Grace Theological Journal
6.1 (1985) 29-48
[Cited with permission
from Grace Theological Seminary;
digitally prepared for use at
Gordon and
A MULTIPLEX APPROACH
TO PSALM 45
RICHARD D. PATTERSON
A balanced
use of grammar, literary analysis, history, and theol-
ogy used to analyze Psalm 45 reveals that the psalm is a Liebeslied.
The psalm is found to be
one of the Royal Psalms, although the
precise Sitz im
Leben cannot be determined. The structure of the
psalm follows an Ab / B pattern, the
first part speaking of the King
and the second part of the Queen. While the psalm has reference
to
any king in the Davidic line, its full application is found in
Christ and
his bride, the Church.
* * *
INTRODUCTION
PSALM
45 is a unique psalm. The ancient heading attached to the
psalm informs the reader that it is a tdydy ryw, "a song of
(tender)
love," or perhaps, as Delitzsch
insists, "a song of holy love.”1 One
might think that such a psalm would be easy to
understand. However,
perhaps due to the intimacy of the subject
matter, both the historical
setting and, at several points, the
understanding of the text itself have
puzzled scholars of all ages. As Craigie laments, "Both the analysis of
the Psalm and its translation. . . are subject to
some uncertainty.”2
Methodologically, this study follows what might
be termed con-
textual exegesis-a procedure that makes full and
balanced use of
grammar, literary analysis, history, and
theology. This multiplex
approach is directed not only to the proper
understanding of the
canonical context, but also to a valid application
to the contemporary
context of the modern reader or hearer. An
arduous, yet not unpleasant
task, the method has much in common with what Walter
Kaiser, Jr.
1 Franz Delitzsch,
Biblical Commentary on the Psalms (
1955) 2:77-78.
2 P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50
(Word BibliCal Commentary; Waco: Word, 1983) 337.
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THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
calls "syntactical-theological exegesis,"3
or with what
lowing Oehler, terms
"the historico-genetic method of Old Testament
theology.”4 In a similar vein, see the
work of D. Stuart.5
THE SETTING OF THE PSALM
Literary
Style
Psalm 45 is rich in literary features. Expositors
generally concede
that this ancient Liebeslied or love poem is a wedding
song. Unlike
the typical classical epithalmium, however, no
ante-chamber chorus is
utilized here, its place being assumed by the
lyricist himself. In addi-
tion, if certain elements of
the translation suggested below are correct,
part of the psalm may be viewed as a sort of literary
blazon, praisrng
the weaponry wherewith the king is attired almost
as if it were a coat
of arms
Above all, of course, the psalm is a lyric poem.
As such, it bears
marks typical of such pieces, such as (1) a desire to
reach an audience
(vv 2-5, 11-14), (2) a willingness to be overheard (vv 6-7),
and (3) a
basic commonness or simplicity of construction.6
The latter point
seems to be at odds with the previous observation
that parts of the
texts are difficult to interpret. However, it is no
doubt only the
modern reader who has difficulties, not the original
hearers. In any
case, the difficulties are confined to just a few lines.
Overall, the psalm exhibits the normal elements
of Hebrew poetic
expression. Thus, it contains the usual features of
stock pairs (e.g.,
jnzx
yFHv . . . yfmw 'listen and incline
your ear', v II [cf. the frequent
negative use of this pair in Jeremiah]; and lygv tHmW
/ 'joy and
glad-
ness', v 16),7 familiar themes (e.g.,
truth and justice, v 5 [cf. Pss
2
Sam 23:3-5; Pss 72; 85:11-14]; and righteousness
versus iniquity,
v 8 [cf. Ps 7:7-11; Gen
such as the king as defender of the poor (v 5; cf. Pss
146:8),8 the right hand as the emphatic designation of
honor, vigor,
3 Walter Kaiser, Jr., Toward an Exegetical Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1981)
89.
4 E. Smick,
"Old Testament Theology: The Historico-Genetic
Method," JETS 26
(1983) 145-55.
5 D. Stuart, Old Testament Exegesis (
6 See the full discussion of C. M. lng, "Lyric," Cassell's Encyclopaedia of Litera-
ture, ed. S. H. Steinberg (London:
Cassell, 1953) 1:354-60. The versification for the
Psalms
in this article follows that of the Hebrew Bible.
7 See M. Dahood,
"Ugaritic-Hebrew Parallel Pairs," RSP, I, 354.
8 See further R. Patterson, "The Widow, The
Orphan and The Poor in the Old
Testament
and the Extra-biblical Literature," BSac 224 (1973) 223-34; cf. Antoon
Schoors, "Literary Phrases," RSP, 1,59-62.
PATTERSON: PSALM 45 31
TABLE I
Schematic Outline of
Psalm 45
Portion
Subject Matter Verses Progression
Type
A
(Poetic Introduction) 2
Praise of the King 3-10
His Person 3-6 Descriptive
His Position 7-10 Expository
(7-8)
Descriptive (9-10)
(N.B.) "Daughter" 10
B
(Poetic Introduction) 11-13
Praise
of the Queen 14-18
Her Appearance 14-16 Descriptive/dramatic
Her
Avowal 17-18 Expository/(dramatic)*
.
*For
details as to transitional patterns, see the helpful discussion and rich biblio-
graphical data given by H. van Dyke Parunak, "Transitional Techniques in the Bible,"
JBL 102 (1983) 525-48.
and strength (vv 5, 10; cf. Exod
15:6, 12; Ps 16:8, 11),9 and the father
and son (v 17; cf. Pss 2;
89:28f.; 103:13).10 All of these are wedded to
a basic grid of Hebrew parallelism, in this case
a rhetorical parallelism
that fits the stated needs of lyricism for
progression, whether descrip-
tive (vv 3-6, 9-10),
dramatic (vv 14-16), argumentative (vv 11-13),
or expository, as demonstrated not only throughout
the psalm but
especially in vv 7-8 and 17-18.11
Interestingly enough, the poet's variegated
employment of lyric
progression follows closely the transitional
patterns of the psalm's
structure. The psalm falls into two major portions
(vv 2-10 and
vv 11-18)-each introduced by the psalmist's own
words (v 2 and
vv 11-13)-after which the first section focuses
upon the king, the
second, the queen. The lyric poem may be analyzed as A/B
in form.
