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Psalms

About this book
Psalm 45

1 For the music director, according to the tune of “Lilies”; by the Korahites, a well-written poem, a love song. My heart is stirred by a beautiful song. I say, “I have composed this special song for the king; my tongue is as skilled as the stylus of an experienced scribe.”⁠ 2 You are the most handsome of all men. You speak in an impressive and fitting manner. For this reason God grants you continual blessings.⁠ 3 Strap your sword to your thigh, O warrior. Appear in your majestic splendor. 4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious. Ride forth for the sake of what is right, on behalf of justice. Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts. 5 Your arrows are sharp and penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies. Nations fall at your feet. 6 Your throne, O God, is permanent. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.⁠ 7 You love justice and hate evil. For this reason God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy, elevating you above your companions. 8 All your garments are perfumed with myrrh, aloes, and cassia. From the luxurious palaces comes the music of stringed instruments that makes you happy. 9 Princesses are among your honored women. Your bride stands at your right hand, wearing jewelry made with gold from Ophir. 10 Listen, O princess. Observe and pay attention! Forget your homeland and your family.⁠ 11 Then the king will be attracted by your beauty. After all, he is your master. Submit to him. 12 Rich people from Tyre will seek your favor by bringing a gift. 13 The princess looks absolutely magnificent, decked out in pearls and clothed in a brocade trimmed with gold. 14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king. Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her, are led before you. 15 They are bubbling with joy as they walk in procession and enter the royal palace. 16 Your sons will carry on the dynasty of your ancestors; you will make them princes throughout the land.⁠ 17 I will proclaim your greatness through the coming years, then the nations will praise you forever.

Texts in conversation

Compare KTU 1.24:1 and Psalm 45:1

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Psalm 45 shares the wedding praise found in Ugarit's song for Nikkal, giving a human king's marriage the kind of celebration used for divine marriages.

Passages

KTU 1.24:1

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
I sing of Nikkal-and-Ib, Hirhibi, king of summer, Hirhibi, king […] Yarih […], he embraces her who will bear […] […] to the daughters of Hilal, [the swallows]. Look, a young woman will bear a son […] […] […] […] like a bride […] Listen, goddesses, Kotharat, […] […] to his lord […] Dagan […] […] to the Kotharat, to the daughters of Hilal, [the swallows]. Yarih, lamp of heaven, sends to Hirhibi, king of summer: "Give Nikkal; Yarih will pay the bride-price for Ib. Let her enter his house, and I will give her bride-price to her father: a thousand of silver and ten thousand of gold; I will send gleaming lapis lazuli; I will make her fields into vineyards, the field of her love […]." Then Hirhibi, king of summer, answered: "O most gracious of the gods, become a son-in-law to Baal; marry Pidray, [his] daughter.
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Psalm 45:1

Hebrew Bible
1 For the music director, according to the tune of “Lilies”; by the Korahites, a well-written poem, a love song. My heart is stirred by a beautiful song. I say, “I have composed this special song for the king; my tongue is as skilled as the stylus of an experienced scribe.” 2 You are the most handsome of all men. You speak in an impressive and fitting manner. For this reason God grants you continual blessings. 3 Strap your sword to your thigh, O warrior. Appear in your majestic splendor. 4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious. Ride forth for the sake of what is right, on behalf of justice. Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts. 5 Your arrows are sharp and penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies. Nations fall at your feet.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

“... We should note that the idea of myths as songs appears quite widely in ancient Near Eastern literature. Several Hurrian myths are called “songs,” such as “the Song of Ullikumi.” Closer to ancient Israel, the opening of the Ugaritic text often called Nikkal wa-Ib (KTU 1.24), opens as a song: “let me [si]ng of Nikkal wa-Ib.” The text then turns to a narrative of the marriage of Nikkal to Yarikh. The last line of the text at line 39 closes with a hymnic note: “O Nikkal wa-Ib, of whom I sing, May Yarikh shine, May Yarikh shine on you!” The text follows with an epilogue (lines 40–50), the first line of which is regularly reconstructed: “[Let me sing of the Kotharat. . . .].” The model for this line may be a wedding-song (compare Ps. 45:1–2). ...”
Mark S. Smith, The Priestly Vision of Genesis 1 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2010), PDF 242.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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KTU 1.24:1 and Psalm 45:1

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