Psalms 45:1
IS INDITING, etc.] RV 'overfloweth with a goodly matter.' I SPEAK, etc.] RM 'I speak: my work is for a king.'... [ Continue Reading ]
IS INDITING, etc.] RV 'overfloweth with a goodly matter.' I SPEAK, etc.] RM 'I speak: my work is for a king.'... [ Continue Reading ]
The poem celebrates the marriage of a king. After the prelude (Psalms 45:1) come addresses to the royal bridegroom (Psalms 45:2) and bride (Psalms 45:10), a description of the bridal procession (Psalms 45:13), and a final address to the king (Psalms 45:16). The marriage of Solomon to the Egyptian pr... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH THY GLO RV, etc.] RV 'Thy glory and thy majesty.' These are the weapons with which the king girds himself.... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE OF] in the cause of.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE HEART, etc.] RV 'The peoples fall under thee; _they_' (the arrows) '_are_ in the heart of the king's enemies.'... [ Continue Reading ]
THY THRONE, O GOD, _is_] RV 'Thy throne _is the throne of_ God.' This gives a good sense, and meets the difficulty that the human king who is addressed in the first instance could hardly be called 'God.' There are textual reasons for believing, however, that the original reading was simply, 'Thy thr... [ Continue Reading ]
OIL OF GLADNESS] the oil, not of the coronation, but of a festive occasion.... [ Continue Reading ]
MYRRH.. ALOES.. CASSIA] These perfumes are not the substances now so named. Ivory palaces] palatial chambers ornamented with inlaid ivory work. Ahab had such a palace (1 Kings 22:39 : cp. Amos 3:15). WHEREBY, etc.] RV 'stringed instruments have made thee glad.' Their music greets the king as he ente... [ Continue Reading ]
DID (RV 'doth') STAND THE QUEEN] the new consort, who takes the place of honour. GOLD OF OPHIR] the finest gold. Ophir was either in Africa or in S. Asia.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY LORD] rather, 'thy lord': see 1 Peter 3:6. WORSHIP.. HIM] rather, 'do him homage.'... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DAUGHTER OF TYRE] the city of Tyre, a personification like 'daughter of Zion,' 'daughter of Babylon.' Tyre was the wealthiest of Israel's neighbours, and was in alliance with David and Solomon. It would naturally grace a royal Israelite marriage with a gift, even if the bride were not, like Jeze... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is_ ALL GLORIOUS WITHIN] RV 'within _the palace_ is all glorious': i.e. in the inner chamber from which she comes forth to meet the king. OF WROUGHT GOLD] RV 'inwrought with gold.'... [ Continue Reading ]
INSTEAD OF THY FATHERS, etc.] A distinguished posterity is better than a long ancestry, which was lacking in Solomon's case. MAYEST MAKE] RV 'shalt make.' IN ALL THE EARTH] a world-wide dominion is promised for the king's children.... [ Continue Reading ]
PEOPLE] RV 'peoples.'... [ Continue Reading ]