However,
the presence of the key term "daughter" linking the two
halves of the psalm in a concatenatio technique
necessitates the refin-
ing of the pattern. Because
the linked term "daughter" in v 10 corre-
sponds to the subject of the
second portion of the poem (forming an
unbalanced concatenatio), the psalm may be rendered schematically
Ab/B. Thus, the psalm may be
schematized as in Table 1.
9 For discussion of the motif of the right
hand, see my note at 2 Kgs 22:2 in the
forthcoming Expositor's
Bible Commentary, vol. 4 (
R.
Patterson, "The Song of Deborah," in Tradition and Testament, eds. John S.
Feinberg and Paul D. Feinberg (Chicago: Moody,
1981) 140, 156.
10 The concept of God as Father to
Exod 4:21-23;
Isa63:16; Jer3:4, 19; Hos 11:1, etc.). For the king as God's
son, see
J. H. Eaton, Kingship
and the Psalms (Downers Grove: Allenson, 1975)
146-49.
11 For the term rhetorical parallelism (but
with wider application), see Kaiser,
Toward An Exegetical
Theology,
222-27; for the isolation and importance of literary
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THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Psalm
Type
Although it has not always been included among
the Royal
Psalms
by form critical scholars, modern scholarship increasingly
tends to place Psalm 45 in that category.12
Certainly the elevated tone
and rich vocabulary of the psalm, as well as its
ready application to
Messiah
in both Jewish and Christian traditions, argue that the psalm
commemmorates the wedding of some king
in the Davidic line.13
Further, its title affirms that the psalm is
part of a double collec-
tion of Korhite
Psalms (Pss 42-49 and 84-85, 87-89), whose basic
onentation is the praise of God
through the reigning king (cf: v 7 with
Pss 44.5, 46.6-12, 47, 48.2-4,9,
15, 84.4, 85.5, 89). Accordingly, the
king is God's anointed (v 8, cf. Ps 89:21, 39, 52)
through whom God
is victorious over the nations (vv 4-6, cf. Pss 42-43; 44; 46:8, 10-12;
47;
48:6-9; 89). The other Korahite Psalms emphasize that
the king
lives in close personal relationship with God and
addresses him per-
sonally (Pss
42:2; 43: 1; 44:2; 48: 10, 11; 89:47, .50, 52), puts his trust in
God
(Pss 42:6, 12; 43:5; 84:13), and finds in him alone
his redemption
and place of refuge (Pss
43:1; 44:2-9, 24-27; 46:2-8; 47; 48:2-4, 9;
49:6-8,
15-16; 84:12-13; 85; 87), even in times of exile and distress
(Pss 42-43; 44; 88). The king is conscious of
God's love (Pss 42:9-10
44:4-8;.85:8;. 89:2l-34), reproduces God's righteousness in his life
(Pss 43.3, 49.15, 84.12-13, 85.11-14, 89.3-6, 15-17), and
worships
him in the appointed services (Pss
42:3-6; 43:3-4; 46:5; 48:10; 84;
87).15
In the light of all of this, the psalm may safely be assumed to be
features common. to Ugaritic and .Hebrew see the various extended discussions
in RSP,
I, II, III. For a discussion of poetic progression,
see c. F. Mam and P. J. Seng,
Poems
(Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1961) 242-62.
12 For details see J. H. Eaton, Kingship,
1-86 and also M. Dahood, Psalms (AB;
Garden
City: Doubleday, 1966) 1:270; R. K. Harrison, Introduction to the Old Testa-
ment (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969) 991; and J. H. Hayes, An Introduction to Old
Testament Study (NashvIlle:
Abmgdon, 1979) 312-13.
13 See further, M; Buttenwieser, The
Psalms (New York: KT A V, 1969) 83-84; J. H.
Eaton,
The Psalms (London: SCM, 1979) 123. Contrariwise,
M. D. Goulder (The
Psalms of the Sons of Korah [
for a
Jezebel
and then utilized in subsequent festal liturgies.
14 That the Korahite
Psalms should have a Davidic/ Royal orientation with special
attention to the cultus
is only natural. The Korahites were closely
identified with David
fight from the beginning of his adventures (I Chron 12:6) and became ultimately
involved with the worship services set by David
(cf. I Chron
Ps
84: II). The full expression of Korahite theology is
found in Psalm 89.”
15 Other Korahite
emphases are also found in Psalm 45, such as the place of the
lyricist (v 2, cf. Pss
49:1-5; 89:1-2) and the emphasis on the right hand (vv 5, 8,10; cf.
Pss 44:4; 48:11; 89:14, 26,43).
In a very real way all the above features are gathered
PATTERSON: PSALM 45 33
a Royal Psalm celebrating the marriage of a king16
in the line of
David (with whom God had entered into
everlasting covenant [cf.
2
Sam 7:12-19; .I Chron 17:7-27; Ps 89]).17
Grammatical-Historical
Context
The question of the origin and Sitz im Leben
of the psalm has
been greatly disputed. Some have suggested a late
date in the Persian
period (understanding the psalm to have been written
in honor of the
bridal ceremony of a Persian queen),18 or
even as late as the Ptolemaic
period.19 The majority of modern
commentators consider the psalm
to be pre-exilic. However, here again many suggestions
as to the time
and occasion of its composition have been put
forward. Perowne
retains the older suggestions of Christian
tradition that the marriage
is Solomon's.20 Hitzig
prefers the marriage of Ahab and Jezebel, a
view followed vigorously by Buttenwieser
and Goulder.21 Franz
Delitzsch argues eloquently for the marriage of Jehoram of the
Southern
Kingdom and Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel of
the Northern Kingdom.22 Still others
associate the psalm with Jero-
boam II23 or
Josiah,24 or despairing of finding its original royal
occasion, suggest its lasting quality is found in
its annual use in an
enthronement ceremony or its
repeated use at the marriage ceremony
of subsequent kings.25
The wide disagreement among scholars as to the
Psalm's Sitz im
Leben makes a final assignment to any. specific occasion most tenuous.
