key terms "Therefore" and the temporal adverb "forever and ever." The C sections are dominated by specific lexemes—often quite rare in the Bible and often foreign loanwords—concerning princesses, gold, clothing, joy, and a palace.

The correspondence between the larger units of vv. 4–10 and 11–18 are also discussed in the poetic feature, A perfect match, which shows a significant number of repeated verbal roots, lexemes, and associated ideas and images to describe both the king and his bride.^[4] Although the main focus of Psalm 45 is the king himself, his new bride also plays an important role in the psalm. By describing the bride with the same language used for the king, the psalm highlights the appropriateness of the marriage. They are an attractive, joyful, and wealthy royal pair. The bride is the ideal match for the ideal king.

Uniquely, the king is referred to as "God" (v. 7) such that he has been understood as the Messiah from earliest times in both Jewish and Christian traditions.^[5] Though striking, it fits with the profile of the rest of the psalm, in which the king is portrayed as one who will reign forever and over all the earth, as discussed in the poetic feature, King forever and everywhere:

Indeed, the psalm uses an array of loanwords from distinct geographical origins, lexemes indicating international reach, as well as temporal adverbs, to describe the king's reign. References that indicate the international reach of the king's reign include the prepositional phrase "over all the earth" (v. 17), the noun "people[s]" (vv. 6, 13, 18), "ivory" (v. 9), which was of foreign origin, and the gold of Ophir (v. 10). Other nouns denoting objects of foreign origin are indeed loanwords, such as Ethiopian/Arabian "aloes and cassia" (v. 9), as well as the Akkadian origin שֵׁגַל for the queen mother (v. 10). Not only will peoples fall under his dominion (v. 6), but, indeed, peoples will praise him forever and ever (v. 18). Even the main concern of the psalm—the king's wedding—is of international nature, with the richest of people paying homage to both him and his bride, with the result that their offspring will spread his dominion and righteous rule throughout the earth.

In the notes below, we divide the discussion into sections of The poet's praise (vv. 2–3), The king (vv. 4–10), The bride (vv. 11–16) and The peoples' praise (vv. 17–18), as illustrated by our At-a-Glance visual:

Superscription (v. 1)

v. 1

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
1	לַמְנַצֵּ֣חַ עַל־שֹׁ֭שַׁנִּים לִבְנֵי־קֹ֑רַח מַ֝שְׂכִּ֗יל שִׁ֣יר יְדִידֹֽת׃	For the director. According to “Lilies.” By the sons of Korah.  A maskil. An ode.

Expanded Paraphrase

For the director. According to the tune “Lilies.” By the sons of Korah, who serve in the temple as singers and gatekeepers. A maskil for giving wisdom. Also an ode in praise to the king on the occasion of his wedding.

Notes

The sons of Korah are mentioned along with Asaph in the list of temple personnel (1 Chr 25–26),^[6] described as singers (1 Chr 6; 2 Chr 20:19) and gatekeepers (1 Chr 26:1).^[7]
A maskil is a certain type of poem, though its meaning is uncertain, so we leave the term transliterated. Nevertheless, its root (שׂכל) is related to the verb which means "to be wise" or "to give wisdom," so it is likely that the term designates a genre (type of literature) intended for giving understanding, a "song that gives wisdom to the hearer."^[8]
The construct chain "song of love" (שִׁיר יְדִידֹת) could be rendered "a love song."^[9] The designation appears to be a genre marker, though unique within the Book of Psalms.^[10] Given that "love song" in English refers only to romantic love and that sense is absent in the psalm, we have preferred the term ode.^[11] As noted by GKC,^[12] יְדִידֹת fits well the category of "a number of plurals, found almost exclusively in poetry ... which are evidently intended to intensify the idea of the stem."^[13]

The poet's praise (vv. 2–3)

This section begins a macro-speech act of praise:

The emotions throughout the poet's praise are dominated by awe and by those thoughts that "stir his heart" (v. 2) to compose the poem in the first place.

v. 2

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
2a	רָ֘חַ֤שׁ לִבִּ֨י ׀ דָּ֘בָ֤ר ט֗וֹב	My heart has been stirred by a good theme;
2b	אֹמֵ֣ר אָ֭נִי מַעֲשַׂ֣י לְמֶ֑לֶךְ	I am about to recite my verses to a king.
2c	לְ֝שׁוֹנִ֗י עֵ֤ט ׀ סוֹפֵ֬ר מָהִֽיר׃	My tongue is a pen of a skillful scribe.

Expanded Paraphrase

My heart has been stirred with strong, positive emotion by a good theme about the king, and this good theme has prompted me to action, to speak about him; I, a court poet am about to recite my verses which I have composed to a king for his wedding. My tongue, my tool for producing excellent work, is like a pen of a skillful scribe, so just as a scribe's pen produces beautiful written words for the elite, I will produce beautiful spoken words for the king, who deserves only the best poetry that can be written.

Summary

Meditating on the subject of this ode (v. 1) causes strong positive emotions for the psalmist, such that in verse 2 he expresses his intention of offering nothing less than the most excellent poetry for the king.

Notes

Though it is slightly vague who the psalmist is addressing in v. 2, it is possible that he is speaking to himself or to the wedding guests. However, because the king is clearly the addressee in v. 3 onwards, it seems simpler to understand the king as the addressee in this verse as well. One objection may be the third-person mention of the king in the verse, but the same phenomenon also appears in vv. 6 and 15, so is common in this psalm.
For the contribution of recite (אֹמֵר) and my tongue (לְשׁוֹנִי) to the language of speech and sound throughout the psalm, see the poetic feature, Engaging the senses.
Since the verb has been stirred (רחשׁ) only occurs here in the Bible, it is difficult to tell whether it should be read as transitive or intransitive. The same root, however, is used intransitively in Aramaic,^[14] so the same has been preferred here, in which case my heart is the grammatical subject.^[15]
Though more commonly understood as "word" or "matter," according to the rest of the psalm, the poet’s heart is stirred by a good theme or topic (דָּבָר).^[16]
We understand the qotel verb I am about to recite (אֹמֵר אָנִי) as an imminent future conveying the speech act "accounting an imminent action."^[17]
The noun in the phrase my verses (מַעֲשַׂי) has a wide semantic range. It can refer to work in the sense of the labor of daily life, but can also have the sense of a technical accomplishment, a finely-crafted product/work,^[18] such as "the work of a baker,"^[19] i.e., baked goods. The latter is likely here, but in this case, the work is that of a poet. Being grammatically plural, we understand מַעֲשַׂי to refer to poetic verses.
Notice that the first reference to the king, a king, is grammatically indefinite.^[20] This is perhaps due to the discourse pragmatic expectation that a newly-introduced entity would be indefinite on its first mention in the discourse, while later references, being discourse accessible, are definite.^[21] Nevertheless, since "It has long been noted that the article seems to be vocalized in the Masoretic Text much more frequently than might be expected in these [בְּ, כְּ, and לְ proclitic] phrases,"^[22] and since "the Masoretes tended to regularize articular use where they could, that is, with the monographic prepositions,"^[23] this uniquely indefinite reading of "king" in this psalm is certainly intentional (cf. "the king" in vv. 6, 12 and "to the king" in v. 15) and should be respected by an indefinite gloss.^[24]
Although pen (עֵט), suggested as the English gloss here, is a common writing tool, it should be borne in mind that in the world of the Psalms, writing instruments were different from modern pens, being a "reed of about 20 centimeters long and sharpened on one end and split to form a nib; sometimes made of a rush cut at an angle and then frayed to form a fine brush; ► used for making marks with ink on writing material."^[25] For the imagery of the poet's tongue as the pen of a skillful scribe, see the following imagery table:

The word skillful (מָהִיר) comes from the root "to be quick," such that here it is used as an adjective to describe the "state in which humans have a significant level of proficiency in a certain craft, which enables them to work relatively fast."^[26] Compare, e.g., “Do you see someone skilled in their work (מָהִיר בִּמְלַאכְתּוֹ)? They will serve before kings” (Prov 22:29, NIV).^[27]

v. 3

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
3a	יְפֵיפִיתָ* מִבְּנֵ֬י אָדָ֗ם*	You are the most attractive of all people;
3b	ה֣וּצַק חֵ֭ן בְּשְׂפְתוֹתֶ֑יךָ	kindness has been poured out by your speech.
3c	עַל־כֵּ֤ן בֵּֽרַכְךָ֖ אֱלֹהִ֣ים לְעוֹלָֽם׃	Therefore, God has blessed you forever.

Expanded Paraphrase

You, king, are the most attractive of all people; in accordance with the royal ideal of wisdom, kindness has been poured out by your speech, which allows all people under your leadership to thrive. Therefore, based on these ideals of royal perfection that you embody, I conclude that God has blessed you forever.

Summary

In verse 3, the poet praises the king as both attractive and gracious. These qualities are evidence that God has blessed his anointed king.

Notes

The Bible portrays the king as attractive by virtue of his royal office (see 1 Sam 9:2; 16:12,18; 17:42; and Isa 33:17: "Your eyes will see the king in his beauty"). Absalom and Adonijah, for example, were both described as handsome (2 Sam 14:25; 1 Kgs 1:6). On the poetic significance of the root יפה, attractive in the psalm, see the poetic feature, A perfect match (cf. "your beauty" in v. 12).
As indicated from the most similar form of you are the most attractive (MT: יָפְיָפִיתָ) in Jeremiah 46:20 (יְפֵה־פִיָּה), the expected pattern is peʿalʿal rather than peʿapeʿal(?), as the MT apparently has here.^[28] The grammars, however, list this case among those more common peʿalʿal forms, without any comment on its unique (and therefore dubious) form,^[29] which is "is contrary to all anal[ogy]" and should be "read either יָפִיתָ or יְפֵיפִיתָ."^[30] Since the latter of these two suggestions follows the expected peʿalʿal and maintains the MT's consonantal text, this revocalization has been preferred here.^[31]
The two most plausible readings of the prepositional phrase of all people (מִבְּנֵי אָדָם) are partitive, i.e., from among mankind, and graduability, which can function on a scale from mere comparison, i.e., more than mankind, to superlative,^[32] i.e., the most of mankind. The latter, superlative reading, can subsume the partitive interpretation, since it requires the king to belong to the set of "mankind." The comparative reading is found in the LXX (as well as Symmachus and Quinta): "Youthful in beauty you are, beyond the sons of men" (NETS).^[33] The superlative reading is found in the CSB: "You are the most handsome of men." Due to the reduplicative stem of the preceding verb, *יְפֵיפִיתָ* (see above), which often communicates intensification of an action, though in this case it is the state of being attractive, the superlative interpretation has been favored.^[34]
The phrase kindness has been poured out by your speech (הוּצַק חֵן בְּשִׂפְתוֹתֶיךָ) is "literally: grace is poured out on (one's) lips; hence: = pattern of actions by which humans speak gracious and kind words -- kind words flow from one's lips" (SDBH).^[35] The majority of the ancient versions follow the sense of "grace" (חֵן) quite closely, though the Peshitta contains the plural "mercies."^[36] Nevertheless, we prefer the instrumental reading of "by your speech," rather than "onto your speech," as more plausible.
"Therefore" (עַל־כֵּן) usually indicates logical consequence ("that is why x"). However, in this case, the construction most likely "infers the cause from the effect, indicating the underlying basis or reason for what precedes"; "this demonstrates that . . ." ^[37] The psalmist sees the king's success, and he concludes that the reason for this success must be God's blessing. On the significance of עַל כֵּן for the psalm's structure, see also vv. 8 and 18, as discussed in poetic structure (see above), as also reflected in macrosyntax, being the only discourse markers in the psalm:

This is only one of two mentions of God in the psalm. The other (v. 8) also follows the connector Therefore and describes God's actions towards the king. See the psalm's participant distribution table:

The king (vv. 4–10)

Throughout the present section, the poet continues his praise of the king. This section is clearly structured by the pattern of exhortation (vv. 4–5) followed by the result (v. 6)—corresponding to vv. 11–13 in the psalm's second half—before a proclamation to the king (vv. 7–8) and a celebration of the king (vv. 9–10). Indeed, the pattern discussed in the poetic structure (see above) could also be represented in an expanded speech act summary:

The emotions throughout this section are dominated by awe and confidence.

v. 4

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
4a	חֲגֽוֹר־חַרְבְּךָ֣ עַל־יָרֵ֣ךְ גִּבּ֑וֹר	Strap your sword upon [your] thigh, great one,
4b	ה֝וֹדְךָ֗ וַהֲדָרֶֽךָ׃	in your splendor and your majesty.

