Mazmur 45:1

Psalm 45 ¹ 

For the music director; according to the tune of “Lilies;” ²  by the Korahites, a well-written poem, ³  a love song.

45:1 My heart is stirred by a beautiful song. ⁴ 

I say, “I have composed this special song ⁵  for the king;

my tongue is as skilled as the stylus of an experienced scribe.” ⁶ 

Mazmur 68:18

68:18 You ascend on high, ⁷ 

you have taken many captives. ⁸ 

You receive tribute ⁹  from ¹⁰  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ¹¹ 

[45:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 45. This is a romantic poem celebrating the Davidic king’s marriage to a lovely princess. The psalmist praises the king for his military prowess and commitment to justice, urges the bride to be loyal to the king, and anticipates that the marriage will be blessed with royal offspring.

[45:1]  ² tn Heb “according to lilies.” “Lilies” may be a tune title or musical style, suggestive of romantic love. The imagery of a “lily” appears frequently in the Song of Solomon in a variety of contexts (see 2:1-2, 16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2-3; 7:2).

[45:1]  ³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. See the note on the phrase “well-written song” in the superscription of Ps 42.

[45:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “[with] a good word.” The “good word” probably refers here to the song that follows.

[45:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “my works [are] for a king.” The plural “works” may here indicate degree, referring to the special musical composition that follows.

[45:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “my tongue [is] a stylus of a skillful scribe.” Words flow from the psalmist’s tongue just as they do from a scribe’s stylus.

[68:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

[68:18]  ⁸ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

[68:18]  ⁹ tn Or “gifts.”

[68:18]  ¹⁰ tn Or “among.”

[68:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.