Perhaps
Delitzsch's view is most commendable. Linguistically,
while
the poem should probably not be understood to be as
thoroughly
together in Psalm 89. For the place of the Korahite Psalms within the several collec-
tions of the Psalter, see O. Eissfeldt, The Old
Testament An Introduction, trans. P. R.
Ackroyd (New
York: Harper, 1976) 449-50.
16 The attempts of T. H. Gaster ("Psalm 45," JBL 74 [1955] 239-51) to interpret
the psalm as non-royal seem ill-conceived.
17 For the place of Psalm 45 among the
Messianic Psalms, see below.
18 See the discussion in J. J. S. Perowne, The Book of
Psalms (
Zondervan, 1976) 1:367.
19 See e.g., M. Buttenwieser,
The Psalms, 84.
20 Perowne, Psalms, I :366-69.
The identification of the proposed Solomonic bride
is also in dispute, some opting for the daughter
of Pharaoh, others for the daughter of
Hiram of
21 See Buttenwieser,
Psalms 85-89; and M. Goulder, Psalms of Korah, 133-35.
22 See Delitzsch,
Psalms, 1:74-76.
23 Buttenwieser,
Psalms, 84.
24 See J. Mulder,
Studies on Psalm 45 (Witsiers: Almelo, 1972).
25 See J. H. Eaton, Kingship, 118-20; cf.
J. Goldingay, Songs
from a Strange Land
(Downers
Grove: InterVarsity, 1978) 81; and N. R. Lightfoot, Jesus Christ Today
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976) 61.
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THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Canaanite
as Dahood understands it to be, there does appear to
be a
number of Phoenician/North Canaanite forms (e.g. tv;jx / 'aloes',
and tvfucq / 'cassia', v 9 [which
may well have the feminine ending
n- rather than the normal South Canaanite ending
it h A-], typypy /
'you are the fairest', v 3, a form with reduplicated root
like U garitic
dcdc / 'know well', and
possibly, as Dahood insists, tvlvtb / 'virgin',
v 15).26
Moreover, the prevalence of international
commodities (e.g. Mtk
rypvx
/ ‘gold of Ophir', v 10; and Nw/'ivory', v 9) is
reminiscent of
Phoenician
trading activities (cf. 1 Kgs
mention of an ivory palace (v 9) reminds one of
the well-known
Canaanite/
Phoenician connections may be found in the particular
mention of the daughter of
The union of the long feuding houses of
marriage of Jehoram-and
Athaliah would certainly serve as a momen-
tous occasion, well worthy
of commemoration in song. All of this
suggests that Delitzsch's
theory is not without merit. Nevertheless,
Craigie's cautious dictum should be given due
weight:
But having affirmed in principle that the song,
in its initial setting,
should be related to a
particular occasion, it should also be admitted
that no firm decision can be
made with respect to its historical origin. . . .
All that can be affirmed with reasonable
certainty is that the psalm
originated at some point in the
history of the Hebrew monarchy.30
THE SINGING OF THE PSALM
Although its precise original setting lacks
final identification, this
psalm itself may nonetheless be examined as a
canonical composition,
26 M. Dahood,
Psalms, 1:275 remarks, "that betulot
is singular is evident from the
suffixes of ‘ahareha
and re’oteha, which suppose an antecedent in the
singular. Hence
the morphology of btlwt is Phoenician, like that of
Prov ix 1, etc., hokmot, 'Wisdom,'
which has been rightly explained by W. F. Albright in
VTS, III (1955), p. 8, where he
compares hokmot with Phoen. milkot
(for *milkat),
'Queen' (name of a deity)!"
27 One might also possibly read NwAw Nm,w, an Egyptian lily oil (cf. Coptic sosen,
'lily'; note also the title Myniwawo-lfa 'upon the lilies') for
MT NOwwA
Nm,w, C. Krahmalkov
once suggested to me that the enigmatic hmAynip; 'within' may really
conceal the name
Phoenicians.
28 For details,
see my remarks at 2 Kgs 22:39 in the forthcoming
Expositor's Bible
Commentary. Note also the mention of ivory in the
condemnation of the King of Tyre
in Ezek 27:6, 15.
29 Note also the use of the foreign loan
word for queen inv 10: ?J'J,' doubtless from
Akkadian sa
ekal/T / 'the one of the foreign lands' (cf. Neh 2:6 and Dan 5:2). Perhaps
the granddaughter of the Tyrian
king Ethbaal would appropriately be called by such a
title.
30 Craigie,
Psalms 1-50, 338.
PATTERSON: PSALM 45 35
which, due to inspiration of God, has abiding
theological value and
devotional application for all its readers.
Contextual
Analysis
As noted in the previous literary analysis,
after the title (v 1) the
psalm may be divided into two major segments: (1) in
praise of the
king (vv 2-10) and (2) in praise of the queen (vv 11-18).
Each seg-
ment is introduced by the
psalmist's own words about the object of
his singing (vv2, 11-13). The psalm may be outlined
as follows:
Title
(v I)
A. Poetic prelude (v 2)
B. His portrayal (vv
3-6)
C. His position (vv
7-10)
II. In
praise of the queen (vv 11-18)
A. Poetic advice (vv
11-13)
B. Her appearance (vv
14-16)
C. Her avowal (vv
17-18).
In Praise of the King
In his love song composed for the royal wedding,
the psalmist
"pictures" himself as present at the various stages of
the wedding
preparations. First he sees himself
seated within the royal dressing
chambers at the robing
of the king. He awaits his opportunity to sing
the king's praises:
My heart is astir
With a
goodly word.
I myself would surely
sing,
My composition to the
king;
(For) my tongue is the pen
Of a talented bard.31
As a prelude to the entire psalm, the poet
reports his extreme
excitement at the prospect of performing his song
which had been
composed for the occasion. It was doubtless sung
to musical accom-
paniment. He mentions the
fluttering of his heart;32 yet, he hopes
that
31 ryhimA rpeOs
'proficient scribe'. With all the skill of the most expert scribe, the
psalmist's tongue would move through his
composition. For discussion of the songful-
ness of the whole verse, see Buttenwieser,
Psalms, 89.
32 Cf. Akkadian
rahasu, 'be
astir', and Arabic rahasa,
'flutter', 'move'.