Expanded Paraphrase

In accordance with the royal ideal of military power, I encourage you to go out and expand your kingdom through conquest. Strap your sword upon [your] thigh to prepare for action, great one, in your splendor and your majesty.

Summary

Verse 4 begins the poet's exhortation for the king to assert his rule, expressed by military victory over his rivals.

Notes

As illustrated in the poetic feature, A perfect match (see the introduction of this page), this verse begins the advice or exhortation offered to the king (vv. 4–5), with the result following in v. 6. This finds its parallel in the second half of the psalm with the queen mother's advice to the new bride (vv. 11–12) and the results thereof (v. 13).
As well as being "attractive" (v. 3), the ideal ancient Near Eastern king spoke with wisdom and was a warrior.^[38]
The constituents in your splendor and your majesty (הוֹדְךָ וַהֲדָרֶךָ) function as nominal adverbs, rendered by the CEB as comitative: "Strap on your sword, great warrior, with your glory and grandeur," and the JPS as manner: "Gird your sword upon your thigh, O hero, in your splendor and glory," as we have preferred here.^[39]

v. 5

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
5a	וַהֲדָ֬רְךָ֨ ׀ צְלַ֬ח רְכַ֗ב	And in your majesty, victoriously ride
5b	עַֽל־דְּבַר־אֱ֭מֶת וְעַנְוָה־צֶ֑דֶק	for the cause of truth and humility [and] righteousness,
5c	וְתוֹרְךָ֖ נוֹרָא֣וֹת יְמִינֶֽךָ׃	and let your right hand show you awesome deeds.

Expanded Paraphrase

And in your majesty, victoriously ride for the cause of the things you love: truth and humility [and] righteousness, and let your strong right hand, which represents your unsurpassed military strength, show you awesome deeds of warfare.

Summary

Verse 5 continues the exhortation begun in v. 4, progressing from preparation for battle to that of riding out and being victorious, "for the cause of truth and humility and righteousness," which is characteristic of this king's reign (vv. 7–8).

Notes

Just as "in your splendor and your majesty" (הוֹדְךָ וַהֲדָרֶךָ) in the previous verse, if the text has not suffered dittography (and this second instance should thus be ignored),^[40] the initial And in your majesty (וַהֲדָרְךָ) here should also be interpreted as a nominal adverb, such as the JPS's "in your glory, win success" and TOB's "With splendor, ride and triumph."^[41]
A number of ancient and modern translations have interpreted victoriously ride (צְלַח רְכַב) as a serial verb construction, such as Targum Psalms, with its infinitive in "succeed to ride,"^[42] and the ESV's "ride out victoriously." Although such a function of the verb צלח is nowhere else attested in the Bible, this widely held interpretation is reflected also in the conjunctive accents between צְלַ֬ח רְכַ֗ב, such that interpreting the two verbs as one event is quite persuasive and our preference.^[43]
The prepositional phrase for the cause of truth and humility [and] righteousness (עַל־דְּבַר־אֱמֶת וְעַנְוָה־צֶדֶק) is headed by עַל דְּבַר, which most commonly communicates "on account of" in the Bible (i.e., causal; see Gen 20:11; Num 25:18; Deut 4:12; 2 Sam 3:8; 13:22; 2 Kgs 6:11; Ezra 10:9), but in the Psalms the sense of "for the sake of" (i.e., purpose), is also found.^[44] This latter reading best fits the context here, as reflected in the NET's "for the sake of," among others.^[45]
Though the position of the waw is perhaps less expected than in penultimate position (i.e., "final coordination"),^[46] coordinate waw in the antepenultimate position and lacking prior to the last entity of the list is not unheard of,^[47] as also in v. 9 below, such that וְעַנְוָה־צֶדֶק is semantically equivalent to וַעֲנְוָה וָצֶדֶק.^[48] The two abstract nouns are found coordinated in Zephaniah 2:3 בַּקְּשׁוּ־צֶדֶק בַּקְּשׁוּ עֲנָוָה "Seek righteousness, seek humility" (NIV).^[49]
The yiqtol (or possibly weyiqtol) let show (וְתוֹרְךָ) could be read as either indicative or a modal jussive.^[50] Among modern translations, see, e.g., the REB: "Your right hand will perform awesome deeds" (cf. the DHH, KJV, LUT, NFC). Such indicative readings may indicate the result of carrying out the previous imperatives, such as is explicit in the NET's "Ride forth for the sake of what is right, on behalf of justice. Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts."^[51] Most modern translations, however, read the yiqtol as a jussive, communicating modality of wish, as we have also preferred.^[52]
The post-verbal order of (lit.) and let show awesome deeds your right hand (וְתוֹרְךָ נוֹרָאוֹת יְמִינֶךָ) places the subject "your right hand" (יְמִינֶךָ) at the end of the line, to provide an inclusio וַהֲדָרְךָ ... יְמִינֶךָ for the verse, which is immediately followed by the tail-head linkage of another 2ms-suffixed noun, "your arrows" (חִצֶּיךָ), in v. 6a.

v. 6

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
6a	חִצֶּ֗יךָ שְׁנ֫וּנִ֥ים	Your arrows are sharp
6b	עַ֭מִּים תַּחְתֶּ֣יךָ יִפְּל֑וּ	—peoples will fall under you—
6c	בְּ֝לֵ֗ב אוֹיְבֵ֥י הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃	in the heart of the enemies of the king.

Expanded Paraphrase

Your arrows, prepared to fire at the enemy, are sharp—peoples will fall under you—in the heart of the enemies of the king. You will emerge as the victor.

Summary

Verse 6 describes the king's victory over his enemies, the result of following the poet's exhortation to go out and conquer.

Notes

The peoples are mentioned here for the first time in the psalm, as falling defeated under the king. The next appearance is in the final line of the psalm: "peoples will praise your forever and ever" (v. 18b). For the contribution of the "peoples" as indicative of the king's universal reign, see the poetic feature, King forever and everywhere.
The syntax of the first and third lines of this verse are to be read as an AXB pattern of Vertical Grammar, with the middle line as a parenthetical (cf. 1 Sam 2:2; Pss 44:2; 93:4 and the AXBB' variation in Pss 33:20–21; 139:19–20).^[53] For the alternative readings of the grammar, see the exegetical issue, The Syntax of Psalm 45:6.^[54]

v. 7

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
7a	כִּסְאֲךָ֣ אֱ֭לֹהִים עוֹלָ֣ם וָעֶ֑ד	Your throne, God, is forever and ever;
7b	שֵׁ֥בֶט מִ֝ישֹׁ֗ר שֵׁ֣בֶט מַלְכוּתֶֽךָ׃	the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.

Expanded Paraphrase

Your throne and thus your reign, O king, who shares divine attributes, so I will address as God, is forever and ever; the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice, which means that your rule is just.

Summary

In verse 7 the poet goes on to describe the eternal reign of the king, whom he considers divine, as one characterized by justice.

Notes

For the identification of the king as God in this verse, see the full discussion in the exegetical issue, The Syntax and Participants of Psalm 45:7a. Nevertheless, despite the idealogical issues some may have with this identification of the king as divine, the syntax of "God" functioning as a vocative is straightforwardly the only viable interpretation, as has been recognized even by those who attempt to avoid it.^[55] It is a remarkable and unique thing to call a human king "God," though if any psalm was to contain such a claim, Psalm 45 would be a strong candidate, since "The king of Ps 45 is in many respects addressed in a way in which normally YHWH is addressed."^[56] Other passages also suggest that the ideal future Davidic king was expected to be divine (2 Sam 7:14; Isa 9:5–6; Ps 2:7).

For the imagery of the throne as reign, see the following imagery table:

The order of the verbless clause, the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice (שֵׁבֶט מִישֹׁר שֵׁבֶט מַלְכוּתֶךָ׃), if read with "the scepter of your kingdom" as the topic/grammatical subject, is in comment-topic order and, as our preferred interpretation, indicates the marked focal nature of "a scepter of justice."^[57]

The construct chain a scepter of justice (שֵׁבֶט מִישֹׁר) communicates an entity followed by its characteristic/quality. Similarly, the scepter of your kingdom (שֵׁבֶט מַלְכוּתֶךָ) is an entity and its characteristic-quality ("ruling"), though in this case the verbal notion ruling is carried out by "you." For the imagery of the "scepter" as the king's rule, see the following imagery table:

v. 8

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
8a	אָהַ֣בְתָּ צֶּדֶק֮ וַתִּשְׂנָ֫א רֶ֥שַׁע	You love righteousness and you hate wickedness.
8b	עַל־כֵּ֤ן ׀ מְשָׁחֲךָ֡ אֱלֹהִ֣ים אֱ֭לֹהֶיךָ	Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you
8c	שֶׁ֥מֶן שָׂשׂ֗וֹן מֵֽחֲבֵרֶֽיךָ׃	with oil that results in rejoicing, to the exclusion of your peers.

Expanded Paraphrase

You love righteousness and you hate wickedness, and you always have, showing yourself to be a man according to God's heart (1 Sam 13:14). Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with oil that results in the rejoicing of your people, to the exclusion of your peers, other kings, because you are remarkably and uniquely anointed as the king by God.

Summary

Verse 8 explains why the king's rule is one of justice (v. 7): he has always been a person who loves righteousness and hates wickedness.

Notes

For the contribution of "Therefore" (עַל־כֵּן) to the psalm's structure, see the notes on v. 3.
While remarkable that YHWH, not human individuals, is usually the one described as loving righteousness and hating wickedness,^[58] it is not to be unexpected, in light of the other terms used to describe the king throughout the psalm (see, e.g., v. 7 above). Furthermore, it shows the king to have been the type of person YHWH would anoint as the king (cf. 1 Sam 13:14).
One possible interpretation of oil that results in rejoicing (שֶׁמֶן שָׂשׂוֹן) is that of an entity and its synonym, i.e., "oil, that is, rejoicing.^[59] Nevertheless, we find much more plausible that the rejoicing is the result of the entity, oil (of anointing)—the anointing oil of the king results in joy, though not only his own, but also those witness both his coronation and wedding. Indeed, the righteous and just nature of his rule cause his subjects to rejoice, as asserted in Proverbs 29:2: "When the righteous are in power the people rejoice" (REB).
The prepositional phrase to the exclusion of your peers (מֵחֲבֵרֶיךָ) could be interpreted as a comparison, as "exclusive difference," i.e., an extension of detachment,^[60] or as source.^[61] Although a common function of מִן is comparison, it makes little sense in the psalm that the king's colleagues would also be anointed by God, though only to a lesser degree.^[62] Similarly, though attractive in light of the following wedding scene (vv. 11–16), the friends as those who provide the oil is also unlikely. The best interpretation thus seems to be the exclusive difference/detachment reading of מִן. Staszak explains this function as an extension of comparative/superlative מִן,^[63] which, rather then finding its comparee on the scale, it is off the scale completely, so that direct comparison is impossible and the characteristic belongs exclusively to the standard of comparison, in this case "you," the king. This function is extremely rare following a verb, however, as Staszak only lists the present verse and 2 Chronicles 20:27: "the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies" (NIV; שִׂמְּחָם יְהוָה מֵאוֹיְבֵיהֶם) ➞ "the Lord caused them to rejoice to the exclusion of their enemies' rejoicing."^[64]
Ancient Near Eastern kings often referred to themselves as "brothers" in the Late Bronze Age,^[65] of which חָבֵר may have been a comparable term, such that the peers are most likely fellow kings of other lands.^[66] They were "colleagues,"^[67] "associates ... of like rank,"^[68] with the significant caveat that the others had not enjoyed YHWH's anointing.

v. 9

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
9a	מֹר־וַאֲהָל֣וֹת קְ֭צִיעוֹת כָּל־בִּגְדֹתֶ֑יךָ	All your clothes are myrrh and aloes [and] cassia.
9b	מִֽן־הֵ֥יכְלֵי שֵׁ֝֗ן מִנִּ֥י שִׂמְּחֽוּךָ׃	From ivory palaces, stringed instruments have made you glad.

Expanded Paraphrase

Here on the day of your wedding, your beauty and justice are accompanied by your splendor, since all your wedding clothes are as delightful and luxurious as international spices of myrrh and aloes [and] cassia, richly perfumed like King Solomon in preparation for his royal wedding. From luxurious ivory palaces, which you have also had imported due to your international renown, stringed instruments have made you glad as you prepare for your wedding ceremony.

Summary

Verse 9 moves beyond simply praise or veneration of the king as it becomes clearer that the description of the king's majesty merges with the description of his preparation for his wedding.

Notes

The syntax of All your clothes are myrrh and aloes [and] cassia is unambiguously to be read as a verbless clause. "That the language, however—especially in poetry—is not averse even to the boldest combinations in order to emphasize very strongly the unconditional relation between the subject and predicate, is shown by such examples as ψ 45:9 myrrh and aloes and cassia are all thy garments (i.e. so perfumed with them that they seem to be composed of them)."^[69] For the imagery involved in equating the king's clothes with myrrh, aloes and cassia, see the following table:

The comment in this clause, myrrh and aloes [and] cassia, is placed in initial position, which is thus to be read as marked focus (cf. v. 7b). Further, the double fronting of From ivory palaces, stringed instruments (מִן־הֵיכְלֵי שֵׁן מִנִּי) is best interpreted as a locative frame setter followed by narrow focus, as suggested by the expanded CBC:

For the waw conjunction only between the first and second entities of the list myrrh and aloes [and] cassia, see the note at v. 5.^[70]
The list of descriptors for the king's clothes, aside from myrrh (מֹר), contains two very rare words in the Bible. The word aloes (אֲהָלוֹת) appears only here and in Song of Songs 4:14.^[71] Although it is claimed that this is a loan word from Sanskrit aguru,^[72] which would justify the agarwood suggestion,^[73] the reception of "g" as Hebrew "he" has never been satisfactorily explained. The aloe interpretation is much more likely due to the words which typically accompany אֲהָלוֹת/אֲהָלִים in its few instantiations, which include "myrrh" and "cassia" here and in Song 4:14, "frankincense" (לְבֹנָה) too, in Song 4:14, while Proverbs 7:17 also includes "cinnamon" (קִנָּמוֹן), all of which are native to the Horn of Africa, and from where the loanword probably originated.^[74]
The second rare term is cassia (קְצִיעוֹת), appearing only here in the Bible. The ancient versions are consistent in rendering this term as some form of their received "cassia," presumably cinnamomum cassia.^[75] Nevertheless, "Hebrew קְצִיעָה as well as Greek κασία and Latin casia must refer to a cassia-like spice found in Ethiopia or Arabia, not true cassia ... Without doubt this word originates from Ethiopia or Arabia, exactly where Classical sources say this plant comes from. The contextual mention of myrrh, ivory, and Ophir (Ps 45:9–10), all connected with the Red Sea region between Ethiopia and Arabia, confirms this loan hypothesis."^[76]
For the morphology of stringed instruments (מִנִּי) as plural,^[77] see also עַמִּי in Psalm 144:2, read as עמים in 11Q5 and rendered simply as "peoples" by Jerome.^[78] Due to the controversial morphology, none of the ancient versions recognize this word as related to "stringed instruments" (see the alternative diagrams). Another lexically-significant interpretation is that of Targum Psalms as מארע מני "from the land of Minni," perhaps a reference to "Minyas in Armenia."^[79]

v. 10

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
10a	בְּנ֣וֹת מְ֭לָכִים בְּיִקְּרוֹתֶ֑יךָ	Daughters of kings are among your treasures;
10b	נִצְּבָ֥ה שֵׁגַ֥ל לִֽ֝ימִינְךָ֗ בְּכֶ֣תֶם אוֹפִֽיר׃	the queen mother has taken a stand at your right hand in the gold of Ophir.

Expanded Paraphrase

Daughters of kings, who have sought alliances with you, are among your treasures which you delight in; the queen mother has taken a stand in the place of honor at your right hand adorned in the particularly pure and fine gold of Ophir.

Summary

As the poem moves closer to the royal wedding, verse 10 introduces the other daughters of kings who have married into this royal family, displaying the king's superiority over other kingdoms. It also introduces the queen mother, who will turn in the following verse to counsel and exhort the new incoming bride.

Notes

Although the adjective treasured (יָקָר) most commonly refers to "rare" (1 Sam 3:1), "precious" or "costly" objects,^[80] such as "stones" or "wealth,"^[81] it can also modify people or lives (as in Prov 6:26). Nevertheless, the generic noun of "objects" has been preferred here, even when describing the "daughters of kings."
Although the word queen mother (שֵׁגַל) is likely a loanword from Akkadian ša ekalli, as the "wife of the ruling king,"^[82] it is only attested here and in Nehemiah 2:6 in the Bible. It is not unusual for words to be used for either the wife or the mother of the king. A similar word is גְּבִירָה, which can refer to the wife of the king (1 Kgs 11:19) or the queen mother (2 Kgs 10:13; Jer 13:18; 29:2), as well as mistress (Ps 123:2; Prov 30:23). Further, the queen mother has taken a stand (נִצְּבָה) at the king's right hand,^[83] in a position of authority, just as in the case of Bathsheba in 1 Kings 2:19,^[84] which supports the interpretation as the queen mother, not the wife of the ruling king.^[85] In light of the presence of other princesses as wives for the ruling king, it fits that the queen mother has taken her stand to exhort the incoming foreign bride throughout vv. 11–13,^[86] especially due to the intentionality of the loan word and its etymology.^[87] In any case, if the queen mother, she would have previously been the queen of the previous king, so the lexeme שֵׁגַל is not out of place (cf. also the mention of "your fathers" in v. 17).^[88]
The word for gold (כֶּתֶם) is rarer than the more common זָהָב, limited to nine instances in poetic texts, but which may indeed refer to a "special type of gold."^[89] Indeed, here as in Isaiah 13:12 and Job 28:16, the noun is modified by Ophir, which is "a toponym located near the southern shore of the Red Sea. The region of Ophir was well known for its gold in antiquity, and the evidence thus points to a southern “Ophirite” origin for this term."^[90] For the contribution of the many loanwords in the psalm (but especially throughout vv. 9–10) towards the international renown of the king, see the poetic feature, King forever and everywhere.

The bride (vv. 11–16)

This section begins a new macro-speech act of exhortation, with emotions of confident admiration:

Following the exhortation and result (vv. 11–13), the poet's description of the bride as she prepares for the wedding is full of awe and joy.

v. 11

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
11a	שִׁמְעִי־בַ֣ת וּ֭רְאִי וְהַטִּ֣י אָזְנֵ֑ךְ	Listen, daughter, and look and incline your ear,
11b	וְשִׁכְחִ֥י עַ֝מֵּ֗ךְ וּבֵ֥ית אָבִֽיךְ׃	and forget your people and your father’s household,

Expanded Paraphrase

She has given the following counsel and exhortation to the new bride:"Listen, daughter, and look and incline your ear to this advice,  and forget your past loyalty to your people , who are not part of your new husband's family, and your father’s household, in loyalty to your new people, husband, and his family,

Summary

Verse 11 begins the queen mother's speech to the new bride, in which she exhorts her to shift her loyalty from her own family and people to that of the king.

Notes

As evident from the ancient Near Eastern parallels of royal marriage and the role of the mother-in-law,^[91] the speaker throughout vv. 11–13 is the queen mother exhorting the future queen. It was common in ancient Near Eastern royal courts for queens and mothers-in-law to hold significant influence. In the Hittite kingdom, for example, the wife of Hattusili, Puduhepa, "seems to have taken the initiative in arrange [the] marriages" of the "daughter of Babylon" and her son. She "was ... a formidable figure in the royal court, seeking to maintain her role as the chief power-broker within court circles."^[92] In Mesopotamia, "the strong emphasis on the family line of the ruling dynasty in Neo-Assyrian times fostered the status of royal women."^[93] Finally, in Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt, "The prominent position of the king’s mother comes from her role of passing on the divine birthright to her son, so that he is legitimate as king."^[94] Thus, we agree that "there can be no doubt that in Ps 45:11-13 it is the queen mother who admonishes the bride,"^[95] with the uniquely distinct speaker (elsewhere only the poet speaks) matching the passage of the psalm with a uniquely distinct addressee (elsewhere only the king is addressed).^[96]

v. 12

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
12a	וְיִתְאָ֣ו הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ יָפְיֵ֑ךְ	and let the king desire your beauty,
12b	כִּי־ה֥וּא אֲ֝דֹנַ֗יִךְ	because he is your husband,

Expanded Paraphrase

and act in such a way so as to let the king desire your beauty as especially treasured by him, because he is your new husband,

Summary

Verse 12 continues the queen mother's exhortation towards the bride: she should conduct herself in such a way that the king would take notice of her.

Notes

The form let desire (וְיִתְאָו) could be understood as a jussive (as our preference) or resultative ("so that") weyiqtol. Arguments in favor of the jussive interpretation include the verb's morphology, as a short form (see תִתְאַוֶּה in Deut 5:21 and יִתְאַוֶּה in Eccl 6:2 in comparison to the unambiguously jussive form אַל תִּתְאָו in Prov 23:3, 6; 24:1). On the other hand, the ancient versions seem to favor the resultative weyiqtol.^[97] Nevertheless, the morphology and the following because (כִּי) clause provide strong support for the jussive reading—viz., "Let the king desire your beauty because he is your husband." If read as a resultative weyiqtol, it is not clear what the "because" clause grounds.^[98]
For the final clause of the MT and our understanding of both the text and syntax of vv. 12–13, see the notes under v. 13 below.

v. 13

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
13a	וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לֽוֹ בַֽת־צֹ֨ר ׀ בְּ֭מִנְחָה	and the people of Tyre will bow down to him with a gift;
13b	פָּנַ֥יִךְ יְחַלּ֗וּ עֲשִׁ֣ירֵי עָֽם׃	the richest of people will seek your favor.

Expanded Paraphrase

and the people of your wealthy home city, Tyre, will bow down to him with a gift in loyalty and homage; as a result of your marriage, the richest of people will seek your favor, too—so special are you to the king whom they serve as a vassal state."

Summary

Verse 13 concludes the queen mother's speech with the projected results of the bride's new loyalty (cf. vv. 4–5, in which the poet exhorts the king, such that v. 6 follows with the result if the king will follow the counsel).

Notes

For a full discussion of the first line of this verse and the final two words of the MT's v. 12, see the exegetical issue, The Text and Grammar of Psalm 45:12–13. Our preferred diagram reflects the LXX against the MT,^[99] the former of which reads "And daughters of Tyre will do obeisance to him with gifts; your face the rich of the people will entreat."^[100] To reflect this reading in Hebrew, two emendations are necessary from the MT (as indicated by the asterisks in the Hebrew text above). In the first place, the feminine singular וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִי "and bow down" is emended to the third-person plural הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ. This change could have come about due to the graphic similarity between yod and waw (or possibily to harmonize the imperative with the previous imperatives of v. 11).^[101] Secondly, in order to read וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִי לוֹ׃ וּבַת־צֹר בְּמִנְחָה as one clause, we understand the initial waw in וּבַת־צֹר as dittography ("written twice"), influenced by the preceding waw on לוֹ, so should not be considered original.
Our preferred reading understands the singular form people of Tyre (בַת־צֹר) as a collective, referring to the residents of Tyre,^[102] such that it can head a plural verb as the preceding (emended) וְהִשְׁתַּחֲווּ.^[103] See the many references of בַּת + place name to refer to the citizens thereof throughout the Bible (בַּת צִיּוֹן "daughter of Zion," בַּת יְהוּדָה "daughter of Judah," and בַּת מִצְרָיִם "daughter of Egypt," among others). Tyre was known as a wealthy region, having provided the raw material for the construction both of David's palace (2 Sam 5:11) and the temple (1 Kgs 5) and being later known as the "marketplace of the nations" (Isa 23:3; cf. Zech 9:3).
Will seek your favor is the meaning of the common Hebrew idiom, lit. "will weaken the face." One can seek the favor of human or deity.^[104]
The fronting of face ➞ favor (פָּנַיִךְ) functions as additive focus, i.e., not only will foreign people seek to do homage and appease the king, but also the new queen.

v. 14

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
14a	כָּל־כְּבוּדָּ֣ה בַת־מֶ֣לֶךְ פְּנִ֑ימָה	The princess is in her chamber with all kinds of valuable goods;
14b	מִֽמִּשְׁבְּצ֖וֹת זָהָ֣ב לְבוּשָֽׁהּ׃	her clothing [is made] from gold settings.

Expanded Paraphrase

The princess is in her chamber with all kinds of valuable goods including the fine jewelry that was part of the dowry sent by her royal father; her clothing [is made] from gold settings.

Summary

Verse 14 returns to the poet addressing the king, describing the new bride's preparations for their wedding.

