Psalms 45:11
in Psalms 45and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So will the king desire thy beauty; For he is thy lord; and reverence thou him.
KJV
So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.
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This verse in Psalms 45
Commentary
14 notes on this verseSo - So thou shalt be acceptable to thy husband; which will abundantly recompence thee, for the loss of thy father's house. Thy Lord - As he is thy husband, and also as he is thy king, and God.
This site's exposition
Listen, O daughter
on Psalms 45:10-12
The bride is told to forget her people and her father's house and to bow to the king as her lord. The king will desire her beauty, the Daughter of Tyre comes with a gift, and men of wealth seek her favor. Calvin and Spurgeon read it as the church called to Christ.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
"For the King has greatly desired your beauty" [Psalm 45:11]. What "beauty" is that, save that which is His own work? "Greatly desired the beauty"— Of whom? Of her the sinner, the unrighteous, the ungodly, such as she was with her "father," the devil, and among her own "people"? No, but hers of whom it is said, "Who is this that comes up made white?" She was not white then at the first, but was "made" white afterwards. For "though your sins shall be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow." [Isaiah 1:18] "The king has greatly desired your beauty." What King is this? "For He is the Lord your God." Now consider whether you ought not to forego that your father, and your own people, and to come to this King, who is your God? Your God is "your King," your "King" is also your Bridegroom. Thou weddest to your King, who is your God: being endowed by Him, being adorned by Him; redeemed by Him, and healed by Him. Whatever you have, wherewith to be pleasing to Him, you have from Him.
Do not seek to please the eyes of human beings but seek not to offend the eyes of Christ. Let him see in you what he loves; let him find what he gave; let him recognize that by which he is delighted. "The king will …
By progressing in virtue and attaining to better things, "reaching forth to those things that are before," according to the word of the blessed Paul, we rise ever to … spiritual beauty, so that to us too it may be said hereafter, "The king greatly desired your beauty."
The reference is not to beauty of body, since he says it arises from obedience to him. Obedience, however, gives rise not to beauty of body but to beauty of soul. If you do this, he says, note, then you will be beautiful, then you will be desirable to the groom.
How, then, shall he be a God, who has not as yet been made a man? Or how can he be perfect who was but lately created? How, again, can he be immortal, who in his mortal nature did not obey his Maker? For it must be that thou, at the outset, shouldest hold the rank of a man, and then afterwards partake of the glory of God. For thou dost not make God, but God thee.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
"And the king shall desire your beauty." Here he promises the bride the graciousness of the king. First, from the king, and this is love. Second, from the people, and this is honor, at "they shall entreat your countenance." He therefore promises the love of …
A commentator
Bernard of ClairvauxSermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8 · Written before 1153.
proposed
But we have witness too from the Father, how lovingly and how courteously he gives her the name of daughter, and nevertheless invites her as his daughter-in-law to the sweet caresses of his Son: "Listen, daughter, pay careful attention: forget your nation and your ancestral …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
So - So thou shalt be acceptable to thy husband; which will abundantly recompence thee, for the loss of thy father's house. Thy Lord - As he is thy husband, and also as he is thy king, and God.
So shall the King greatly desire thy beauty,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty. Wholehearted love is the duty and bliss of the marriage state in every case, but especially so in this lofty mystic marriage. The church must forsake all others and cleave to Jesus only, or she will not please him nor enjoy the full manifestation of his love. What less can he ask, what less may she dare propose than to be wholly his? Jesus sees a beauty in his church, a beauty which he delights in most when it is not marred by worldliness. He has always been most near and precious to his saints when they have cheerfully taken up his cross and followed him without the camp. His Spirit is grieved when they mingle themselves among the people and learn their ways. No great and lasting revival of religion can be granted us till the professed lovers of Jesus prove their affection by coming out from an ungodly world, being separated, and touching not the unclean thing. For he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. He has royal rights still; his condescending grace does not lessen but rather enforce his authority. Our Saviour is also our Ruler. The husband is the head of the wife; the love he bears her does not lessen but strengthen her obligation to obey. The church must reverence Jesus, and bow before him in prostrate adoration; his tender union with her gives her liberty, but not license; it frees her from all other burdens, but places his easy yoke upon her neck. Who would wish it to be otherwise? The service of God is heaven in heaven, and perfectly carried out it is heaven upon earth. Jesus, thou art he whom thy church praises in her unceasing songs, and adores in her perpetual service. Teach us to be wholly thine. Bear with us, and work by thy Spirit in us till thy will is done by us on earth as it is in heaven.