36
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THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
his words will be articulate and appropriate so
that his tongue moves
as skillfully as the pen of a proficient scribe.33
The prelude finished (v 2), the poet begins his
lyric with a
progressive description that portrays the robing of the king (vv 3-6).
He
begins with the king's person:
You are the fairest of
men
Grace(iousness) flows from your lips
Therefore God has
blessed you forever.
[v. 3]
He
is the fairest of men.34 He has above all an inner, God-given
beauty that is demonstrated in the outward expressions
of life (cf.
Prov
22:11; Eccl 10:l2; Luke
him an everlasting blessedness-the very
graciousness of the king is
evidence that God has blessed him.
The psalmist moves next to a description of the
king's robing:
Gird your sword upon
(your) thigh
"The hero of (your)
strength and majesty"
And by your majesty,
succeed!
Mount up upon "For
the word of truth"
And (so) bring justice
to I defend the poor.
Then may your right hand
teach you awesome things,
(With) your sharpened arrows
Peoples shall fall
beneath you,
(Pierced)
through the heart, the enemies of the king.
[vv
4-6]
These verses are extremely difficult. One needs
only to glance at
the various versions and translations and notice
the efforts of the
commentators to see the widely
differing results. These verses remain
a crux interpretum.
The following discussion suggests that vv 4-5
are built around a
double imperative with the whole image being closed by
a jussive of
wish in v 6. These verses, then, describe ideally
the investiture of the
king. His are the garments of a heroic and mighty
warrior. He is to
put on his mighty sword, "The Hero of Strength
and Majesty," by
33 Buttenwieser may be
right in suggesting that the mood of the verb is one of wish,
not an indicative; see Buttenwieser,
Psalms, 82, 89. The poet's essential
modesty is thus
preserved.
34The Hebrew lflfm form seems to be used
here of an action which by repeated
use produces a qualitative state of character. See further, GKC § 55e.
Craigie, Psalms
1-50, 336 calls attention to
Ugaritic tipp, 'she beautifies herself'.
PATTERSON: PSALM 45 37
which he shall surely succeed. He is to
chariot, "For the Word of Truth," and
so ride out to bring justice to
all, especially to the downtrodden and
disadvantaged of society.
Accordingly,
by his strong right hand he shall learn many awesome
things and by his skillful bowmanship,
the king's enemies shall fall
beneath him.36
Thus understood, this passage falls into line
with the naming
practices of the ancient Near East. Names were
extremely important,
being used not only to identify persons but, at
times, to be descriptive
of one's nature or character.37 Indeed,
he who or that which had no
name, in a sense, did not exist.38 Thus,
the Akkadian phrase mala sa
35 lf bkr
often means "mount up upon" (cf. Akkadian rakabu, see AHW, 944 and
the informative discussion of G. Liedke in THAT,
2:778-82). See especially 1 Sam 25:42;
2
Sam 19:27; I Kgs
together with an accompanying activity. Such
familiar phrases as tvbrfb
bkr 'rider
on the clouds', (Ps 68:5; cf. Ugaritic
rkb ‘rpt) and Mymwh
bkr / 'he who rides the
heavens' (Deut 33:26; cf. Ps 68:34), as well as lq bf-lf bkr / 'he who rides upon a
swift cloud', (Isa 19:1)
may all likewise be understood as "he who mounts/is mounted
upon the clouds/heavens," The meaning
"ride upon" is, of course, equally possible. If
this latter meaning is the proper one for Psalm 45,
the two verses here anticipate the
description of Christ the victor in Rev 19: 11-16.
For a full description of the divine
epithet, see A. Cooper, "Divine Names and
Epithets in the Ugaritic Texts," RSP,
3:458-60,
For an interesting discussion as to the background of
the picture in Rev
19:11-16
see R. H. Mounce, The
Book of Revelation (NICNT;
mans, 1977) 343-48,
36 The last line of v6 defies final
solution. The troublesome blb may hide some
well-understood elliptical phrase such
as "smitten in/pierced through the heart." For
brachylogy formed by omission of a clearly
understood verb, see R. J. Williams,
Hebrew Syntax (2ded.;
the vanquished foe lying beneath the feet of the
victor, see A. H. Gardiner,
the Pharaohs (Oxford: Clarendon, 1961) 286; cf. ANET, 136.
37 See further, R. deVaux,
Ancient Israel, (New York: McGraw-Hili, 1961) 43-48.
38 Although U. Cassuto
(A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, trans. I,
Abrahams
[
animals underscored his God-given leadership
over them, and H. C. Leupold (Exposi-
tion of Genesis [
(Biblical Commentary on the Pentateuch [
right in emphasizing that the various animal names
are given with deep insight into
their character, in a full sense their very existence
depended upon being named (from a
Semitic point of view). Notice, for example,
the opening lines of the Enuma Elish
(ANET,60-61):
When on high the heaven had not been named,
Firm ground below had not been called by name, . . .
When no gods whatever had been brought into
being,
Uncalled by name, their destinies undetermined-
Then it was that the gods were formed within
them.
Lahmu and Lahamu
were brought forth, by name they were called.
38
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JOURNAL
suma nabu / 'everything which is
called by/bears a name' means any-
thing that exists at all. The Code of Hammurapi expresses this idea
by the phrase awilutum sa sumam nabiat / '(any) man who is called
by / bears a name’.39 In the Egyptian
Book of the Dead, the report
that "my name was not carried off" means
that the man himself was
not so treated.40
Not only persons and animals but objects were
considered to be
sharers in the essential nature of their name.
E. Lefebvre observes:
The name of a person or a thing is an effective
representation of it, and
thus becomes the object
itself in a less substantial and more adaptable
form, which is more
susceptible to intellectual treatment: in short, it
forms a mental substitute. . .
. The name, which we regard as an image
of the object in question,
seems consequently to be an essential element
or projection of it.41
Hence, in the ancient Near East everything was
given a name
gods, the months of the year (months were named
after gods), per-
sons, and cities (e.g. "Bond of heaven and
earth," i.e.,
Jer 33: 16, Ezek 48:35).
"The
temple which is the joy of heaven and earth," and palaces and
their courts bear such illustrious names as "May
Nebuchadnezzar
live, may he who provided for Esagila
live to old age" (cf. I Kgs 7:2) ,
and "Court of the Row of the Socles of the Igigi." Gates
bore names
such as "Enlil keeps
the foundation of my city secure" and "Ninlil
creates abundance" (cf. Ezek 48:35-39; Neh
walls (e.g., "Baal has shown it favor" [cf.