Notes

This verse begins the final macro-speech act of the psalm:

In similar manner to the lavish description of the king (see especially vv. 9–10), all three clauses from v. 14a–15a are focus-fronted with a scalar interpretation to make equally clear the lavish and luxurious circumstances around the bride's wedding preparations (for a full discussion of the similar language used for both the king and the bride, see the poetic feature, A perfect match).

The word translated in her chamber (פְּנִימָה) is usually simply analyzed as an adverb, giving the location of a verb (inside, within). In such contexts, it frequently specifies the inside of a building like the temple or royal palace. This use fits the context of Ps 45, though with syntactic differences, as we understand its function here as modifying an implied copula, is, specifying the location of the princess.
Outside this instance, the word gold settings (מִשְׁבְּצוֹת) is limited to description of the priest's ephod and clothing (see Exod 28:11, 13, 14, 25; 39:6, 13, 16, 18), as "woven in patterns; hence, possibly: = a web of gold yarn used to attach gems to cloth."^[105]

v. 15

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
15a	לִרְקָמוֹת֮ תּוּבַ֪ל לַ֫מֶּ֥לֶךְ	In embroidered cloth she will be led to the king,
15b	בְּתוּל֣וֹת אַ֭חֲרֶיהָ רֵעוֹתֶ֑יהָ	with young women after her, her companions,
15c	מ֖וּבָא֣וֹת לָֽךְ׃	being brought to you.

Expanded Paraphrase

In embroidered cloth, clothing worn by virgins, she will be led to the king, with young women after her, her companions, who travelled with her from her land, being brought to you, king, as part of the royal wedding procession.

Summary

Verse 15 describes the bride being led to the king for the wedding ceremony, accompanied by the royal entourage from her homeland.

Notes

The embroidered cloth (רִקְמָה) mentioned here refers to beautiful and expensive fabric with decorative patterns sewn into it by hand,^[106] "a multicolored robe ... worn especially by virgins."^[107]
The presence of the bride's companions highlights her royal origins, since "A royal bride was accompanied to her new land by a retinue of servants from her own country. (The Mitannian princess Kiluhepa, for example, came to Egypt with an entourage of 317 women.) Their company and attendance must have been of great comfort to her during her settling-in period."^[108]

v. 16

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
16a	תּ֭וּבַלְנָה בִּשְׂמָחֹ֣ת וָגִ֑יל	They will be led with joy and gladness;
16b	תְּ֝בֹאֶ֗ינָה בְּהֵ֣יכַל מֶֽלֶךְ׃	they will go into the royal palace.

Expanded Paraphrase

They will be led with joy and gladness, since they are delighted for their mistress, the bride, and she could not be happier about marrying you, the king;  they will go into the royal palace, where a glorious future awaits you both.

Summary

Verse 16 continues the bridal procession being led to the king for the wedding ceremony.

Notes

For the emotions of joy and gladness (שְׂמָחֹת וָגִיל) with which the bridal party is led to the wedding, compare the bride's companions in Song 1:4: "We rejoice and delight in you" (NIV; נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה בָּךְ). The emotion also corresponds to that of the king in v. 9, as well as the mention of palace in both verses (see further the poetic feature, A perfect match).

The people's praise (vv. 17–18)

In similar manner to the poet's praise (see vv. 2–3 above), the psalm concludes by mentioning the people's praise, which elicits confident joy from the poet. While "peoples" are only elsewhere mentioned as falling in military defeat to the king (v. 6), Tyre represents a prototype of those who will pay homage to both the king and bride (v. 13), such that here the "peoples" are said to praise the king forever.

v. 17

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
17a	תַּ֣חַת אֲ֭בֹתֶיךָ יִהְי֣וּ בָנֶ֑יךָ	In succession to your ancestors will be your sons;
17b	תְּשִׁיתֵ֥מוֹ לְ֝שָׂרִ֗ים בְּכָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃	you will appoint them as governors over all the earth.

Expanded Paraphrase

In succession to your ancestors will be your sons who are born as a result of this marriage, co-reigning with you and after you; you will appoint them as governors, expanding your dominion and reign, over all the earth.

Summary

Verse 17 looks forward to the time beyond the wedding, to the fruit of the marriage, which will produce sons who will expand and solidify the king's status and reign.

Notes

Kings often appointed their sons as regional governors throughout the land to ensure the stability of their rule and to spread their dominion.^[109] For the regional appointment of the king's sons as official and chiefs (i.e., governors), see 1 Chronicles 18:17 (≈ 2 Sam 8:18): "and David’s sons were chief officials at the king’s side" (NIV). See, similarly Rehoboam and Jehoshaphat's strategy: "He acted wisely, dispersing some of his sons throughout the districts of Judah and Benjamin, and to all the fortified cities" (2 Chr 11:23, NIV); "Jehoram’s brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, were Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azariahu, Michael and Shephatiah. All these were sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. Their father had given them many gifts of silver and gold and articles of value, as well as fortified cities in Judah" (2 Chr 21:2–3, NIV).
Though also translated as "throughout the land" (e.g., NIV), we prefer to interpret בְּכָל־הָאָרֶץ not as restricted to the king's land, but indeed over all the earth in light of the foreign "peoples" praising the king in the following verse and the universal and eternal reign of the king described throughout the psalm (see further the poetic feature, King forever and everywhere).

v. 18

v.	Hebrew	Close-but-clear
18a	אַזְכִּ֣ירָה שִׁ֭מְךָ בְּכָל־דֹּ֣ר וָדֹ֑ר	I shall profess your name in all generations.
18b	עַל־כֵּ֥ן עַמִּ֥ים יְ֝הוֹדֻ֗ךָ לְעֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד׃	Therefore peoples will praise you forever and ever.

Expanded Paraphrase

I shall profess your name in all generations, so that people remember your justice and majesty, making your honor and reputation endure into perpetuity. Therefore peoples all over the world will praise you forever and ever.

Summary

In verse 18 the poet promises to profess the king's name forever—most likely through the handing down and recitation of this very poem—and, as a result, the nations will praise the king forever.

Notes

The psalmist introduces his first-person speech for the first time since v. 2, providing an inclusio around the content of the entire psalm:

In the phrase in all generations (בְּכָל־דֹּר וָדֹר), lit. "generation and generation" is a fixed compound meaning "every generation" (e.g. Deut 32:7). The determiner every also has a distributive function, such that the entirety is made doubly prominent. A more idiomatic translation might be "each and every generation" or "every single generation."
For the contribution of "Therefore" (עַל־כֵּן) to the psalm's structure, see the notes above at v. 3. Here, too, we have the temporal adverb forever (cf. vv. 3, 7), as discussed in the poetic feature, King forever and everywhere.
The fronted peoples (עַמִּים) indicates an additive focus interpretation of this constituent, in addition to the "I" of the previous clause:^[110]
Note also, the parallel nature of I shall profess your name (אַזְכִּירָה שִׁמְךָ) and [they] will praise you (יְהוֹדֻךָ),^[111] in all generations (בְּכָל־דֹּר וָדֹר) and forever and ever (לְעֹלָם וָעֶד).

Legends

Grammatical diagram

Grammatical Diagram Legend

Visualization	Description
	The clause is represented by a horizontal line with a vertical line crossing through it, separating the subject and the verb.
	The object is indicated by a vertical line that does not cross the horizontal line of the clause. Infinitives and participles may also have objects. If the direct object marker (d.o.m.) is present in the text, it appears in the diagram immediately before the object. If the grammar includes a secondary object, the secondary object will appear after the object, separated by another vertical line that does not cross the horizontal line of the clause.
	The subject complement follows the verb (often omitted in Hebrew) separated with a line leaning toward the right. It can be a noun, a whole prepositional phrase or an adjective. The later two appear modifying the complement slot.
	When a noun further describes or renames the object, it is an object complement. The object complement follows the object separated by a line leaning toward the right.
	In a construct chain, the noun in the absolute form modifies the noun in the construct form.
	Participles are indicated in whatever position in the clause they are in with a curved line before the participle. Participles can occur as nominal, where they take the place of a noun, predicate, where they take the place of a verb, or attributive, where they modify a noun or a verb similar to adjectives or adverbs.
	Infinitives are indicated by two parallel lines before the infinitive that cross the horizontal line. Infinitive constructs can appear as the verb in an embedded clause. Infinitive absolutes typically appear as an adverbial.
	The subject of the infinitive often appears in construct to it. In this situation, the infinitive and subject are diagrammed as a construct chain.
	The object of the infinitive is indicated by a vertical line that does not cross the horizontal line of the infinitival clause.
	Modifiers are represented by a solid diagonal line from the word they modify. They can attach to verbs, adjectives, or nouns. If modifying a verb or adjective, it is an adverb, but if modifying a noun, it is an adjective, a quantifier, or a definite article. If an adverb is modifying a modifier, it is connected to the modifier by a small dashed horizontal line.
	Adverbials are indicated by a dashed diagonal line extending to a horizontal line. These are nouns or infinitives that function adverbially (modifying either a verb or a participle), but are not connected by a preposition.
	Prepositional phrases are indicated by a solid diagonal line extending to a horizontal line. The preposition is to the left of the diagonal line and the dependent of the preposition is on the horizontal line. They can modify verbs (adverbial) or nouns (adjectival).
	Embedded clauses are indicated by a "stand" that looks like an upside-down Y. The stand rests in the grammatical position that the clause fulfills. Extending from the top of the stand is a horizontal line for the clause. If introduced by a complementizer, for example כִּי, the complementizer appears before the stand. Embedded clauses can stand in the place of any noun.
	When clauses are joined by a conjunction, they are compound clauses. These clauses are connected by a vertical dotted line. The conjunction is placed next to the dotted line.
	Within a clause, if two or more parts of speech are compound, these are represented by angled lines reaching to the two compound elements connected by a solid vertical line. If a conjunction is used, the conjunction appears to the left of the vertical line. Almost all parts of speech can be compound.
	Subordinate clauses are indicated by a dashed line coming from the line dividing the subject from the predicate in the independent clause and leading to the horizontal line of the subordinate clause. The subordinating conjunction appears next to the dashed line.
	Relative clauses also have a dashed line, but the line connects the antecedent to the horizontal line of the relative clause. The relative particle appears next to the dashed line.
	Sentence fragments are represented by a horizontal line with no vertical lines. They are most frequently used in superscriptions to psalms. They are visually similar to discourse particles and vocatives, but most often consist of a noun phrase (that does not refer to a person or people group) or a prepositional phrase.
	In the body of the psalm, a horizontal line by itself (with no modifiers or vertical lines) can indicate either a discourse particle or a vocative (if the word is a noun referring to a person or people group). A discourse particle is a conjunction or particle that functions at the discourse level, not at the grammatical level. Vocatives can appear either before or after the clause addressed to them, depending on the word order of the Hebrew.
	Apposition is indicated by an equal sign equating the two noun phrases. This can occur with a noun in any function in a sentence.

Hebrew text colors
Default preferred text	The default preferred reading is represented by a black line. The text of the MT is represented in bold black text.
Dispreferred reading	The dispreferred reading is an alternative interpretation of the grammar, represented by a pink line. The text of the MT is represented in bold pink text, while emendations and revocalizations retain their corresponding colors (see below).
Emended text	Emended text, text in which the consonants differ from the consonants of the Masoretic text, is represented by bold blue text, whether that reading is preferred or dispreferred.
Revocalized text	Revocalized text, text in which only the vowels differ from the vowels of the Masoretic text, is represented by bold purple text, whether that reading is preferred or dispreferred.
(Supplied elided element)	Any element that is elided in the Hebrew text is represented by bold gray text in parentheses.
( )	The position of a non-supplied elided element is represented by empty black parentheses. For example, this would be used in the place of the noun when an adjective functions substantivally or in the place of the antecedent when a relative clause has an implied antecedent.

Gloss text colors
Gloss used in the CBC	The gloss used in the Close-but-Clear translation is represented by bold blue text.
Literal gloss >> derived meaning	A gloss that shows the more literal meaning as well as the derived figurative meaning is represented in blue text with arrows pointing towards the more figurative meaning. The gloss used in the CBC will be bolded.
Supplied elided element	The gloss for a supplied elided element is represented in bold gray text.

Shapes and colours on grammatical diagram

Visualization	Description
	The prepositional phrase is indicated by a solid green oval.
	The construct chain is indicated by a solid yellow oval.
	When the conjunction ו appears at the phrase-level (not clause-level), it is indicated by a solid light purple oval.
	The article is indicated by a solid blue oval.

Expanded paraphrase

(For more information, click "Expanded Paraphrase Legend" below.)