So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty. Wholehearted love is the duty and bliss of the marriage state in every case, but especially so in this lofty mystic marriage. The church must forsake all others and cleave to Jesus only, or she will not please him nor enjoy the full manifestation of his love. What less can he ask, what less may she dare propose than to be wholly his? Jesus sees a beauty in his church, a beauty which he delights in most when it is not marred by worldliness.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty - That is, in consequence of your love to him, and your entire devotion of yourself to him. The word “desire” here is equivalent to having pleasure in; as meaning that his affliction would thus be fixed on her. In this way - by forgetting her own home, and devoting herself to him - she would secure his affection. In the married life, mere “beauty” will not secure permanently the love of a husband. The heart, as given to him, and as faithful to him, will alone secure his love. In like manner, it is nothing but sincere affection - true love on the part of the professed friends of the Saviour - the forgetting and forsaking of all else - that will secure his love, or make the church to him an object of desire. For he is thy Lord - That is, as a husband he sustains this relation to thee; or, this appellation may be given to him. In what sense this is true in respect to a husband, see the notes at 1Pe 3:6; notes at 1Co 11:3. In respect to the Saviour, the dominion implied in the word “Lord” is absolute and entire. And worship thou him - That is, as applicable to a bride, Show him respect, honor, reverence. See the notes at Eph 5:33. The word means properly to bow down; then, to show respect, as to a superior; and then, to show proper respect to God, to wit, by worshipping or adoring him. See the notes at Mat 2:11; see Mat 8:2; Mat 14:33; Mat 15:25; Mat 18:26; Mat 28:9; Rev 19:10; Rev 22:9; compare the notes at Heb 1:6.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Hearken, daughter, and see Hearken, O nation of Israel, and see the good way.
2 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
The daughters of kings will visit you, as the matter that is stated (Isa.:23): “and their princesses your wet nurses.”
And the King shall desire your beauty And if you do this, the King, the Holy One, blessed be He, will desire the beauty of your deeds.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 2 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְיִתְאָ֣ו | veyitav | so may he desire | H183 → | 26 times |
| הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יָפְיֵ֑ךְ | yafeyekh | beauty your | H3308 → | |
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| אֲ֝דֹנַ֗יִךְ | ʾadonayikh | [is] lord<s> your | H113 → | 333 times |
| וְהִשְׁתַּֽחֲוִי־ | vehishtachavi- | and bow down | H7812 → | 172 times |
| לֽוֹ׃ | lo | to him |
וְיִתְאָ֣וso may he desire
veyitavH183 →26 times
הַמֶּ֣לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
יָפְיֵ֑ךְbeauty your
yafeyekhH3308 →
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
אֲ֝דֹנַ֗יִךְ[is] lord<s> your
ʾadonayikhH113 →333 times
וְהִשְׁתַּֽחֲוִי־and bow down
vehishtachavi-H7812 →172 times
לֽוֹ׃to him
lo
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Zephaniah 3:17The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
it leads to
- Psalms 149:4
For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the afflicted with salvation.
- Psalms 147:11
The LORD is pleased with those who fear Him, who hope in His loving devotion.
- Hebrews 7:25
Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.
- Isaiah 62:4–5
No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will…
- Jeremiah 32:41
Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and with all My soul.
- Psalms 149:4
Through
Psalms 95:6O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
it leads to
- Philippians 2:10
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
- Psalms 100:3
Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
- Philippians 2:10
Through
Isaiah 54:5For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:25–27
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
- Ephesians 5:25–27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Psalms
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 45; Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons on the Song of Songs, Sermon 8; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 2; Cyril of Alexandria, GLAPHYRA ON THE PENTATEUCH 49:21-26; Fulgentius of Ruspe, LETTER 2:25; Irenaeus, AGAINST HERESIES 4:39.2; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Chrysostom, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 45:11; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.