Neh 3:8]) and canals (e.g.,
“Hammurapi is the source of abundance for mankind”).42
For the purposes of the context of Ps 45:4-5, it
is important to
notice that, much as Prince Valiant had his
"Singing Sword" or
Alexander
the Great had his famous warhorse Bucephalus, weapons
were often similarly named in the ancient Near East:
Enlil raised the bo(w, his
wea)pon, and laid (it)
before them,
The gods, his fathers, saw the net he had made.
When they beheld the bow, how skillful its
shape,
39 See G. R. Driver and J. C. Miles, The Babylonian Laws (
1960),2:100,292; cf. CAD, "N," ):35.
40 See the notice by G. Contenau,
Everyday Life in Babylon and Assyria
(New
41 As cited by Ibid. See, also the dynamic
quality of the divine name as discussed
by T. Boman, Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek (New
York: Norton, 1970)
105-6.
42 See the extended discussion in G. Contenau, Everyday
Life, 158-62; see also
CAD, "N,"
1:33-35. Note also the Solomonic pillars, Jakin and Boaz (I Kgs
PATTERSON: PSALM 45 39
His fathers praised the work he had wrought.
Raising (it), Anu
spoke up in the Assembly of the gods,
As he kissed the bow: "This is my
daughter!"
He named the names of the bow as follows:
"Longwood is the first, the second is ( . . .);
Its third name is Bow-Star, in heaven I have
made it shine.”43
The
Ugaritic god Kothar-we-Hassis
named the two weapons that he
gave to Baal, Yagrus /
'Driver' and Aymur
/ 'Expeller'. Sennacherib
named his javelin "Piercer
of throats," his battle helmet "Emblem of
battle," and his chariots "Conqueror of
enemies," and "Vanquisher of
the wicked and evil.”44
If the Israelite king is viewed as possessing
named battle weapons,
they all would bear designations especially
appropriate to the king's
role as God's earthly representative. They would
depict his struggle
against the forces of evil and for the cause of
righteousness.45 The
sword would symbolize the God-given strength which
alone would
guarantee triumph against his and God's foes. His
chariot would
remind him of his obligation to effect the justice of
the poor and
disadvantaged, so often an object of
exploitation. The poetic chal-
lenges remind one of Hammurapi's famous boasts that the gods had
called him, "To make justice appear in the land,
to destroy the evil
and wicked (and so that) the strong might not
oppress the weak," and
"so that the strong might not oppress the weak (so as) to
give justice
to the orphaned (homeless) girl and to the widow.”46
As God himself,
the king will triumph gloriously (and God would
triumph through the
king).47 The enemy, being felled by the
unswervingly accurate arrows'
propelled from the king's bow, would lie prostrate
and trampled under
foot.
The ideal representation of the robed king gives
way to an
expository analysis of his royal position:
43 ANET, 69.
44 R.
Biblicum, 1963)
see C. Gordon, UT,
316.
45 Craigie (Psalms 1-50, 339) aptly remarks,
"he has a warrior's sword, but its
use. ..is such that he is
accorded characteristics normally reserved for God, namely
'splendor' and 'majesty' (v. 4; cf. Ps 96:6). His battles are
on behalf of truth, humility
and righteousness (v. 5); his enemies, against whom
he rides out in battle, are the
enemies of the same virtues, and therefore must
be conquered." For the figure of God
as a mighty, fully equipped warrior riding forth
in his battle chariot, see Hab 3:8-15;
Ps
18:14ff.; 77:15-18.
46 See CH Ia:32-39;
XXIVb:59-62. For the prevalence of similar themes through-
out the ancient Near East, see the bibliographical
data in n. 8.
47 Cf. Exod 15:6,
12, see also n. 9.
40
JOURNAL
Your throne, 0 God
Is forever;48
A sceptre
of righteousness
Is the sceptre of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness;
Therefore, God, your
God; has anointed you
With
the oil of gladness above your companions.
[w
7-8]
The
supposed difficulty .of calling the idealized king Myhlx was
addressed long ago by Delitzsch:
And since elsewhere earthly authorities are also
called Myhlx, Ex. xxi. 6,
xxii. 7 sq., PS.lxxxii., cf. cxxxviii.l, because they are God's representa-
tives and the bearers of His
image upon earth, so the king who is
celebrated in this Psalm may be
all the more readily styled Elohim,
when in his heavenly beauty,
his irrestistible doxa of
glory, and his
divine holiness, he seems to
the psalmist to be the perfected realization
of the close relationship
in which God has set David and his seed to
Himself.49
It
was because the earthly Davidic king ideally personified God on
the throne that he could justly be called god.50
God, then, reigned
!through
the king who, as did his sovereign who had anointed him,
was to love righteousness and hate
wickedness-righteousness was to
be the very sceptre of
his kingdom.
Ps 45:7 was considered messianic by Jewish and
early Christian
interpreters alike. One need not
become enmeshed in controversy
over whether the words have direct/primary reference
to Christ or to
a Judean king. Based on the Davidic Covenant (2
Sam
I
Chron 17:7-27; and Psalm 89) which remains inviolable
(cf. Jer
23:5-6;
33: 14-17; and Ezek 34:20-24; 37:21-28), the promise of God
48 Virtually every conceivable means of
translating the opening lines of v 7 has been
tried: (1) Your throne is God forever, (2) Your
throne of God is forever, (3) Your
throne is like God's, forever, (4) May your throne be
divine forever, (5) God has
enthroned you forever, (6) The eternal and
everlasting God has enthroned you, etc.
The
translation of Myhlx as a vocative (which
nearly all expositors concede is the
straightforward sense of the Hebrew) is
fully defensible here. See further A. M. Harman,
"The Syntax and Interpretation of Psalm
45:7," The Law and the Prophets, eds. J. H.
Skilton, M. C. Fisher and L. W. Sloat (
1974) 337-47.