Expanded paraphrase legend
Close but Clear (CBC) translation	The CBC, our close but clear translation of the Hebrew, is represented in bold text.
Assumptions	Assumptions which provide background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences are represented in italics.

Bibliography

Atkinson, Ian. 2025. "Parentheticals in Biblical Hebrew Prophetic and Poetic Literature." Vetus Testamentum.

Bekins, Peter. Forthcoming (2026). "The definite article," in Geoffrey Khan et al. (eds.) The Cambridge Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers & University of Cambridge.

Blankesteijn, D. 2021. "Singing for a King: The Message of Psalm 45," in Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 21.5: 1-15.

Böhler, Dieter. 2021. Psalmen 1-50. Freiburg, Basel, Wien: Herder Verlag.

Briggs, Charles A., and Emilie Briggs. 1906. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Psalms. Vol. 1. ICC. Edinburgh: T & T Clark.

Bryce, Trevor. 2003. Letters of the Great Kings of the Ancient near East: The Royal Correspondence of the Late Bronze Age. London: Routledge.

Bryce, Trevor. 2005. Kingdom of the Hittites. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Craigie, Peter C. 2004. Psalms 1–50. Nashville, TN: Nelson.

Dahood, Mitchell. 1966. Psalms I: 1–50. Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday.

Fassberg, Steven E. 2019. An Introduction to the Syntax of Biblical Hebrew (Hebrew; מבוא לתחביר לשון המקרא). Jerusalem: Bialik Institute.

Fink, Sebastian. 2020. "Invisible Mesopotamian Royal Women?" Pages 137–148 in Elizabeth D. Carney, and Sabine Müller (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World. London: Routledge.

Gaster, Theodor, H. 1955. "Psalm 45," JBL 74.4: 239–251.

Gerstenberger, Erhard. 1988. Psalms Part 1: With an Introduction to Cultic Poetry. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.

Goldingay, John. 2006. Psalms 42–89. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Ḥakham, Amos. 1979. The Book of Psalms: Books 1-2 (Hebrew; ספר תהלים: ספרים א–ב). Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook.

Ibn Ezra. Ibn Ezra on Psalms.

Khan, Geoffrey. Forthcoming (2026). "Qoṭel," in Geoffrey Khan et al. (eds.) The Cambridge Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Cambridge: Open Book Publishers & University of Cambridge.

Lambert, Mayer. 1898. "L'article dans the poésie hébraïque," Revue des études juives 37.74: 203–209.

Lyons, Christopher. 1999. Definiteness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Mena, Andrea K. 2012. “The Semantic Potential of עַל in Genesis, Psalms, and Chronicles.” MA Thesis, Stellenbosch University.

Mowinckel, Sigmund. 1962. The Psalms in Israel's Worship, volume I. Translated by D. R. Ap-Thomas. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.

Noonan, Benjamin. 2019. Non-Semitic Loanwords in the Hebrew Bible: A Lexicon of Language Contact. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns.

Sabbahy, Lisa. 2020. "The King's Mother in the Old and Middle Kingdoms." Pages 11–21 in Elizabeth D. Carney, and Sabine Müller (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World. London: Routledge.

Scheumann, Jesse. 2020. “A Syntactic Analysis of Phrasal Coordination in Biblical Hebrew.” PhD dissertation, University of the Free State.

Schroeder, Christoph. 1996. "A love song": Psalm 45 in the Light of Ancient Near Eastern Marriage Texts," CBQ 58.3: 417–432.

Staszak, Martin. 2024. The Preposition Min. Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament (BWANT) 246. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

Walton, John. 2009. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: The Minor Prophets, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Weisman, Zeev. 1996. "(Chapter 45)" (Hebrew; פרק מה). Pages 197–202 in Psalms: Volume 1. Olam HaTaNaKh (Hebrew; תהלים א׳ עולם התנ׳׳ך). Tel Aviv: דודזון–עתי.

References

45

Legends

Grammatical diagram

Grammatical Diagram Legend

Visualization	Description
	The clause is represented by a horizontal line with a vertical line crossing through it, separating the subject and the verb.
	The object is indicated by a vertical line that does not cross the horizontal line of the clause. Infinitives and participles may also have objects. If the direct object marker (d.o.m.) is present in the text, it appears in the diagram immediately before the object. If the grammar includes a secondary object, the secondary object will appear after the object, separated by another vertical line that does not cross the horizontal line of the clause.
	The subject complement follows the verb (often omitted in Hebrew) separated with a line leaning toward the right. It can be a noun, a whole prepositional phrase or an adjective. The later two appear modifying the complement slot.
	When a noun further describes or renames the object, it is an object complement. The object complement follows the object separated by a line leaning toward the right.
	In a construct chain, the noun in the absolute form modifies the noun in the construct form.
	Participles are indicated in whatever position in the clause they are in with a curved line before the participle. Participles can occur as nominal, where they take the place of a noun, predicate, where they take the place of a verb, or attributive, where they modify a noun or a verb similar to adjectives or adverbs.
	Infinitives are indicated by two parallel lines before the infinitive that cross the horizontal line. Infinitive constructs can appear as the verb in an embedded clause. Infinitive absolutes typically appear as an adverbial.
	The subject of the infinitive often appears in construct to it. In this situation, the infinitive and subject are diagrammed as a construct chain.
	The object of the infinitive is indicated by a vertical line that does not cross the horizontal line of the infinitival clause.
	Modifiers are represented by a solid diagonal line from the word they modify. They can attach to verbs, adjectives, or nouns. If modifying a verb or adjective, it is an adverb, but if modifying a noun, it is an adjective, a quantifier, or a definite article. If an adverb is modifying a modifier, it is connected to the modifier by a small dashed horizontal line.
	Adverbials are indicated by a dashed diagonal line extending to a horizontal line. These are nouns or infinitives that function adverbially (modifying either a verb or a participle), but are not connected by a preposition.
	Prepositional phrases are indicated by a solid diagonal line extending to a horizontal line. The preposition is to the left of the diagonal line and the dependent of the preposition is on the horizontal line. They can modify verbs (adverbial) or nouns (adjectival).
	Embedded clauses are indicated by a "stand" that looks like an upside-down Y. The stand rests in the grammatical position that the clause fulfills. Extending from the top of the stand is a horizontal line for the clause. If introduced by a complementizer, for example כִּי, the complementizer appears before the stand. Embedded clauses can stand in the place of any noun.
	When clauses are joined by a conjunction, they are compound clauses. These clauses are connected by a vertical dotted line. The conjunction is placed next to the dotted line.
	Within a clause, if two or more parts of speech are compound, these are represented by angled lines reaching to the two compound elements connected by a solid vertical line. If a conjunction is used, the conjunction appears to the left of the vertical line. Almost all parts of speech can be compound.
	Subordinate clauses are indicated by a dashed line coming from the line dividing the subject from the predicate in the independent clause and leading to the horizontal line of the subordinate clause. The subordinating conjunction appears next to the dashed line.
	Relative clauses also have a dashed line, but the line connects the antecedent to the horizontal line of the relative clause. The relative particle appears next to the dashed line.
	Sentence fragments are represented by a horizontal line with no vertical lines. They are most frequently used in superscriptions to psalms. They are visually similar to discourse particles and vocatives, but most often consist of a noun phrase (that does not refer to a person or people group) or a prepositional phrase.
	In the body of the psalm, a horizontal line by itself (with no modifiers or vertical lines) can indicate either a discourse particle or a vocative (if the word is a noun referring to a person or people group). A discourse particle is a conjunction or particle that functions at the discourse level, not at the grammatical level. Vocatives can appear either before or after the clause addressed to them, depending on the word order of the Hebrew.
	Apposition is indicated by an equal sign equating the two noun phrases. This can occur with a noun in any function in a sentence.

Hebrew text colors
Default preferred text	The default preferred reading is represented by a black line. The text of the MT is represented in bold black text.
Dispreferred reading	The dispreferred reading is an alternative interpretation of the grammar, represented by a pink line. The text of the MT is represented in bold pink text, while emendations and revocalizations retain their corresponding colors (see below).
Emended text	Emended text, text in which the consonants differ from the consonants of the Masoretic text, is represented by bold blue text, whether that reading is preferred or dispreferred.
Revocalized text	Revocalized text, text in which only the vowels differ from the vowels of the Masoretic text, is represented by bold purple text, whether that reading is preferred or dispreferred.
(Supplied elided element)	Any element that is elided in the Hebrew text is represented by bold gray text in parentheses.
( )	The position of a non-supplied elided element is represented by empty black parentheses. For example, this would be used in the place of the noun when an adjective functions substantivally or in the place of the antecedent when a relative clause has an implied antecedent.

Gloss text colors
Gloss used in the CBC	The gloss used in the Close-but-Clear translation is represented by bold blue text.
Literal gloss >> derived meaning	A gloss that shows the more literal meaning as well as the derived figurative meaning is represented in blue text with arrows pointing towards the more figurative meaning. The gloss used in the CBC will be bolded.
Supplied elided element	The gloss for a supplied elided element is represented in bold gray text.

Shapes and colours on grammatical diagram

Phrasal Diagram Legend

Visualization	Description
	The prepositional phrase is indicated by a solid green oval.
	The construct chain is indicated by a solid yellow oval.
	When the conjunction ו appears at the phrase-level (not clause-level), it is indicated by a solid light purple oval.
	The article is indicated by a solid blue oval.

Expanded paraphrase

Legend

Expanded paraphrase legend
Close but Clear (CBC) translation	The CBC, our close but clear translation of the Hebrew, is represented in bold text.
Assumptions	Assumptions which provide background information, presuppositions, entailments, and inferences are represented in italics.

