ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Psalms 45.6-7

Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

4. And in thy majesty ride on prosperously, Because of truth and meekness and righteousness: And thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. 5. Thine arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under thee; They are in the heart of the king's enemies.

6. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: A sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 7. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness: Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

  1. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad. 9. Kings' daughters are among thy honorable women: At thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir. (Psalms 45:4-9, ASV)
WEB

4. In your majesty ride on victoriously on behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness. Let your right hand display awesome deeds. 5. Your arrows are sharp. The nations fall under you, with arrows in the heart of the king’s enemies.

6. Your throne, God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom. 7. You have loved righteousness, and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.

  1. All your garments smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia. Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad. 9. Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women. At your right hand the queen stands in gold of Ophir. (Psalms 45:4-9, WEB)
KJV

4. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. ride: Heb. prosper thou, ride thou 5. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.

6. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. 7. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

  1. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. 9. Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. (Psalms 45:4-9, KJV)
YLT

4. As to Thy majesty, prosper!, ride! Because of truth, and meekness, righteousness, And Thy right hand showeth Thee fearful things. 5. Thine arrows [are] sharp,, Peoples fall under Thee, In the heart of the enemies of the king.

6. Thy throne, O God, [is] age-during, and for ever, A sceptre of uprightness [Is] the sceptre of Thy kingdom. 7. Thou hast loved righteousness and hatest wickedness, Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee, Oil of joy above thy companions.

  1. Myrrh and aloes, cassia! all thy garments, Out of palaces of ivory Stringed instruments have made thee glad. 9. Daughters of kings [are] among thy precious ones, A queen hath stood at thy right hand, In pure gold of Ophir. (Psalms 45:4-9, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the psalmist, addressing the king
  • Audience: Israel gathered in worship; the Psalter is the congregation's book
  • Location: the sanctuary and its liturgy, rather than a narrative setting
  • Time period: the monarchy or later; individual psalms are difficult to date and the Psalter was compiled over centuries

Theological reading

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.

The crux is the vocative in the first clause. The Hebrew kisacha elohim olam va'ed is most naturally read as addressing the king as elohim, which is extraordinary in an Israelite text, and the alternatives, "your throne is God" or "your divine throne," are grammatically possible and read awkwardly.

Hebrews 1:8-9 quotes the verses of the Son and the argument requires the vocative. It also requires the second clause, where God is the king's God, which is why the passage is a two-natures text rather than a simple identification.

The honest presentation states the translation dispute rather than assuming it, and notes that the Septuagint and Hebrews both read the vocative. The psalm remains the strongest instance in the Hebrew Bible of a human king addressed in these terms. See Two Powers in Heaven Argument.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.