49 F. Delitzsch, Psalms, 2:83; see further M. .Goulder, Psalms of Korah: 130.
50 See also 2 Sam 23:2-7. For a detailed discussion
of the relationship of God to
(the Davidic king who was to rule as though he were identified
with God himself and
who was to live out God's person and standards In hIS life, see J. H. Eaton, Kingship,
135-97.
PATTERSON: PSALM 45 41
is irrevocable, whether applied to David, his
royal descendants or to
the greater descendant, Christ himself (cf. Luke
1:68-69 and Acts
The mention of the king's anointing52 becomes
the hook/ linkage
to return to a description of the present
ceremony. Similarly, the
mentioning of stringed instruments out of the
palace is a springboard
for envisioning the time when the king shall stand
in the palace, his
new queen beside him:
Myrrh and Aloes, cassia
(too)
(Are) all your garments;
From an ivory palace,
Stringed instruments
make you glad.
[v
9]
Craigie sets the scene well:
The anointing with oil (v. 8) refers poetically
to the anointing of the
king for his royal task, but
the immediate point of reference is probably
to be found in the
activities of the wedding ceremony as such; the king
would be anointed as a part
of the preparation for the celebration
itself. ...After the anointing,
the groom would be decked in royal
robes, fragrant with precious
perfumes (v. 9a); in the background, the
stringed instruments can already
be heard striking up their music
(v.9b).53
The general facts concerning the ancient Near
Eastern wedding
ceremony are clear and the details of the psalm
fit well those data.54
51 Although some poetry is designedly
prophetic (cf. Ps 16:10 with Acts 2:25-31),
such need not be the case here. For the relationship
of poetry and prophecy, see W. C.
Kaiser,
Jr., "The Promise to David in Psalm 16 and Its Application in Acts
and
Prophecy:
An Essay on Biblical Poetry," in The Bible in Its
Literary Milieu, eds. V. L.
ToIlers and J. R. Maier (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979) 92-98. N. R. Lightfoot (Jesus
Christ
Today, 61) appropriately remarks, "The psalm is an ideal representation of
the
king and his kingdom, not a description of things as
they actually were at anyone time
in history. The author of Hebrews regards the
passage as intensely messianic and sees
the reign of the Messiah as the perfect fulfillment
of the ideal depicted in the Old
Testament." For the relationship of
the Davidic Covenant and the Royal Psalms, see
W.
C. Kaiser, Jr., Toward an Old Testament Theology (
1978) 159-64.
52 For the "oil of gladness," see
n. 27. The placing of God's anointing of the king
after a discussion of the enthroned king may be
intentional, containing a veiled hint of
Messiah. The precise order for the present
arrangement of the Korahite Psalms as a
whole can be discerned in terms of linkage, each
succeeding psalm containing some
distinct hook to the immediately preceding psalm.
53 Craigie,
Psalms 1-50, 339.
54 See deVaux, Ancient Israel, 33-34; cf. Goldingay, Songs, 81.
42
GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Here,
having sketched the lovely scene of the pleasantries of the
occasion (the anointing [v 8b], the sweet
smelling garments55 and the
fine music [v 9]),56 the poet foregoes
chronological description57 to
carry through his discussion concerning the king to
that moment
when his bride58 will stand in the
marriage hall of the palace beside
him, a lovely treasure bedecked in garments woven
of finest gold
(v 10).
The / a princess is
with/ among your prized ladies
The queen stands at your
right hand
(Clothed
in) the gold of Ophir.
[v
10]
In
approaching this time, the author thus provides himself with a
hook by which to turn his attention to the bride
herself (vv 11-16).
In
Praise of the Queen
As with the former section, so this portion
begins with the words
of the poet. Having approached the time when his
bride shall stand
beside her royal groom, the psalmist interrupts his
narrative with
some words of wisdom:
Hear, 0 daughter, and see
Yea, incline your ear;
Forget your people
And
your father's house.
55 For the importance of spices in the
Ancient Near East see G. W. Van Beek,
"Frankincense
and Myrrh," BA 23 (1960) 69-95.
For the significance of myrrh in
relation to the visit of the magi at the birth of
Christ, see R. Patterson, "Special Guests
at the First Christmas," Fundamentalist
Journal, 2 (1983) 31-32, 39.
56 ynm is frequently emended
to Mynm ("stringed
instruments"). It may, of course,
also be pointed as a plural construct followed by a
verbal sentence: "The stringed
instruments which make you glad" (cf. GKC §
130d). The fact that the palace here
would be the groom's does not set aside the custom
that musicians would come from
both courts when royal marriages were involved. This
may account for the use of the
plural form for "palaces" in this verse. All of this. together with the
details relative to
the "ivory palace," may help in
determining the occasion for the psalm. See n. 28.
57 For the interruption of chronology for
topical purposes in narrative structure,
see my remarks concerning literary form in the
forthcoming Expositor's Bible Com-
mentary volume on Kings.
58 Since lgw is singular, probably
the corresponding parallel term that precedes,
tnb, should be viewed as a
dialectical singular rather than being retained as a plural
(despite the presence of a harem). Although some have
suggested that the queen
involved might have been the dowager. the flow of the narrative argues for the bride
herself. If the queen in
question was Athaliah. the
term retains a certain appropriate-
ness; see n. 29.
PATTERSON: PSALM 45 43
Let the king desire your
beauty
For he is your master;
Bow down to him,
And the daughter of
The wealthiest of people
shall entreat your favor.
[vv
11-13]
As he had charged the anointed king (v 3), so he
admonishes the
queen. She is to take careful note of his words and
understand that
past allegiances are now secondary. "Forget
your people and your
family"-the language is designedly hyperbolic to
remind her that as
no longer merely a princess but a queen, her
primary obligation is to
the king of Judah (God's appointed ruler). Further,
her very sub-
servience to him, proper as it is
(he is her master), will have personal
and practical benefits. The king will desire her in
all her beauty all the
more.60 Moreover, personal
recognition will come to her,61 for wealthy
people62 will entreat her favor
with rich gifts.63
Now the poet allows his audience to see the
bride herself:
All glorious is the princess within;
Her garment is made from finely worked gold.
Over a richly textured carpet, she is led to the
king;
The virgins, her companions, behind her, being brought to you.