Bibliography

Psalm 45/Bibliography

Footnotes

45

↑ The Hebrew text comes from Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, which presents the text of the Leningrad Codex (the Masoretic text). The English text is our own "Close-but-clear" translation (CBC). The CBC is a “wooden” translation that exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text. It is essentially an interlinear that has been put into English word-order. It is also similar to a “back-translation” (of the Hebrew) often used in Bible translation checking. It is important to remember that the CBC is not intended to be a stand-alone translation, but is rather a tool for using the Layer by Layer materials. The CBC is used as the primary display text (along with the Hebrew) for most analytical visualisations. It is also used as the display text for most videos.
↑ A legend for the expanded paraphrase is available near the bottom of this page, in the section titled "Legends."
↑ Legends for both the grammatical diagram and the shapes and colours on the grammatical diagram are available near the bottom of this page, in the section titled "Legends."
↑ Key roots include: יפה (BEAUTY, vv. 3, 12) and שׂמח (JOY, vv. 9, 16). Key associated ideas and images include: gladness (vv. 8, 16); fine clothing (vv. 9, 14–15); and wealth (vv. 10, 14), in particular, gold (vv. 10, 14).
↑ For example, Targum Psalms adds the vocative "anointed (Messianic) king" (מלכא משיחא) in v. 3. The letter to the Hebrews cites v. 7 as proof of the Son of God's superiority over angels (see Heb 1:8). See also the mention of the king as "Messiah" or even "God" in Ibn Ezra's commentary on vv. 8, 12.
↑ This expression "sons of [namesake ancestor]" is common, although the gentilic form קָרְחִי ("Korahite") is also used (e.g. 1 Chr 9:19).
↑ The "sons of Korah" are also mentioned in the superscriptions of Psalms 42; 44–49; 84–85; and 87–88.
↑ SDBH.
↑ So BDB, DCH.
↑ See, however, Isa 5:1, which uses similar (though not exactly the same) wording: ‏אָשִׁ֤ירָה נָּא֙ לִֽידִידִ֔י שִׁירַ֥ת דּוֹדִ֖י לְכַרְמ֑וֹ "I shall sing to my beloved a love song about his vineyard."
↑ Cf. Blankesteijn 2021, 2, 8. The Greek versions vary between ᾠδὴ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ "an ode for the beloved" (LXX); ᾆσμα προσφιλίας "a song of goodwill" (Aquila); and ᾆσμα εἰς τὸν ἀγαπητόν "a song for the beloved" (Symmachus) or τοῖς ἠγαπημένοις "to/for the beloved (pl.)" (Theodotion).
↑ GKC §124e.
↑ See also Ḥakham 1979, 257.
↑ See, e.g., Targum Onkelos' rendering of יִשְׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם in Gen 1:20 ("Let the waters swarm with...") as יִרְחֲשׁוּן מַיָּא.
↑ See, e.g., NASB: "My heart overflows with a good theme," ESV: "My heart overflows with a pleasing theme," NIV: "My heart is stirred by a noble theme." This is also evident in Symmachus, for example: ἐκινήθη ἡ καρδία μου λόγῳ ἀγαθῷ "my heart is moved by a good word."
↑ For our preferred gloss, "theme," see BDB. SDBH offers (a) a materialized act of speech; ◄ a breath which becomes audible as a language utterance ► with communicative function – word, matter; and (b) perhaps as an extension of [a]: = materialized actions or events, in some way resultant from acts of speech – thing, event.
↑ See also Gen 9:12; 28:20; see further Khan forthcoming, "Qoṭel," 119-121. The order participle-pronoun in אֹמֵר אָנִי creates a pattern of phonetic repetition with the previous line's רָחַשׁ לִבִּי. (This could perhaps also explain the pausal form on אָנִי). The reversal of this pattern in the following line's לְשׁוֹנִי concludes the pattern and the verse's three-line structure. Alternatively, the syntax may not be pragmatically marked at all, if of late Aramaic influence (in which we expect participle + subject), suggested also by the only other instance of סֹפֵר מָהִיר appearing in Ezra 7:6.
↑ SDBH.
↑ See מַעֲשֵׂה אֹפֶה in Gen 40:17.
↑ This is according to the major Tiberian codices. Babylonian manuscript BL Or 2373 indicates the definite article in its vocalization.
↑ Lyons 1999, 4.
↑ Bekins forthcoming, "The definite article," §4.2; cf. Lambert 1898, 208.
↑ IBHS §13.7a
↑ Among major English versions, the indefinite "a king" is only found in the JPS and REB, which read "I speak my poem to a king" and "in honour of a king I recite the song I have composed," respectively.
↑ SDBH.
↑ SDBH. See, e.g., Targum Psalms, which renders the term as ספרא רגיל "a practiced/accustomed scribe," and the Peshitta's ܣܦܪܐ ܡܗܝܪܐ "a skilled scribed."
↑ Cf. also the Arabic root مهر, "to be skillful."
↑ Cf., e.g., the reduplication of the second and third root letters in the forms סְחַרְחַר (Ps 38:11) and חֳמַרְמָרוּ (Lam 1:20), which follow the expected form.
↑ See, e.g., GKC §55e, JM §59d.
↑ BDB, 421.
↑ It is probable that the third person reading in the Peshitta's ܕܫܦܝܪ ܒܚܙܘܗ "he is more attractive" (Taylor 2020, 175) arose from the LXX, which is verbless, but whose copula could be understood as second person, as the MT's 2sg.m יָפְיָפִיתָ (cf. the CPA Psalms' ܒܫܘܦܪܗ "in his beauty").
↑ Staszak 2024, 182.
↑ ὡραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
↑ Cf. Saadia; Weisman 1996, 199.
↑ Such that "lip [is used as] as a metonym for the speech that the lips help to form, or as a metonym for the person that produces speech -- speech" (SDBH)
↑ ܪ̈ܚܡܐ.
↑ NET footnote; see also BDB (487).
↑ "The imagery of a royal warrior in Psalm 45 is parallel to descriptions of a divine warrior (see comments on Ps. 18), which reinforces the metaphor of the king in 45:6 as God’s representative, especially in his “splendor and majesty” (cf. 96:6; 104:1; 145:5)" (Walton 2009, 357–358).
↑ See also the LXX's dative of manner τῇ ὡραιότητί σου καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου "in your bloom and beauty" (NETS), though the same two constituents could be interpreted as apposition to "your sword" in the Peshitta and certainly is by Saadia (see the alternative on the diagram).
↑ Nevertheless, with its presence, the initial placement of הֲדָרְךָ provides a tail-head linkage with the previous line's final adverbs. Note that the LXX's ἔντεινον most likely reflects the imperative וְהֵדְרֵךְ "bend, stretch," though this is always accompanied by either קֶשֶׁת or חֵץ (see Pss 7:13; 11:2, etc.) which is not the case here. It could perhaps be considered elided, as v. 6 begins with "your arrows" (חִצֶּיךָ).
↑ "Avec éclat, chevauche et triomphe." Cf. Symmachus' καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀξιώματί σου.
↑ תצלח למרכב.
↑ So Ḥakham: שׁתהא מצליח ברכיבה "may you be successful in your riding" (1979, 258).
↑ See עַל־דְּבַר כְּבוֹד־שְׁמֶךָ "for the glory of your name" (Ps 79:9, NIV; cf. Prov 29:12). The LXX also supports this interpretation of Ps 79:9, with ἕνεκα τῆς δόξης τοῦ ὀνόματός σου "for the sake of the glory of your name" (NETS).
↑ So also Mena (2012, 96-97, 122).
↑ Scheumann 2020.
↑ See GKC §154a; Fassberg 2019, §319.
↑ So Ḥakham 1979, 258.
↑ Despite the slightly different vocalization of the more standard עֲנָוָה in contrast to our עַנְוָה. Alternative readings of the syntax involve apposition between עַנְוָה and צֶדֶק or emending עַנְוָה as the construct form עַנְוַת (as witnessed in Jerome, the Peshitta and Aquila). The adverbial reading of נוֹרָאוֹת is read in the LXX's θαυμαστῶς "marvelously" (NETS) and finds a syntactic parallel in Ps 139:14: אוֹדְךָ עַל כִּי נוֹרָאוֹת נִפְלֵיתִי "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (NIV; see also Ps 65:6, as pointed out by Gaster 1955, 242 n. 13).
↑ The Greek and Latin versions have future indicatives (LXX: ὁδηγήσει σε; Aquila: φωτίσει σε; Symmachus: ὑποδείξει σοι; Jerome: docebit te).
↑ Cf. Saadia; Ḥakham 1979, 268.
↑ See, e.g., JPS: "and let your right hand lead you to awesome deeds" (cf. CEB, CJB, ELB, ESV, EÜ, NABRE, NASB, NBS, NIV, PDV, SG21, TOB, ZÜR).
↑ See further Atkinson 2025.
↑ Not diagrammed is the suggestion of Dahood (1966, 272), as reflected by the TOB, which understands "your arrows are sharp" (חִצֶּיךָ שְׁנוּנִים) as a noun phrase, "your sharp arrows," in apposition to "awesome deeds" at the end of v. 5. Such a reading is implausible concerning the supposed noun phrase, however, and also makes little sense of v. 6c without significant textual and grammatical imagination (as exhibited by Dahood 1966, 272), so has not been diagrammed as a viable alternative. On the other hand, for the alternative presence of "a thousand" (אלף), presumably modifying the enemies, see אוי]ב̊י המלך אלף in 11Q8 f8 1.
↑ Craigie (2004, 337), for example, concedes it is the "obvious syntax of [the] MT" and "the most likely interpretation of the vocalization in MT."
↑ Blankesteijn 2021, 2.
↑ On the other hand, if the topic/grammatical subject was determined to be שֵׁבֶט מִישֹׁר, we would have the specificational clause "As for the scepter of righteousness—that's the scepter of your kingdom" ➞ "It's the scepter of your kingdom that is a scepter of righteousness." Both are grammatically possible, and variation even exists according to grammatical definiteness in Greek translations (compare the LXX's ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου with Heb 1:8's καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς εὐθύτητος ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου).
↑ Ps 11:5, 7 attributes a similar characteristic to YHWH: "For YHWH is righteous, and he loves righteous acts ... his soul hates wickedness and the one who loves violence" (see also Isa 61:8).
↑ An analogous use is found in Isa 61:3, in which abstract ideas (gladness, praise) are described with concrete images (oil, garment): לָשׂ֣וּם ׀ לַאֲבֵלֵ֣י צִיּ֗וֹן לָתֵת֩ לָהֶ֨ם פְּאֵ֜ר תַּ֣חַת אֵ֗פֶר שֶׁ֤מֶן שָׂשׂוֹן֙ תַּ֣חַת אֵ֔בֶל מַעֲטֵ֣ה תְהִלָּ֔ה תַּ֖חַת ר֣וּחַ כֵּהָ֑ה [YHWH has anointed me . . .] to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (NIV) Nevertheless, it is unclear in Ps 45 what it would mean to be anointed with joy, where his peers had not been (see the note below on the final phrase of the verse, מֵחֲבֵרֶֽיךָ).
↑ Staszak 2024 §6.15.
↑ See the outlier in the Vulgate's prae consortibus tuis, which could possibly be read as "in the presence of your fellows," if not anteriority ➞ superiority. The comparative reading is found in the CSB: "God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy more than your companions" (Cf. the Peshitta's and Targum Psalms' unambigious ܝܬܝܪ ܡܢ and יתיר מן "more than"). The detachment/exclusive difference is found in Luther 2017: "God, your God, anointed with joyful oil like none of your companions" (Gott, dein Gott, gesalbt mit Freudenöl wie keinen deiner Gefährten; cf. the CJB's "in preference to your companions"). The source interpretation has been suggested by a number of commentators, to read "God has anointed you with the oil of rejoicing of your companions ... who rejoiced in the joy of your wedding" (משחך אלהים בשמן הששון של חבריך, ששמחו בשמחת כלולותיך; Weisman 1996, 200; cf. Ḥakham 1979, 259 n. 9).
↑ Gaster 1955, 244.
↑ Staszak 2024, 202.
↑ Staszak 2024, 203. More common is that following an adjective, for which, see Gen 36:7; Exod 18:18; Num 11:14; Deut 1:17; 17:8; 30:11; Ps 38:5.
↑ As discussed at length in Bryce (2003, 90–99).
↑ Briggs & Briggs 1906-1907, 387; Goldingay 2006, 59; GNT.
↑ Böhler 2021, 815.
↑ BDB.
↑ GKC §141d.
↑ Here, just as in v. 5, ancient versions such as the LXX and Peshitta provide a conjunction between all three entities.
↑ The masculine plural form אֲהָלִים is also found in Prov 7:17.
↑ BDB, HALOT.
↑ See SDBH.
↑ Noonan 2019, 44. Further, although the LXX renders אֲהָלוֹת here as στακτή "oozing drops... trickling" (LSJ), translated as myrrh oil in the NETS (cf. Jerome's stacta), Song 4:14 is read as ἀλώθ (cf. Targum Psalms' אלואון), probably a by-form (perhaps following the Hebrew morphology) of ἀλόη "aloe," from which subsequent forms of the word were derived in Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Latin (Noonan 2019, 44). (The LXX translator has read אֲהָלִים in Prov 7:17 as אֹהָלִים "tents, houses.")
↑ So SDBH.
↑ Noonan 2019, 196–197.
↑ See the discussion in GKC §87f.
↑ See, however, "my people" in the LXX.
↑ Stec 2004, 96 n. 21.
↑ SDBH.
↑ BDB; Prov 1:13.
↑ CAD, vol. 4, 61; cf. "wife of a king" in SDBH.
↑ Although the qatal of נצב would indicate the beginning of the state, rather than the participle as neutrally "standing," the state is nonetheless resultant: she has taken a stand ➞ she is standing.
↑ See further the arguments put forth in Schroeder 1996, 428.
↑ The Aramaic portion of Daniel, however, uses the word to refer to part of the Babylonian king's entourage (his wives and concubines (see Dan 5:2ff., 23).
↑ Schroeder 1996, 432.
↑ ša ekalli is derived from "woman of the palace" (from aššatu and ekallu), reanalyzed as šēgallu (Fink 2020, 138-139; cf. the contribution of הֵיכָל ≈ ekallu towards the psalm's poetic structure in vv. 9, 16).
↑ The ancient versions also attest to "queen" (LXX, Peshitta), though see Jerome's (Hebr.) coniux "wife."
↑ Noonan 2019, 136. Targum Psalms employs a Greek loan-word באובריזון דמן "in pure gold" (Stec 2004, 96); cf. ὄβρυζος "pure."
↑ Noonan 2019, 136.
↑ And as argued by Schroeder (1996).
↑ Bryce 2005, 297–298.
↑ Fink 2020, 146; cf. v. 17.
↑ Sabbahy 2020, 12.
↑ Schroeder 1996, 429.
↑ Note that the majority position is that the psalmist is the speaker throughout (Mowinckel 1962, 73; Ḥakham 1979, 261; Gerstenberger 1988, 188; Craigie 2004, 340), as maintained explicitly by Blankesteijn (2021, 7) after weighing up Schroeder's arguments. For the king's mother involved in a wedding day, cf. Song 4:11: "look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him (שֶׁעִטְּרָה־לּוֹ אִמּוֹ) on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart (שִׂמְחַת לִבּוֹ)" (NIV).
↑ This is unambiguous in the Peshitta's use of the conjunction ܕ in ܕܢܬܪܓܪܓ ܡܠܟܐ ܠܫܘܦܪܟܝ "so that the king may earnestly desire your beauty" (Taylor 2020, 177; cf. also the CPA Psalms: ܕܐܬܿܚܡܕ ܡܠܟܐ ܠܫܘܦܪܝܟܝ), and Targum Psalm's conjunction ובכן "and thus" in ובכן ירגג מלכא שופרייך "And then, the king will desire your beauty" (Stec 2004, 97).
↑ A third, less plausible option, is that of the jussive functioning in the protasis of a conditional, "If he desires... then bow down to him," as suggested by GKC §109h (cf. Ḥakham 1979, 261).
↑
Alternative interpretations involve
1. reading the constituents "daughter of Tyre" and "richest of people" in apposition, such as the CSB: "...and the king will desire your beauty. Bow down to him, for he is your lord. The daughter of Tyre, the wealthy people, will seek your favor with gifts";
2. supplying a verb to create a clause of וּבַת־צֹר בְּמִנְחָה, such as the KJV: "So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour";
3. or, interpreting וּבַת־צֹר as a vocative, such as the JPS: "and let the king be aroused by your beauty; since he is your lord, bow to him. O Tyrian lass, the wealthiest people will court your favor with gifts."
Although emendation of the MT text is generally our last resort, the issues with these three interpretations were quite insurmountable, while it is highly plausible that the LXX represents an ancient tradition, perhaps predating the MT as we now have it.
↑ NETS. The Greek text reads as follows: καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ θυγατέρες Τύρου ἐν δώροις, τὸ πρόσωπόν σου λιτανεύσουσιν οἱ πλούσιοι τοῦ λαοῦ.
↑ VTH (vol. 4, 344) mentions Kennicott manuscripts 97, 133 and probably 74 as containing the reading והשתחוו. The Peshitta may be influenced by this interpretation, as it contains the verb ܣܓܕ "bow down" both in the final clause of v. 12 (as the MT) and at the beginning of v. 13 (as the LXX): ܡܛܠ ܕܗܘܝܘ ܡܪܟܝ ܣܓܘܕܝ ܠܗ ܘܒܪܬ ܨܘܪ ܬܣܓܘܕ ܠܗ "Reverence him, for he is your lord. The daughter of Tyre will reverence him" (Taylor 2020, 177). On the other hand, the three Greek revisers contain singular imperatives (Aquila and Theodotion προσκύνησον; Symmachus προσκύνει).
↑ So, explicitly, Targum Psalms: ויתבי כרכא דצור בתקרובתא ייתון "And the inhabitants of the city of Tyre will come with an offering" (Stec 2004, 97).
↑ LXX: καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ θυγατέρες Τύρου ἐν δώροις "And daughters of Tyre will do obeisance to him with gifts," NETS.
↑ See, e.g., Exod 32:11; 1 Sam 13:12; 1 Kgs 13:6; 2 Kgs 13:4; 2 Chr 33:12; Job 11:19; Ps 119:58; Prov 19:6; Jer 26:19; Dan 9:13; Zech 7:2; 8:21-22; Mal 1:9.
↑ SDBH; cf. "chequered (or plaited) work, usually of settings for gems" (BDB); and "gold embroidered cloth" (HALOT).
↑ SDBH.
↑ Schroeder 1996, 421; "see also Ezek 16:9-14, where Jerusalem is described as the virginal bride of Yhwh, wearing "embroidered cloth" (riqmâ)" (ibid., n. 7).
↑ Bryce 2003, 132.
↑ The king's sons were "rulers dependent on his kingship and extending it" (von seinem Königtum abhängige, es ausdehnende Herrscher; Böhler 2021, 829; "the king's sons will expand the influence and authority of the king's reign" (Ḥakham 1979, 262).
↑ See, e.g., aussi les peuples (TOB).
↑ The latter is rendered as יהודון שמך "they will praise your name" in Targum Psalms.

[1] The Hebrew text comes from Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, which presents the text of the Leningrad Codex (the Masoretic text). The English text is our own "Close-but-clear" translation (CBC). The CBC is a “wooden” translation that exists to provide a window into the Hebrew text. It is essentially an interlinear that has been put into English word-order. It is also similar to a “back-translation” (of the Hebrew) often used in Bible translation checking. It is important to remember that the CBC is not intended to be a stand-alone translation, but is rather a tool for using the Layer by Layer materials. The CBC is used as the primary display text (along with the Hebrew) for most analytical visualisations. It is also used as the display text for most videos.

[2] A legend for the expanded paraphrase is available near the bottom of this page, in the section titled "Legends."

[3] Legends for both the grammatical diagram and the shapes and colours on the grammatical diagram are available near the bottom of this page, in the section titled "Legends."

[4] Key roots include: יפה (BEAUTY, vv. 3, 12) and שׂמח (JOY, vv. 9, 16). Key associated ideas and images include: gladness (vv. 8, 16); fine clothing (vv. 9, 14–15); and wealth (vv. 10, 14), in particular, gold (vv. 10, 14).

[5] For example, Targum Psalms adds the vocative "anointed (Messianic) king" (מלכא משיחא) in v. 3. The letter to the Hebrews cites v. 7 as proof of the Son of God's superiority over angels (see Heb 1:8). See also the mention of the king as "Messiah" or even "God" in Ibn Ezra's commentary on vv. 8, 12.

[6] This expression "sons of [namesake ancestor]" is common, although the gentilic form קָרְחִי ("Korahite") is also used (e.g. 1 Chr 9:19).

[7] The "sons of Korah" are also mentioned in the superscriptions of Psalms 42; 44–49; 84–85; and 87–88.

[8] SDBH.

[9] So BDB, DCH.

[10] See, however, Isa 5:1, which uses similar (though not exactly the same) wording: ‏אָשִׁ֤ירָה נָּא֙ לִֽידִידִ֔י שִׁירַ֥ת דּוֹדִ֖י לְכַרְמ֑וֹ "I shall sing to my beloved a love song about his vineyard."

[11] Cf. Blankesteijn 2021, 2, 8. The Greek versions vary between ᾠδὴ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ "an ode for the beloved" (LXX); ᾆσμα προσφιλίας "a song of goodwill" (Aquila); and ᾆσμα εἰς τὸν ἀγαπητόν "a song for the beloved" (Symmachus) or τοῖς ἠγαπημένοις "to/for the beloved (pl.)" (Theodotion).

[12] GKC §124e.

[13] See also Ḥakham 1979, 257.

[14] See, e.g., Targum Onkelos' rendering of יִשְׁרְצוּ הַמַּיִם in Gen 1:20 ("Let the waters swarm with...") as יִרְחֲשׁוּן מַיָּא.

[15] See, e.g., NASB: "My heart overflows with a good theme," ESV: "My heart overflows with a pleasing theme," NIV: "My heart is stirred by a noble theme." This is also evident in Symmachus, for example: ἐκινήθη ἡ καρδία μου λόγῳ ἀγαθῷ "my heart is moved by a good word."

[16] For our preferred gloss, "theme," see BDB. SDBH offers (a) a materialized act of speech; ◄ a breath which becomes audible as a language utterance ► with communicative function – word, matter; and (b) perhaps as an extension of [a]: = materialized actions or events, in some way resultant from acts of speech – thing, event.

[17] See also Gen 9:12; 28:20; see further Khan forthcoming, "Qoṭel," 119-121. The order participle-pronoun in אֹמֵר אָנִי creates a pattern of phonetic repetition with the previous line's רָחַשׁ לִבִּי. (This could perhaps also explain the pausal form on אָנִי). The reversal of this pattern in the following line's לְשׁוֹנִי concludes the pattern and the verse's three-line structure. Alternatively, the syntax may not be pragmatically marked at all, if of late Aramaic influence (in which we expect participle + subject), suggested also by the only other instance of סֹפֵר מָהִיר appearing in Ezra 7:6.

[18] SDBH.

[19] See מַעֲשֵׂה אֹפֶה in Gen 40:17.

[20] This is according to the major Tiberian codices. Babylonian manuscript BL Or 2373 indicates the definite article in its vocalization.

[21] Lyons 1999, 4.

[22] Bekins forthcoming, "The definite article," §4.2; cf. Lambert 1898, 208.

[23] IBHS §13.7a

[24] Among major English versions, the indefinite "a king" is only found in the JPS and REB, which read "I speak my poem to a king" and "in honour of a king I recite the song I have composed," respectively.

[25] SDBH.

[26] SDBH. See, e.g., Targum Psalms, which renders the term as ספרא רגיל "a practiced/accustomed scribe," and the Peshitta's ܣܦܪܐ ܡܗܝܪܐ "a skilled scribed."

[27] Cf. also the Arabic root مهر, "to be skillful."

[28] Cf., e.g., the reduplication of the second and third root letters in the forms סְחַרְחַר (Ps 38:11) and חֳמַרְמָרוּ (Lam 1:20), which follow the expected form.

[29] See, e.g., GKC §55e, JM §59d.

[30] BDB, 421.

[31] It is probable that the third person reading in the Peshitta's ܕܫܦܝܪ ܒܚܙܘܗ "he is more attractive" (Taylor 2020, 175) arose from the LXX, which is verbless, but whose copula could be understood as second person, as the MT's 2sg.m יָפְיָפִיתָ (cf. the CPA Psalms' ܒܫܘܦܪܗ "in his beauty").

[32] Staszak 2024, 182.

[33] ὡραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

[34] Cf. Saadia; Weisman 1996, 199.

[35] Such that "lip [is used as] as a metonym for the speech that the lips help to form, or as a metonym for the person that produces speech -- speech" (SDBH)

[36] ܪ̈ܚܡܐ.

[37] NET footnote; see also BDB (487).

[38] "The imagery of a royal warrior in Psalm 45 is parallel to descriptions of a divine warrior (see comments on Ps. 18), which reinforces the metaphor of the king in 45:6 as God’s representative, especially in his “splendor and majesty” (cf. 96:6; 104:1; 145:5)" (Walton 2009, 357–358).

[39] See also the LXX's dative of manner τῇ ὡραιότητί σου καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου "in your bloom and beauty" (NETS), though the same two constituents could be interpreted as apposition to "your sword" in the Peshitta and certainly is by Saadia (see the alternative on the diagram).

[40] Nevertheless, with its presence, the initial placement of הֲדָרְךָ provides a tail-head linkage with the previous line's final adverbs. Note that the LXX's ἔντεινον most likely reflects the imperative וְהֵדְרֵךְ "bend, stretch," though this is always accompanied by either קֶשֶׁת or חֵץ (see Pss 7:13; 11:2, etc.) which is not the case here. It could perhaps be considered elided, as v. 6 begins with "your arrows" (חִצֶּיךָ).

[41] "Avec éclat, chevauche et triomphe." Cf. Symmachus' καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀξιώματί σου.

[42] תצלח למרכב.

[43] So Ḥakham: שׁתהא מצליח ברכיבה "may you be successful in your riding" (1979, 258).

[44] See עַל־דְּבַר כְּבוֹד־שְׁמֶךָ "for the glory of your name" (Ps 79:9, NIV; cf. Prov 29:12). The LXX also supports this interpretation of Ps 79:9, with ἕνεκα τῆς δόξης τοῦ ὀνόματός σου "for the sake of the glory of your name" (NETS).

[45] So also Mena (2012, 96-97, 122).

[46] Scheumann 2020.

[47] See GKC §154a; Fassberg 2019, §319.

[48] So Ḥakham 1979, 258.

[49] Despite the slightly different vocalization of the more standard עֲנָוָה in contrast to our עַנְוָה. Alternative readings of the syntax involve apposition between עַנְוָה and צֶדֶק or emending עַנְוָה as the construct form עַנְוַת (as witnessed in Jerome, the Peshitta and Aquila). The adverbial reading of נוֹרָאוֹת is read in the LXX's θαυμαστῶς "marvelously" (NETS) and finds a syntactic parallel in Ps 139:14: אוֹדְךָ עַל כִּי נוֹרָאוֹת נִפְלֵיתִי "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (NIV; see also Ps 65:6, as pointed out by Gaster 1955, 242 n. 13).

[50] The Greek and Latin versions have future indicatives (LXX: ὁδηγήσει σε; Aquila: φωτίσει σε; Symmachus: ὑποδείξει σοι; Jerome: docebit te).

[51] Cf. Saadia; Ḥakham 1979, 268.

[52] See, e.g., JPS: "and let your right hand lead you to awesome deeds" (cf. CEB, CJB, ELB, ESV, EÜ, NABRE, NASB, NBS, NIV, PDV, SG21, TOB, ZÜR).

