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The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible
Psalms 45:1
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My heart is moved by a noble themeas I recite my verses to the king;my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
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My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah; a love song.
My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.For the director of music. To the tune of "Lilies." A maskil. A love song of the sons of Korah.
Beautiful words fill my mind. I am speaking of royal things. My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer.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."My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my psalm to the King. My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.
My heart is moved with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
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To him that excelleth on Shoshannim a song of loue to giue instruction, committed to the sonnes of Korah. Mine heart will vtter forth a good matter: I wil intreat in my workes of the King: my tongue is as the pen of a swift writer.
My heart overflows with a good theme;I address my verses to the King;My tongue is the pen of a skillful scribe.
(A special psalm for the people of Korah and for the music leader. To the tune "Lilies." A love song.)
My thoughts are filled with beautiful words for the king, and I will use my voice as a writer would use pen and ink.For the leader. Set to "Lilies." By the descendants of Korach. A maskil. A lovesong:
To the chief Musician. Upon Shoshannim. Of the sons of Korah. An instruction;—a song of the Beloved.
My heart is welling forth [with] a good matter: I say what I have composed touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.To the director: To the tune "Shoshanim." A maskil from the Korah family. A love song.
Beautiful thoughts fill my mind as I speak these lines for the king. These words come from my tongue as from the pen of a skilled writer.MY heart bubbles forth good news and I will tell my deeds to the king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
Beautiful words fill my mind, as I compose this song for the king. Like the pen of a good writer my tongue is ready with a poem.
For the music director; according to The Lilies. Of the sons of Korah.
A maskil. A song of love.
My heart is moved with a good word; I recite my compositions to the king. My tongue is the pen of a skilled scribe.To the Chief Musician, Concerning the Lilies. For the sons of Korah. A Poem; a Song of the Beloved. My heart is overflowing with a good matter. I am speaking of my works to the King;my tongue is the pen of a rapidwriter.
My hert is dytinge of a good matter, I speake of that, which I haue made of the kynge:
For the Chief Musician; set to Shoshannim. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves.
My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter; I speak the things which I have made touching the king: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.For the Leader; upon Shoshannim; [a Psalm] of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves.
[To the chiefe Musician vpon Shoshannim, for the sonnes of Korah, Maschil: a song of loues.] My heart is inditing a good matter: I speake of the things which I haue made, touching the King: my tongue is the penne of a ready writer.
My heart is endityng of a good matter: I wyll dedicate my workes vnto the king, my tongue is as the penne of a redy writer.
My heart has uttered a good matter: I declare my works to the king: my tongue is the pen of a quick writer.
For the Chief Musician; set to Shoshannim; a Psalm of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves. My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter: I speak the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
The title of the foure and fourtithe salm. To the ouercomere for the lilies, the most loued song of lernyng of the sones of Chore. Myn herte hath teld out a good word; Y seie my workis `to the kyng. Mi tunge is `a penne of a writere; writynge swiftli.
For the Chief Musician; set to Shoshannim. [A Psalm] of the sons of Korah. Maschil. A Song of loves. My heart overflows with a goodly matter; I speak the things which I have made concerning the king: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves. My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made concerning the king: my tongue [is] the pen of a ready writer.
To the Chief Musician. Set to 'The Lilies.' [fn] A Contemplation [fn] of the sons of Korah. A song of Love. My heart is overflowing with a good theme;I recite my composition concerning the King;My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
For the choir director: A love song to be sung to the tune "Lilies." A psalm of the descendants of Korah.
Beautiful words stir my heart. I will recite a lovely poem about the king, for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet.My heart flows over with good words. I sing my songs to the King. My tongue writes the words of a good writer.
To the leader: according to Lilies. Of the Korahites. A Maskil. A love song.
My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.(44-1) <Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the sons of Core, for understanding. A canticle for the Beloved.> (44-2) My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the king: My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly.
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil of the Sons of Korah a love song. My heart overflows with a goodly theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
To the Overseer. -- `On the Lilies.' -- By sons of Korah. -- An Instruction. -- A song of loves. My heart hath indited a good thing, I am telling my works to a king, My tongue [is] the pen of a speedy writer.