They are conducted with joy and gladness;
entering the palace of the
king.64
[vv
14-16]
59 Notice that the hook tnb, now cast in proper southern dialect, tb, undergoes
word play in this section (vv 11, 13) and also
serves as a key term in the next subsection
beginning with v 14, Note also the familiar poet's
device of mixing imperative and
jussive forms,
60 The bride's beauty (:1£)') stands in
(inferior) parallel to the extolling of the king
(v 3).
61 rc-tbv can be variously understood: (I) of the bride,
the wow being vocative,
(2)
of the Queen of Tyre (could
it be an indication of the bride's people and family
whom she has been charged to forget, thus making her
a Phoenician princess?), (3) of
the Tyrians, the term
being used as a designation for the nation/ city itself as is common
in the prophets (so Leupold),
or (4) of a "Tyrian robe" (so Dahood, reading bot sor);
but such a pointing ignores the word play on n~,
'daughter', Likewise, Dahood's
suggestion to take Mf yrywf
as "banquet guests" is extremely forced,
62 Whether the phrase refers to rich Tyrians only or to rich people in general is
debated,
63 hlH" (cf. Arabic
bola") means to "be sweet," "make soft," hence the
force, "con-
ciliate." The climactic parallelism
determines that both the Queen of Tyre and the
wealthy shall seek her favor with suitable
gifts.
64 Notice again that tb is the hook that carries the poem to the next discussion,
44
GRACE THEOLOGICAL
JOURNAL
In
her quarters within the palace,65 the
princess is seen in all her finery.
Her
inner happiness radiates both from her person and through the splendid
wedding
dress of delicately woven gold. She is "all glorious."
The narrative
progresses.
The bride, now attired in her richly
embroidered garments is ready for the festive
occasion. Here she
comes! She is escorted out of her chambers and to the
marriage hall
of the palace by her ladies-in-waiting.66
It is a happy scene. Amidst
songs of love and unrestrained joy,67 the princess reaches
the palace,
enters the great hall, travels down the richly
variegated rug laid down
for the occasion,68 and takes her place
beside the king.
Here the scene breaks off.69 There is no mention of the great
feast that doubtless followed.70 Rather,
the poet leaves his hearers
with these words:
65 hmynp 'within', may be
elliptical. Buttenwieser (Psalms, 91) suggests some
such
phrase as hmAyniP;
tybe 'in the palace' (cf. 2 Kgs
palace proper in v 16, the word would then, as Kidner (Psalms 1-72,
173) points out,
refer to her dressing chambers. M. Goulder (Psalms of Korah, 135-36), suggests that
hmynp) designates the women's
quarters to which the bride goes to lay aside her day
clothing to put on her "still more splendid
night attire." Thus, clad in beautiful
embroidered night attire, she is carried on a richly
embroidered sedan chair to the
king's chambers, accompanied by her escorts, and to
the cheers of the watching crowd
(vv 14-15). Certainly hmynp has occasioned many
interpretive guesses. My wife's sug-
gestion that the word may refer
to the bride-to-be's inner radiance and happiness
which rivals the external splendor of her wedding
garment is not without merit.
66 Because the person of the king is the
chief focus of the poem (even here in the
description of the bridal possession), the queen is
pictured as coming to the prince! king.
The
enallage, so common in poetry (cf. Song of Solomon),
is understandable and
makes unnecessary suggestions to emend the text.
67 Cf. Jer 16:9.
68 Dahood
(Psalms, 1:275) suggests reading lirqamot here and understanding the
word to refer to a group of professional brocaders (cf. 2 Kgs 23:7). He
notes the
presence of those who did brocading in gold in
ancient
retain the idea of the queen's variegated garments,
mentioned in the previous verse. I
am inclined to follow the suggestion of Perowne (Psalms,
1:378-79) who conjectures
that the reference is to a richly colored tapestry
laid down before the palace over which
the bridal procession would enter into the marriage
hall: "But I think Maurer is right in
rendering In
stragulis versi-coloribus.
He observes that the dress of the bride has
already been mentioned twice, ver. 9(10), and 13(14); and that the prep. l is not used of
motion to a place, but of rest in a place. It is used
of walking on, or over, Hab. i.6."
Maurer's
observation regarding the use of the preposition has been reenforced
in recent
days by M. O. Futato,
"The Preposition 'Beth' in the Hebrew Psalter," WTJ 41 (1978)
68-83,
who emphasizes that , means "position at,
pertaining to or belonging to"
(p.
71). Futato's careful presentation of the data
relative to the idiomatic employment
of preposition plus verb in the Northwest Semitic
languages, constitutes a needed
correction to those who would freely interchange or
find excessive overlap in the
semantic fields of the various Hebrew
prepositions.
69 So understood, the
descriptions of both groom (v 10) and bride (v 16) end with
the mention of the palace.
70 See deVaux,
Ancient Israel, 34.
PATTERSON: PSALM 45 45
Instead of your fathers, will be your sons;
You will set them as princes throughout the
land.
I shall make your name to be remembered through
all generations;
Therefore shall peoples
thank you forever and ever!
[vv17-18]
Since the object of the address given in the MT
is masculine, the
words must be intended for the king. But who is the
speaker? It is
frequently assumed to be the psalmist himself. Yet
one must not
forget, as Buttenwieser has
stated in another connection, that modesty
was becoming to the ancient singer no less than the
modern one.71
Accordingly,
although the psalmist may have used imperatives to
encourage the king to perform his royal functions
in righteousness
(vv 4-5) and to admonish the foreign princess (vv 11-13), it
seems
unlikely that he would assert that in the flow of
history, as the royal
family grew and (ideally) extended its sway, the
psalmist's poem would
cause the king's name to be everlastingly remembered.
Two other possibilities commend themselves. (1)
The poet may
be recording God's own added blessing on the
occasion, renewing his
promise to his earthly representative-a pledge
that will find con-
sumation in the messianic king.
(2) The words may contain the loving
commitment of the bride to the king. Since a bride
did not speak at
all at an ancient Near Eastern wedding ceremony,
these words would
then be part of the exchange of the royal pair
within the wedding
chambers.. If so, the psalm
ends on a note' of tender intimacy.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PSALM
Contextual Application
Historically
Although no final decision was made for the
setting of the psalm
in this paper, it has been noted that an excellent
case can be made for
the wedding of Jehoram
and Athaliah. Assuming for the moment
that Delitzsch is correct
in assigning this psalm to that event, it is
instructive to note the lessons of history.
Certainly it is true that a lasting marriage
must be based upon
more than physical attraction. Interestingly enough,
while the psalmist
praises the beauty of the queen in her lovely
attire, nothing is said of
her spiritual or moral qualities. Indeed, if that
princess was Athaliah,
the omission is all the more meaningful. Athaliah was to prove herself
every bit the reflection of her mother, Jezebel. For,
when Jehoram
had died and his son Ahaziah
was killed in the wild events surround-
ing Jehu's
coup d'etat
(2 Kgs
71 See n. 33.
46
GRACE THEOLOGICAL
JOURNAL
power of state for herself, killing all the royal
males except fpr Joash,
who had been concealed by Jehosheba
and Jehoiada (2 Kgs
11:1-3).
She
subsequently initiated her mother's debased pagan religion into
the Southern Kingdom and ruled wickedly for some
seven years.
Nor
was the ideal king, Jehoram, any real bargain.
Although he
is commemorated as a capable warrior, he is also
remembered as a
wicked king who slew all his brothers (who might have
proved to be
rivals to the throne of Jehoshaphat)
and was probably influenced by
his wife's heathenism. Accordingly, God punished
and outright invasion, and Jehoram
was personally afflicted with an
incurable disease. So loathsome was this man, that
he was buried
without proper state ceremony (2 Chronicles 21).
Theologically
The importance of the person of the king has
been noticed. In a
very real sense Psalm 45, as the Korahite
Psalms in general, is a
reminder that the welfare of God's people was
intricately intertwined
with and indissoluably
bound to the person of the king. Not only the
king's prosperity and well being, but his character
and spiritual
privileges as well were to be shared by all the
community of believers.72
Therefore,
the Psalms, and particularly the Royal Psalms, as expres-
sions of personal commitment
and communion with God, took on a
dimension of reality for all the members of the
covenant community.
This
is no less true for today's believer, for the One in whom the
psalmist's song finds full application has come.
Far more than any
earthly member of the Davidic line, the anointed
one, Christ is that
mighty warrior (cf. Isa
9:6). He is the Mighty God who has conquered
Satan,
sin and death by his victory on the cross (
resurrection from the dead (Acts
2:30-36; I Cor 15:50-57). A con-
quering, ascended king, he ever
leads a victorious host in his retinue,
properly attired and equipped for spiritual
battle (Eph
only are his subjects "dressed in his
righteousness alone, faultless to
stand before the throne",73 but they
have also been invested with the
weaponry that will equip them to be victorious in
their spiritual war-
fare (Eph
leads us in triumph in Christ Jesus" (2 Cor
His shall be the ultimate victory over the
ungodly forces of this
world in that great climactic battle that Ezekiel,
Joel and Zechariah
so vividly prophesied. John pictures that coming
to earth in terms
reminiscent of Psalm 45:
72 See Eaton, Kingship, 165-68.
73 Edward Mote,
"The Solid Rock."
PATTERSON: PSALM 45 47
I saw heaven standing
open and there before me was a white
horse, whose rider is called
Faithful and True. With justice he judges
and makes war. His eyes are
like blazing fire, and on his head are many
crowns. He has a name written
on him that no one but he himself
knows. He is dressed in a
robe dipped in blood, and his name is the
Word of God. The armies of heaven
were following him, riding on
white horses and dressed in
fine linen, white and clean. Out of his
mouth comes a sharp sword
with which to strike down the nations.
"He will rule them with an iron
scepter." He treads the winepress of the
fury of the wrath of God
Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he
has this name written: KING
OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.74
Meanwhile, Christ continues to reign in the
hearts and lives of all
those who make up his earthly train of followers so
that they may
share in his eternal riches (2 Cor
8:9). Far more than any idealized
king, Christ is a God of all goodliness. Because all
moral perfection
resides in him, as his ambassadors Christians
are to reflect his charac-
ter in all their living
(Eph 4:1-5:20; CoI3:1-17).
The consideration of the bride of the psalm also
arrests one's
theological attention. The Christian believer is the
bride of Christ
(2
Cor II: 1-4; Eph 5:25-27). Paul admonished the
waiting bride of
Christ
to be faithful and so to have a productive marriage. For that
reason the church has been married to her saving
husband and has
become one spirit with him, her body having become the
temple of
the Holy Spirit (I Cor
pure (I John 3:1-3), remembering the wedding price
that Christ him-
self has paid (I Cor
and sacrificed himself for her (Gal
rejoice in her heavenly husband and allow his
life to be lived out in
hers (
PRACTICAL ADMONITION
Scholarship, yes! Surely Christian scholars need
to bring their
best critical faculties to this and other portions
of the Scriptures so
that the precise truth of the Word may be more
clearly perceived. But
in so doing, scholarship must ever be directed to
knowing more inti-
mately him who is the truth.
The victorious king, the heavenly bridegroom,
has done so much
for his own. Christians stand accepted in the
Beloved One (
access to God the Father (Eph
74 Rev 19:11-16, NIV.
48
GRACE THEOLOGICAL
JOURNAL
have been granted the high privilege of enjoying
life in all of its God-
intended abundant fulness
(John
jects who are vitally united
to the King of Kings, they no less than the
OT
saints with their kings, are challenged to enter into its abiding
content; its prayer and praise are theirs. What
an impetus to com-
munion, worship, walk, and
witness! What a privilege and responsi-
bility! May the marriage vows
of everlasting fidelity to the Heavenly
Husband
heartily be renewed so that the bride is holy and effectively
productive. Thus, there will be ever greater joy
when Christians shall
at last see him face to face. Perhaps then the modern
poet's song will
become ours too:
Oh I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved's mine!
He brings a poor vile sinner into His
"house of wine."
I stand upon His merit-I know no other stand,
Not e'en where glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land.
The Bride eyes not her garment but her dear
Bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze at glory but on my King of
grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
but on His pierced hand;
The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's land.75
75 Anne Ross Cousins, "The Sands of
Time."
This
material is cited with gracious permission from:
Grace
Theological Seminary
www.grace.edu
Please
report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt at:
thildebrandt@gordon.edu