Psalm 45:14-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Psalm 45:14 tn Heb “virgins after her, her companions, are led to you.” Some emend לָךְ (lakh, “to you”) to לָהּ (lah, “to her,” i.e., the princess), because the princess is now being spoken of in the third person (vv. 13-14a), rather than being addressed directly (as in vv. 10-12). However, the ambiguous suffixed form לָךְ need not be taken as second feminine singular. The suffix can be understood as a pausal second masculine singular form, addressed to the king. The translation assumes this to be the case; note that the king is addressed once more in vv. 16-17, where the second person pronouns are masculine.
2. Psalm 45:15 tn Heb “they are led with joy and happiness, they enter the house of the king.”
3. Psalm 45:16 tn The pronoun is second masculine singular, indicating the king is being addressed from this point to the end of the psalm.
4. Psalm 45:16 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive and the statement interpreted as a prayer, “May your sons carry on the dynasty of your ancestors!” The next line could then be taken as a relative clause, “[your sons] whom you will make princes throughout the land.”
5. Psalm 45:16 tn Heb “in place of your fathers will be your sons.”