Psalms 45

My heart is stirred by a fine theme. I am reciting the verses I have made for the king. My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer.

1My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

NoteThe psalm is a court poem written for a royal wedding: the poet addresses first the king (verses 2–9), then the bride (verses 10–15), then the king again (16–17). The opening lines are the writer presenting his own composition, the way a court singer would announce a piece before performing it.

2You are more handsome than anyone else. Your speech is full of grace, and so God has blessed you forever.

2Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.

3Strap your sword at your side, mighty warrior. Put on your glory and your majesty.

3Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty.

NoteWearing a sword strapped to the thigh was how a soldier carried a weapon ready for use. "Glory and majesty" are the trappings of a king appearing in state, robes, ornaments, the whole public display of royal power.

4In your majesty ride out and win, for the sake of truth and humility and justice. Your right hand will show fearsome deeds.

4And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.

5Your arrows are sharp. They pierce the hearts of the king's enemies, and whole nations fall beneath you.

5Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.

6Your throne, O God, lasts forever and ever. The royal staff of your kingdom is a staff of fairness.

6Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.

NoteThe Hebrew here is genuinely disputed and can be read several ways: "Your throne, O God, lasts forever" (addressing the king as "God"), or "Your throne is God's throne, forever," or "Your divine throne lasts forever." Every other verse of the psalm speaks to a human king, which is why the line has been argued over for centuries. The rendering keeps the most literal reading. The "staff" is the scepter, an ornamented rod held by a ruler as the visible sign of authority.

7You love what is right and hate what is wrong. That is why God, your God, has poured oil of joy on you, setting you above your companions.

7Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

NoteAnointing meant pouring scented olive oil over someone's head. It was done to install a king, and also simply as a mark of honor or celebration at a feast, "oil of joy" points to the festive sense. "Your companions" are the king's fellow rulers or the nobles of his court.

8All your clothes are fragrant with the spices myrrh, aloes, and cassia. From palaces decorated with ivory, the music of strings makes you glad.

8All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

NoteMyrrh and aloes are fragrant resins from trees; cassia is an aromatic bark related to cinnamon. All three were imported luxuries, used as perfume rubbed into cloth. "Ivory palaces" means rooms whose walls and furniture were inlaid with carved ivory panels, an extravagance archaeologists have found in Israelite royal buildings. The Hebrew word behind "music of strings" is uncertain; the King James translators read it differently and rendered it "whereby they have made thee glad."

9Daughters of kings are among the women you honor. At your right hand stands the queen, wearing gold from Ophir.

9Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.

NoteMarriages between royal families sealed treaties between kingdoms, so foreign princesses in a king's household signaled his political reach. The right hand was the position of highest honor beside a ruler. Ophir was a distant land famous for gold of the finest quality; where exactly it was (somewhere in Arabia, East Africa, or India) is still unknown.

10Listen, daughter. Think about this and pay close attention. Forget your own people and your father's household,

10Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;

NoteThe bride is being addressed for the first time. She appears to be a foreign princess, and "forget your own people and your father's household" is the practical demand of such a marriage: she leaves her homeland permanently and her loyalty transfers to her husband's court.

11and the king will greatly desire your beauty. He is your master, so bow low before him.

11So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.

Note"Master" translates a word used for a husband, an owner, and a superior alike; bowing low was the ordinary court gesture of respect shown to a king by anyone, including his wife. The King James "worship thou him" is not a religious statement, in 1611 "worship" still commonly meant to show honor or do homage.

12The people of Tyre will be there with a gift. The richest people will come asking for your favor.

12And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.

NoteTyre was a wealthy Phoenician port city on the Mediterranean coast, north of Israel, famous for sea trade and luxury goods. "The daughter of Tyre" is a Hebrew way of saying the city itself or its people, the way one might say "Tyre and her citizens." Bringing a gift is the gesture of a lesser state acknowledging a greater one.

13The king's daughter is all glorious inside her room. Her gown is woven with gold.

13The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.

Note"All glorious within" is ambiguous in the Hebrew: it can mean she is splendid as she waits inside her private chamber before the procession, or that her glory is inward as well as outward. Gold was beaten into fine thread and woven into cloth for garments of the highest rank.

14She is led to the king in embroidered clothing. The young women who are her companions follow her and are brought to you.

14She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.

NoteA bride was escorted to the groom in a formal procession, accompanied by unmarried young women of her household. "Embroidered clothing" means fabric worked with colored needlework, expensive because of the labor involved.

15They are led along with joy and gladness. They enter the king's palace.

15With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king’s palace.

16Your sons will take the place of your fathers. You will make them rulers all across the land.

16Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.

NoteThe line is about dynasty. A king's standing was measured by whether his family line continued: instead of looking back to his ancestors, he will look forward to sons who inherit and hold territory as rulers under him.

17I will keep your name remembered in every generation. So the nations will praise you forever and ever.

17I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever.