Mazmur 45:4

45:4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious! ¹ 

Ride forth for the sake of what is right, ² 

on behalf of justice! ³ 

Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts! ⁴ 

Mazmur 45:6-7

45:6 Your throne, ⁵  O God, is permanent. ⁶ 

The scepter ⁷  of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.

45:7 You love ⁸  justice and hate evil. ⁹ 

For this reason God, your God ¹⁰  has anointed you ¹¹ 

with the oil of joy, ¹²  elevating you above your companions. ¹³ 

Mazmur 72:2-3

72:2 Then he will judge ¹⁴  your people fairly,

and your oppressed ones ¹⁵  equitably.

72:3 The mountains will bring news of peace to the people,

and the hills will announce justice. ¹⁶ 

Mazmur 72:7

72:7 During his days the godly will flourish; ¹⁷ 

peace will prevail as long as the moon remains in the sky. ¹⁸ 

Mazmur 101:1-8

Psalm 101 ¹⁹ 

A psalm of David.

101:1 I will sing about loyalty and justice!

To you, O Lord, I will sing praises!

101:2 I will walk in ²⁰  the way of integrity.

When will you come to me?

I will conduct my business with integrity in the midst of my palace. ²¹ 

101:3 I will not even consider doing what is dishonest. ²² 

I hate doing evil; ²³ 

I will have no part of it. ²⁴ 

101:4 I will have nothing to do with a perverse person; ²⁵ 

I will not permit ²⁶  evil.

101:5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.

I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude. ²⁷ 

101:6 I will favor the honest people of the land, ²⁸ 

and allow them to live with me. ²⁹ 

Those who walk in the way of integrity will attend me. ³⁰ 

101:7 Deceitful people will not live in my palace. ³¹ 

Liars will not be welcome in my presence. ³² 

101:8 Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,

and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

[45:4]  ¹ tn Heb “and your majesty, be successful.” The syntax is awkward. The phrase “and your majesty” at the beginning of the verse may be accidentally repeated (dittography); it appears at the end of v. 3.

[45:4]  ² tn Or “for the sake of truth.”

[45:4]  ³ tc The precise meaning of the MT is uncertain. The form עַנְוָה (’anvah) occurs only here. One could emend the text to עֲנָוָה וְצֶדֶק (’anavah vÿtsedeq, “[for the sake of truth], humility, and justice”). In this case “humility” would perhaps allude to the king’s responsibility to “serve” his people by promoting justice (cf. NIV “in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness”). The present translation assumes an emendation to יַעַן (ya’an, “because; on account of”) which would form a suitable parallel to עַל־דְּבַר (’al-dÿvar, “because; for the sake of”) in the preceding line.

[45:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and your right hand will teach you mighty acts”; or “and may your right hand teach you mighty acts.” After the imperatives in the first half of the verse, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive likely indicates purpose (“so that your right hand might teach you mighty acts”) or result (see the present translation). The “right hand” here symbolizes the king’s military strength. His right hand will “teach” him mighty acts by performing them and thereby causing him to experience their magnificence.

[45:6]  ⁵ sn The king’s throne here symbolizes his rule.

[45:6]  ⁶ tn Or “forever and ever.”

[45:6]  sn O God. The king is clearly the addressee here, as in vv. 2-5 and 7-9. Rather than taking the statement at face value, many prefer to emend the text because the concept of deifying the earthly king is foreign to ancient Israelite thinking (cf. NEB “your throne is like God’s throne, eternal”). However, it is preferable to retain the text and take this statement as another instance of the royal hyperbole that permeates the royal psalms. Because the Davidic king is God’s vice-regent on earth, the psalmist addresses him as if he were God incarnate. God energizes the king for battle and accomplishes justice through him. A similar use of hyperbole appears in Isa 9:6, where the ideal Davidic king of the eschaton is given the title “Mighty God” (see the note on this phrase there). Ancient Near Eastern art and literature picture gods training kings for battle, bestowing special weapons, and intervening in battle. According to Egyptian propaganda, the Hittites described Rameses II as follows: “No man is he who is among us, It is Seth great-of-strength, Baal in person; Not deeds of man are these his doings, They are of one who is unique” (see Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, 2:67). Ps 45:6 and Isa 9:6 probably envision a similar kind of response when friends and foes alike look at the Davidic king in full battle regalia. When the king’s enemies oppose him on the battlefield, they are, as it were, fighting against God himself.

[45:6]  ⁷ sn The king’s scepter symbolizes his royal authority.

[45:7]  ⁸ sn To love justice means to actively promote it.

[45:7]  ⁹ sn To hate evil means to actively oppose it.

[45:7]  ¹⁰ tn For other examples of the repetition of Elohim, “God,” see Pss 43:4; 48:8, 14; 50:7; 51:14; 67:7. Because the name Yahweh (“Lord”) is relatively rare in Pss 42-83, where the name Elohim (“God”) predominates, this compounding of Elohim may be an alternative form of the compound name “the Lord my/your/our God.”

[45:7]  ¹¹ sn Anointed you. When read in the light of the preceding context, the anointing is most naturally taken as referring to the king’s coronation. However, the following context (vv. 8-9) focuses on the wedding ceremony, so some prefer to see this anointing as part of the king’s preparations for the wedding celebration. Perhaps the reference to his anointing at his coronation facilitates the transition to the description of the wedding, for the king was also anointed on this occasion.

[45:7]  ¹² sn The phrase oil of joy alludes to the fact that the coronation of the king, which was ritually accomplished by anointing his head with olive oil, was a time of great celebration and renewed hope. (If one understands the anointing in conjunction with the wedding ceremony, the “joy” would be that associated with the marriage.) The phrase “oil of joy” also appears in Isa 61:3, where mourners are granted “oil of joy” in conjunction with their deliverance from oppression.

[45:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “from your companions.” The “companions” are most naturally understood as others in the royal family or, more generally, as the king’s countrymen.

[45:7]  sn Verses 6-7 are quoted in Heb 1:8-9, where they are applied to Jesus.

[72:2]  ¹⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form appears to be an imperfect, not a jussive.

[72:2]  ¹⁵ sn These people are called God’s oppressed ones because he is their defender (see Pss 9:12, 18; 10:12; 12:5).

[72:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[the] mountains will bear peace to the people, and [the] hills with justice.” The personified mountains and hills probably represent messengers who will sweep over the land announcing the king’s just decrees and policies. See Isa 52:7 and C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 2:133.

[72:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sprout up,” like crops. This verse continues the metaphor of rain utilized in v. 6.

[72:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and [there will be an] abundance of peace until there is no more moon.”

[101:1]  ¹⁹ sn Psalm 101. The psalmist, who appears to be a king, promises to promote justice in his land and vows to rid his royal court of evildoers.

[101:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “take notice of.”

[101:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “I will walk about in the integrity of my heart in the midst of my house.”

[101:3]  ²² tn Heb “I will not set before my eyes a thing of worthlessness.”

[101:3]  ²³ tn Heb “the doing of swerving [deeds] I hate.” The Hebrew term סֵטִים (setim) is probably an alternate spelling of שֵׂטִים (setim), which appears in many medieval Hebrew mss. The form appears to be derived from a verbal root שׂוּט (sut, “to fall away; to swerve”; see Ps 40:4).

[101:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “it [i.e., the doing of evil deeds] does not cling to me.”

[101:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “a perverse heart will turn aside from me.” The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse (see Ps 18:26). It appears frequently in the Book of Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20), and life styles (2:15; 28:6).

[101:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “know.” The king will not willingly allow perverse individuals to remain in his royal court.

[101:5]  ²⁷ tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”

[101:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “my eyes [are] on the faithful of the land.”

[101:6]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew text simply reads, “in order to live with me.”

[101:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “one who walks in the way of integrity, he will minister to me.”

[101:7]  ³¹ tn Heb “he will not live in the midst of my house, one who does deceit.”

[101:7]  ³² tn Heb “one who speaks lies will not be established before my eyes.”