Go to Related Reading
About this book

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 1.16 I:10 and Psalm 45:6

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Hebrew Bible

Share:

Summary

The address to the king as God in Psalm 45 shares Kirta's status as El's son, showing how royal praise could place a human ruler within the divine family.

Passages

KTU 1.16 I:10

Ancient Near East, Ugaritic · Cuneiform Texts from Ugarit
broad of span: Is, then, [Kir]ta a son of El, an offspring of the Kindly One and the Holiness?" Into the presence of his father he enters, weeping bitterly, giving forth his voice in weeping: "In your life, our father, we rejoice, exult in your not dying. Like a dog your aspect is changed, like a hound your joyous face. Will you die, then, father, like the mortals, or your joy change to mourning; (to) a woman's dirge, O father, my song? How can it be said, 'A son of El is Kirta, an offspring of the Kindly One and the Holiness'? Or do gods die? The offspring of the Kindly One shall surely live!"
1350–1185 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in KTU

Psalm 45:6

Hebrew Bible
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.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

“... While Kirta has its longest biblical comparison in the Song of Songs with its praise of the two lovers (Pardee 2012: 113–15), Psalm 45 is a wedding song off ering best wishes to the royal bride and groom. [...] One element in the king’s praise in Psalm 45:7[6] involves the address to him as “O God,” refl ecting his status as a minor divinity, not unlike the status of King Kirta himself as “El’s son” (KTU 1.16 I 10, SAC 87), or the king as “my son,” as Yahweh calls the monarch (Ps. 2:7). Praise of the Israelite king expresses the traditional royal ideology of the king as the son of the god, which would fi gure later in Christian understandings of Jesus as the “Son of God.” 9 Finally, the closing of Psalm 45 includes a prediction of off spring (in v. 17[16]), much like the wedding blessing issued by El to Kirta about the many children that his bride will bear to him (KTU 1.15 II 21–28, SAC  83). ...”
Mark S. Smith, “Canaanite Backgrounds to the Psalms,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Psalms, ed. William P. Brown (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), 47.

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

Your feedback

KTU 1.16 I:10 and Psalm 45:6

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library