[53] See further Atkinson 2025.

[54] Not diagrammed is the suggestion of Dahood (1966, 272), as reflected by the TOB, which understands "your arrows are sharp" (חִצֶּיךָ שְׁנוּנִים) as a noun phrase, "your sharp arrows," in apposition to "awesome deeds" at the end of v. 5. Such a reading is implausible concerning the supposed noun phrase, however, and also makes little sense of v. 6c without significant textual and grammatical imagination (as exhibited by Dahood 1966, 272), so has not been diagrammed as a viable alternative. On the other hand, for the alternative presence of "a thousand" (אלף), presumably modifying the enemies, see אוי]ב̊י המלך אלף in 11Q8 f8 1.

[55] Craigie (2004, 337), for example, concedes it is the "obvious syntax of [the] MT" and "the most likely interpretation of the vocalization in MT."

[56] Blankesteijn 2021, 2.

[57] On the other hand, if the topic/grammatical subject was determined to be שֵׁבֶט מִישֹׁר, we would have the specificational clause "As for the scepter of righteousness—that's the scepter of your kingdom" ➞ "It's the scepter of your kingdom that is a scepter of righteousness." Both are grammatically possible, and variation even exists according to grammatical definiteness in Greek translations (compare the LXX's ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου with Heb 1:8's καὶ ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς εὐθύτητος ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου).

[58] Ps 11:5, 7 attributes a similar characteristic to YHWH: "For YHWH is righteous, and he loves righteous acts ... his soul hates wickedness and the one who loves violence" (see also Isa 61:8).

[59] An analogous use is found in Isa 61:3, in which abstract ideas (gladness, praise) are described with concrete images (oil, garment): לָשׂ֣וּם ׀ לַאֲבֵלֵ֣י צִיּ֗וֹן לָתֵת֩ לָהֶ֨ם פְּאֵ֜ר תַּ֣חַת אֵ֗פֶר שֶׁ֤מֶן שָׂשׂוֹן֙ תַּ֣חַת אֵ֔בֶל מַעֲטֵ֣ה תְהִלָּ֔ה תַּ֖חַת ר֣וּחַ כֵּהָ֑ה [YHWH has anointed me . . .] to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (NIV) Nevertheless, it is unclear in Ps 45 what it would mean to be anointed with joy, where his peers had not been (see the note below on the final phrase of the verse, מֵחֲבֵרֶֽיךָ).

[60] Staszak 2024 §6.15.

[61] See the outlier in the Vulgate's prae consortibus tuis, which could possibly be read as "in the presence of your fellows," if not anteriority ➞ superiority. The comparative reading is found in the CSB: "God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy more than your companions" (Cf. the Peshitta's and Targum Psalms' unambigious ܝܬܝܪ ܡܢ and יתיר מן "more than"). The detachment/exclusive difference is found in Luther 2017: "God, your God, anointed with joyful oil like none of your companions" (Gott, dein Gott, gesalbt mit Freudenöl wie keinen deiner Gefährten; cf. the CJB's "in preference to your companions"). The source interpretation has been suggested by a number of commentators, to read "God has anointed you with the oil of rejoicing of your companions ... who rejoiced in the joy of your wedding" (משחך אלהים בשמן הששון של חבריך, ששמחו בשמחת כלולותיך; Weisman 1996, 200; cf. Ḥakham 1979, 259 n. 9).

[62] Gaster 1955, 244.

[63] Staszak 2024, 202.

[64] Staszak 2024, 203. More common is that following an adjective, for which, see Gen 36:7; Exod 18:18; Num 11:14; Deut 1:17; 17:8; 30:11; Ps 38:5.

[65] As discussed at length in Bryce (2003, 90–99).

[66] Briggs & Briggs 1906-1907, 387; Goldingay 2006, 59; GNT.

[67] Böhler 2021, 815.

[68] BDB.

[69] GKC §141d.

[70] Here, just as in v. 5, ancient versions such as the LXX and Peshitta provide a conjunction between all three entities.

[71] The masculine plural form אֲהָלִים is also found in Prov 7:17.

[72] BDB, HALOT.

[73] See SDBH.

[74] Noonan 2019, 44. Further, although the LXX renders אֲהָלוֹת here as στακτή "oozing drops... trickling" (LSJ), translated as myrrh oil in the NETS (cf. Jerome's stacta), Song 4:14 is read as ἀλώθ (cf. Targum Psalms' אלואון), probably a by-form (perhaps following the Hebrew morphology) of ἀλόη "aloe," from which subsequent forms of the word were derived in Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Latin (Noonan 2019, 44). (The LXX translator has read אֲהָלִים in Prov 7:17 as אֹהָלִים "tents, houses.")

[75] So SDBH.

[76] Noonan 2019, 196–197.

[77] See the discussion in GKC §87f.

[78] See, however, "my people" in the LXX.

[79] Stec 2004, 96 n. 21.

[80] SDBH.

[81] BDB; Prov 1:13.

[82] CAD, vol. 4, 61; cf. "wife of a king" in SDBH.

[83] Although the qatal of נצב would indicate the beginning of the state, rather than the participle as neutrally "standing," the state is nonetheless resultant: she has taken a stand ➞ she is standing.

[84] See further the arguments put forth in Schroeder 1996, 428.

[85] The Aramaic portion of Daniel, however, uses the word to refer to part of the Babylonian king's entourage (his wives and concubines (see Dan 5:2ff., 23).

[86] Schroeder 1996, 432.

[87] ša ekalli is derived from "woman of the palace" (from aššatu and ekallu), reanalyzed as šēgallu (Fink 2020, 138-139; cf. the contribution of הֵיכָל ≈ ekallu towards the psalm's poetic structure in vv. 9, 16).

[88] The ancient versions also attest to "queen" (LXX, Peshitta), though see Jerome's (Hebr.) coniux "wife."

[89] Noonan 2019, 136. Targum Psalms employs a Greek loan-word באובריזון דמן "in pure gold" (Stec 2004, 96); cf. ὄβρυζος "pure."

[90] Noonan 2019, 136.

[91] And as argued by Schroeder (1996).

[92] Bryce 2005, 297–298.

[93] Fink 2020, 146; cf. v. 17.

[94] Sabbahy 2020, 12.

[95] Schroeder 1996, 429.

[96] Note that the majority position is that the psalmist is the speaker throughout (Mowinckel 1962, 73; Ḥakham 1979, 261; Gerstenberger 1988, 188; Craigie 2004, 340), as maintained explicitly by Blankesteijn (2021, 7) after weighing up Schroeder's arguments. For the king's mother involved in a wedding day, cf. Song 4:11: "look upon King Solomon, with the crown with which his mother crowned him (שֶׁעִטְּרָה־לּוֹ אִמּוֹ) on the day of his wedding, on the day of the gladness of his heart (שִׂמְחַת לִבּוֹ)" (NIV).

[97] This is unambiguous in the Peshitta's use of the conjunction ܕ in ܕܢܬܪܓܪܓ ܡܠܟܐ ܠܫܘܦܪܟܝ "so that the king may earnestly desire your beauty" (Taylor 2020, 177; cf. also the CPA Psalms: ܕܐܬܿܚܡܕ ܡܠܟܐ ܠܫܘܦܪܝܟܝ), and Targum Psalm's conjunction ובכן "and thus" in ובכן ירגג מלכא שופרייך "And then, the king will desire your beauty" (Stec 2004, 97).

[98] A third, less plausible option, is that of the jussive functioning in the protasis of a conditional, "If he desires... then bow down to him," as suggested by GKC §109h (cf. Ḥakham 1979, 261).

[99] Alternative interpretations involve
reading the constituents "daughter of Tyre" and "richest of people" in apposition, such as the CSB: "...and the king will desire your beauty. Bow down to him, for he is your lord. The daughter of Tyre, the wealthy people, will seek your favor with gifts";

supplying a verb to create a clause of וּבַת־צֹר בְּמִנְחָה, such as the KJV: "So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour";

or, interpreting וּבַת־צֹר as a vocative, such as the JPS: "and let the king be aroused by your beauty; since he is your lord, bow to him. O Tyrian lass, the wealthiest people will court your favor with gifts."
Although emendation of the MT text is generally our last resort, the issues with these three interpretations were quite insurmountable, while it is highly plausible that the LXX represents an ancient tradition, perhaps predating the MT as we now have it.

[100] reading the constituents "daughter of Tyre" and "richest of people" in apposition, such as the CSB: "...and the king will desire your beauty. Bow down to him, for he is your lord. The daughter of Tyre, the wealthy people, will seek your favor with gifts";

[101] supplying a verb to create a clause of וּבַת־צֹר בְּמִנְחָה, such as the KJV: "So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour";

[102] r, interpreting וּבַת־צֹר as a vocative, such as the JPS: "and let the king be aroused by your beauty; since he is your lord, bow to him. O Tyrian lass, the wealthiest people will court your favor with gifts."

[100] NETS. The Greek text reads as follows: καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ θυγατέρες Τύρου ἐν δώροις, τὸ πρόσωπόν σου λιτανεύσουσιν οἱ πλούσιοι τοῦ λαοῦ.

[101] VTH (vol. 4, 344) mentions Kennicott manuscripts 97, 133 and probably 74 as containing the reading והשתחוו. The Peshitta may be influenced by this interpretation, as it contains the verb ܣܓܕ "bow down" both in the final clause of v. 12 (as the MT) and at the beginning of v. 13 (as the LXX): ܡܛܠ ܕܗܘܝܘ ܡܪܟܝ ܣܓܘܕܝ ܠܗ ܘܒܪܬ ܨܘܪ ܬܣܓܘܕ ܠܗ "Reverence him, for he is your lord. The daughter of Tyre will reverence him" (Taylor 2020, 177). On the other hand, the three Greek revisers contain singular imperatives (Aquila and Theodotion προσκύνησον; Symmachus προσκύνει).

[102] So, explicitly, Targum Psalms: ויתבי כרכא דצור בתקרובתא ייתון "And the inhabitants of the city of Tyre will come with an offering" (Stec 2004, 97).

[103] LXX: καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ θυγατέρες Τύρου ἐν δώροις "And daughters of Tyre will do obeisance to him with gifts," NETS.

[104] See, e.g., Exod 32:11; 1 Sam 13:12; 1 Kgs 13:6; 2 Kgs 13:4; 2 Chr 33:12; Job 11:19; Ps 119:58; Prov 19:6; Jer 26:19; Dan 9:13; Zech 7:2; 8:21-22; Mal 1:9.

[105] SDBH; cf. "chequered (or plaited) work, usually of settings for gems" (BDB); and "gold embroidered cloth" (HALOT).

[106] SDBH.

[107] Schroeder 1996, 421; "see also Ezek 16:9-14, where Jerusalem is described as the virginal bride of Yhwh, wearing "embroidered cloth" (riqmâ)" (ibid., n. 7).

[108] Bryce 2003, 132.

[109] The king's sons were "rulers dependent on his kingship and extending it" (von seinem Königtum abhängige, es ausdehnende Herrscher; Böhler 2021, 829; "the king's sons will expand the influence and authority of the king's reign" (Ḥakham 1979, 262).

[110] See, e.g., aussi les peuples (TOB).

[111] The latter is rendered as יהודון שמך "they will praise your name" in Targum Psalms.

[115] reading the constituents "daughter of Tyre" and "richest of people" in apposition, such as the CSB: "...and the king will desire your beauty. Bow down to him, for he is your lord. The daughter of Tyre, the wealthy people, will seek your favor with gifts";

[116] supplying a verb to create a clause of וּבַת־צֹר בְּמִנְחָה, such as the KJV: "So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour";

[117] r, interpreting וּבַת־צֹר as a vocative, such as the JPS: "and let the king be aroused by your beauty; since he is your lord, bow to him. O Tyrian lass, the wealthiest people will court your favor with gifts."

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Psalm 45 Verse by Verse

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Book 4

Book 5

Royal wedding song

Psalm 45

Verse-by-Verse Notes (Academic)

Introduction

Setting the scene

Structure and poetry

Superscription (v. 1)

v. 1

Expanded Paraphrase

Notes

The poet's praise (vv. 2–3)

v. 2

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 3

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

The king (vv. 4–10)

v. 4

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 5

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 6

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 7

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 8

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 9

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 10

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

The bride (vv. 11–16)

v. 11

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 12

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 13

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 14

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 15

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

v. 16

Expanded Paraphrase

Summary

Notes

The people's praise (vv. 17–18)