A Wedding Song of the Sons of Korah
My heart bursts its banks, spilling beauty and goodness. I pour it out in a poem to the king, shaping the river into words:For the choir director; according to the Shoshannim. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Shoshannim: Psalms 69:1, Psalms 80:1, *titles
Maschil: or, of instruction
A song: Song of Solomon 1:1, Song of Solomon 1:2-7, Isaiah 5:1, Ephesians 5:32
is inditing: Heb. boileth, or, bubbleth up, Job 32:18-20, Proverbs 16:23, Matthew 12:35
a good: Psalms 49:3, Job 33:3, Job 34:4, Proverbs 8:6-9
touching: Psalms 2:6, Psalms 24:7-10, Psalms 110:1, Psalms 110:2, Song of Solomon 1:12, Isaiah 32:1, Isaiah 32:2, Matthew 25:34, Matthew 27:37
tongue: 2 Samuel 23:2, 2 Peter 1:21
Reciprocal: Numbers 26:11 - General 1 Chronicles 6:37 - Korah Ezra 7:6 - a ready Psalms 8:5 - hast Psalms 42:1 - the sons Psalms 145:1 - my God Proverbs 15:2 - tongue Proverbs 15:26 - but Zechariah 9:9 - behold Matthew 21:5 - thy King 2 Corinthians 9:1 - touching 1 Timothy 1:17 - the King
Cross-References
Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, and the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.
I have kept silent from ages past; I have kept quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.
If I say, "I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name," His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
If your brother sins against you, go and confront him privately. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.
not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had chosen beforehand, by us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
My heart is inditing a good matter,.... What is valuable and excellent, concerning the excellency of Christ's person, of his kingdom, of his love to the church, and of the church itself; what is pleasant and delightful, comfortable, useful, and profitable: this his heart was inditing; which shows that it was under the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, and denotes the fervour of it; it "boiling up", as the word x signifies; being heated by the fire of the divine Spirit, whereby it was hot within him, and caused him to speak with his tongue; and also the abundance that was in it, it "bubbling up" y, as some choose to render it: from whence this good matter flowed like water out of a fountain;
I speak of the things which I have made touching the King; the King Messiah; the King of the whole world, and of the kings of it, and of the saints in it; over whom he reigns in a spiritual manner, and in righteousness; concerning whom this psalm or poem was composed by David under divine inspiration, and which he here delivers:
my tongue [is] the pen of a ready writer; or as z one; such an one as Ezra was, Ezra 7:6, that writes swiftly and compendiously; suggesting, that as he was; full of matter, he freely communicated it, being moved by the Holy Spirit, who spake by him, and whose word was in his tongue; which made him so ready and expert in this work. The allusion is to scribes and notaries, and such like persons, that are extremely ready and swift in the use of the pen. The word for "pen" is derived either from עוט, which signifies "to fly" a, and from whence is a word used for a "flying fowl"; yet we are not to imagine that here it signifies a pen made of a bird's quill, as now in common use with us: for this did not obtain until many hundred years after David's time. It seems that Isidore of Seville, who lived in the seventh century, is the first person that makes mention of "penna", a "pen", as made of the quill of a bird b, but rather the pen has its name in Hebrew, if from the above root, from the velocity of it, as in the hand of a ready writer; or rather it may be derived from עטה, "to sharpen", in which sense it seems to be used, Ezekiel 21:15; and so a pen has its name from the sharp point of it: for when the ancients wrote, or rather engraved, on stone, brass, lead, and wood, they used a style or pen of iron; see Job 19:24; so when they wrote on tables of wood covered with wax, they used a kind of bodkin made of iron, brass, or bone;
Job 19:24- :; and when upon the rind and leaves of trees, and on papyrus and parchment, they made use of reeds, particularly the Egyptian calamus or reed; and the word here is translated calamus or reed by the Targum, Septuagint, and all the Oriental versions. Now as the Jews had occasion frequently to copy out the book of the law, and other writings of theirs, their scribes, at least some of them, were very expert and dexterous at it; but whether the art of "shorthand" was to any degree in use among them is not certain, as it was in later times among the Romans, when they used marks, signs, and abbreviations, which seems to have laid the foundation of the above art, and had its rise, as is said, from Cicero himself, though some ascribe it to Mecaenas c: and in Martial's time it was brought to such perfection, that, according to him, the hand could write swifter than a man could speak d.
x רחש "ebullit", Junius Tremellius, Piscator so Ainsworth. y "Eructavit", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Musculus, Munster. z So the Targum, Tigurine version, Gejerus, Michaelis. a Vid. Kimchi Sepher Shorash. rad. עט. b Origin. l. 6. c. 13. c Vid. Kipping. Antiqu. Roman. l. 2. c. 4. p. 554. d "Currant verba licet, manus est velociter illis nondum lingua suum, dextra peregit opus", Martial. Epigr. l. 14. ep. 189. of the origin of shorthand with the Romans, and among us, with other curious things concerning writing, and the matter and instruments of it, see a learned treatise of Mr. Massey's, called, "The Origin and Progress of Letters", p. 144. printed 1763.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
My heart is inditing - That is, I am engaged in inditing a good matter; though implying at the same time that it was a work of the heart - a work in which the heart was engaged. It was not a mere production of the intellect; not a mere work of skill; not a mere display of the beauty of song, but a work in which the affections particularly were engaged, and which would express the feelings of the heart: the result or effusion of sincere love. The word rendered is “inditing” - רחשׁ râchash - is rendered in the margin, boileth or bubbleth up. It means properly to boil up or over, as a fountain; and the idea here is that his heart boiled over with emotions of love; it was full and overflowing; it found expression in the words of this song. The Hebrew word does not occur elsewhere in the Bible.
A good matter - literally, a good word; that is, it was something which he was about to say which was good; something interesting, pure, important; not only a subject on which his heart was engaged, but also which was worthy of attention.
I speak of the things which I have made - literally, “I say my works to the king.” That is, My work - that which I meditate and am about to compose - pertains to the king.
Touching the king - He is to be the main subject of my song. Compare the notes at Isaiah 5:1. If the remarks made in the introduction to the psalm are correct, then the “king” here referred to was the future Messiah - the great personage to whom all the writers of the Old Testament looked forward, and whose glory they were so anxious to see and to describe. Compare the notes at 1 Peter 1:10-12.
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer - Let my tongue in speaking of him be as the pen of a rapid writer. That is, let my tongue rapidly and freely express my thoughts and feelings. The word rendered “pen” - עט ‛êṭ - means a stylus, usually made of iron, used for the purpose of inscribing letters on lead or wax. See the notes at Job 19:24. The idea is that the psalmist’s mind was full of his subject, and that he desired to express his thoughts in warm, free, gushing language - the language of overflowing emotion.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
PSALM XLV
The contents of this Psalm are generally summed up thus: The
majesty and grace of Christ's kingdom; or an epithalamium of
Jesus Christ and the Christian Church; the duty of this Church,
and its privileges. The Psalm contains a magnificent
description of the beauty, ornaments, valour, justice, and
truth of the Divine Bridegroom; the beauty, magnificence, and
riches of the bride, who was to become mother of a numerous and
powerful posterity. The preamble is found in the title and
verse Psalms 45:1.
The description and character of the Bridegroom, 2-9.
The address to the bride by her companions, 10-15.
A prediction of her numerous and glorious descendants, 16, 17.
NOTES ON PSALM XLV
The title is nearly the same with that of Psalms 69:1 and Psalms 80:1 "To the chief musician, or master of the band of those who played on the six-stringed instruments, giving instruction for the sons of Korah; a song of loves, or amatory ode; or a song of the beloved maids." The Vulgate and Septuagint have, For those who shall be changed, or brought into another state, which some have interpreted as relating to the resurrection of the just; but if I could persuade myself that the title came by Divine inspiration, I would say it more properly belonged to the calling and conversion of the Gentiles, and bringing them over from idolatry to the worship of the true God. By some the word ששנים shoshannim, is translated lilies; and a world of labour has been spent to prove that these lilies mean the saints, Jesus Christ himself, and the Divine light which is a banner to them that fear him. I cannot believe that any such meaning is intended, and, consequently, I cannot attempt to interpret the Psalm after this model. I believe it to be an epithalamium, or nuptial song, which primarily respected Solomon's marriage with the daughter of Pharaoh; and that it probably has a prophetic reference to the conversion of the Gentiles, and the final aggrandizement of the Christian Church.
Verse Psalms 45:1. My heart is inditing a good matter — רחש rachash, boileth or bubbleth up, as in the margin. It is a metaphor taken from a fountain that sends up its waters from the earth in this way. The Vulgate has eructavit, which is most literally translated by the old Psalter: Mi hert ryfted gude word. [Anglo-Saxon] My heart belcheth. - Anglo-Saxon.
I speak of the things which I have made touching the king — אמר אני מעשי למלך, literally, "I dedicate my work unto the king." Or, as the Psalter, I say my werkes til the kyng. This was the general custom of the Asiatic poets. They repeated their works before princes and honourable men; and especially those parts in which there was either a direct or constructive compliment to the great man. Virgil is reported to have a part of his AEneid before Augustus, who was so pleased with it that he ordered ten sestertia to be given him for every line. And the famous Persian poet Ferdusi read a part of his Shah Nameh before Sultan Mahmoud, who promised him thirty thousand denars for the poem.
My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. — I shall compose and speak as fluently the Divine matter which is now in my heart, as the most expert scribe can write from my recitation. My tung of maister swiftly wrytand. "That es, my tung is pen of the Haly Gast; and nout but als his instrument, wham he ledis als he wil. For I speke noght bot that he settis on my tung; als the pen dos noght withouten the writer. Swyftly wrytand, for the vertu of goddes inspiracioun is noght for to thynk with mons study, that he schewes til other of the purete of heven; that es some for to com that he wrytes." - Old Psalter.
