Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 45:3 - 45:3

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Keil and Delitzsch Commentary - Psalms 45:3 - 45:3


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(Heb.: 44:4-6) In the ever blessed one the greatest strength and vigour are combined with the highest beauty. He is a hero. The praise of his heroic strength takes the form of a summons to exert it and aid the good in obtaining the victory over evil. Brightness and majesty, as the objects to חֲגֹור, alternating with the sword, are not in apposition to this which is their instrument and symbol (Hengstenberg), but permutatives, inasmuch as חֲגֹור is zeugmatically referable to both objects: the king is (1) to gird himself with his sword, and (2) to surround himself with his kingly, God-like doxa. הֹוד וְהָדָר is the brilliancy of the divine glory (Psa 96:6), of which the glory of the Davidic kingship is a reflection (Psa 21:6); mentioned side by side with the sword, it is, as it were, the panoply that surrounds the king as bright armour. In Psa 45:5 והדרך, written accidentally a second time, is probably to be struck out, as Olshausen and Hupfeld are of opinion. Hitzig points it וְהַדְרֵךְ, “and step forth;” but this is not Hebrew. As the text runs, wa-hadārcha (with Legarme preceded by Illuj, vid., Accentsystem xiii. §8c, 9) looks as though it were repeated out of Psa 45:4 in the echo-like and interlinked style that we frequently find in the songs of degrees, e.g., Psa 121:1-2; and in fact repeated as an accusative of more exact definition (in the same bold manner as in Psa 17:13-14) to צְלַח, which, like Arab. ṣlḥ, starting from the primary notion of cleaving, breaking through, pressing forward, comes to have the notion of carrying anything through prosperously, of being successful, pervadere et bene procedere (cf. the corresponding development of signification in Arab. flḥ, 'flḥ), and, according to Ges. §142, rem. 1, gives to רְכַב the adverbial notion of that which is effectual (victorious) or effective and successful. We cannot determine whether רְכַב is here intended to say vehi curru or vehi equo; but certainly not upon a mule or an ass (1Ki 1:33; Zec 9:9), which are the beasts ridden in a time of peace. The king going forth to battle either rides in a war-chariot (like Ahab and Jehoshaphat, 1 Kings 22), or upon a war-horse, as in Rev 19:11 the Logos of God is borne upon a white horse. That which he is to accomplish as he rides forth in majesty is introduced by עַל־דְּבַר (for the sake of, on account of), which is used just as in Psa 79:9, 2Sa 18:5. The combination עַנְוָה־צֶדֶק-is very similar to עֶרְיָה־בֹשֶׁת, Mic 1:11 (nakedness - ignominy = ignominious nakedness), if עַנְוָה = עֲנָוָה is to be taken as the name of a virtue. The two words are then the names of virtues, like אֱמֶת (truth = veracity, which loves and practises that which is true and which is hostile to lying, falseness, and dissimulation); and whereas צֶדֶק עֲנָוָה would signify meek righteousness, and צֶדֶק עֲנְוַת, righteousness meekness, this conjunction standing in the middle between an addition and an asyndeton denotes meekness and righteousness as twin-sisters and reciprocally pervasive. The virtues named, however, stand for those who exemplify them and who are in need of help, on whose behalf the king is called upon to enter the strife: the righteous, if they are at the same time עֲנָוִים (עֲנֵיּים), are doubly worthy and in need of his help. Nevertheless another explanation of עַנְוָה presents itself, and one that is all the more probable as occurring just in this Psalm which has such a North-Palestinian colouring. The observation, that North-Palestinian writers do not always point the construct state with ath, in favour of which Hitzig, on Psa 68:29, wrongly appeals to Hos 10:6; Job 39:13, but rightly to Jdg 7:8; Jdg 8:32 (cf. Deu 33:4, Deu 33:27), is perfectly correct. Accordingly עַנְוָה may possibly be equivalent to עֲנְוַת, but not in the signification business, affair = עִנְיַן, parallel with דְּבַר, but in the signification afflictio (after the form רַֽאֲוָה, Eze 28:17); so that it may be rendered: in order to put a stop to the oppression of righteousness or the suffering of innocence. The jussive וְתֹורְךָ, like וְיִתְאַו in Psa 45:12, begins the apodosis of a hypothetical protasis that is virtually there (Ew. §347, b): so shall thy right hand teach thee, i.e., lead thee forth and cause thee to see terrible things, i.e., awe-inspiring deeds.

But in Psa 45:6 both summons and desire pass over into the expression of a sure and hopeful prospect and a vision, in which that which is to be is present to the mind: thine arrows are sharpened, and therefore deadly to those whom they hit; peoples shall fall (יִפְּלוּ)

(Note: It is not יִפֹּלוּ; for the pause falls upon שְׁנוּנִים, and the Athnach of יפלו stands merely in the place of Zekaph (Num 6:12). The Athnach after Olewejored does not produce any pausal effect; vid., Psa 50:23; Psa 68:9, Psa 68:14; Psa 69:4; Psa 129:1, and cf. supra, p. 56, note 2.)

under thee, i.e., so that thou passest over them as they lie upon the ground; in the heart of the enemies of the king, viz., they (i.e., the arrows) will stick. The harsh ellipse is explained by the fact of the poet having the scene of battle before his mind as though he were an eye-witness of it. The words “in the heart of the king's enemies” are an exclamation accompanied by a pointing with the finger. Thither, he means to say, those sharp arrows fly and smite. Crusius' explanation is similar, but it goes further than is required: apostrophe per prosopopaeiam directa ad sagittas quasi jubens, quo tendere debeant. We are here reminded of Psa 110:2, where a similar בֶּקֶרֶב occurs in a prophetico-messianic connection. Moreover, even according to its reference to contemporary history the whole of this strophe sounds Messianic. The poet desires that the king whom he celebrates may rule and triumph after the manner of the Messiah; that he may succour truth and that which is truly good, and overcome the enmity of the world, or, as Psa 2:1-12 expresses it, that the God-anointed King of Zion may shatter everything that rises up in opposition with an iron sceptre. This anointed One, however, is not only the Son of David, but also of God. He is called absolutely בַּר, ὁ υἱὸς. Isaiah calls Him, even in the cradle, אֵל גִּבֹּור, Isa 9:5, cf. Isa 10:21. We shall not, therefore, find it to be altogether intolerable, if the poet now addresses him as אֱלֹהִים, although the picture thus far sketched is thoroughly human in all its ideality.