{"id":83421,"date":"2020-11-15T00:07:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-14T22:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=83421"},"modified":"2020-11-15T00:07:09","modified_gmt":"2020-11-14T22:07:09","slug":"who-or-what-is-the-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/who-or-what-is-the-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Who – Or What – Is The King ?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The opening verse of this psalm describes it as a love song: “For the reader; on Shoshannim. Of the Korahites. A maskil. A love song.” This calls to mind the ultimate love song in the Bible, the Song of Songs. However, one cannot help but notice a fundamental difference between the two. Whereas in the Song of Songs, each of the lovers is described by the other, this psalm is a paean only to a single object, the \u201cking\u201d (verses 2-10, 17-8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But who or even what, is the \u201cking\u201d being portrayed in this psalm? The text allows a wide berth for readers to supply their own answer(s). Classical biblical commentaries offer a range of possibilities:<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashi: People who love the Torah. He understands the image of the king in figurative terms.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rashbam: The King<\/span>s<\/b> of the House of David. This commentator maintains that the traits listed in the psalm were extent in all (!) of those monarchs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Radak: King Messiah, who is being radically praised even before the advent of his coming.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alshaich: Psalm 45 operates on two levels: Firstly, it describes the love-affair between God and the Jewish people (with the latter praising the former); secondly it explores the relationship between the body, created from the dust of the earth,\u00a0 and the soul, descending from the spiritual world (See Midrash Tanchuma, Parashat Pekudei, #3.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Malbim: An alternate \u201ctwo-level\u201d interpretation. According to the literal meaning of the words, the Psalm was composed in honor of King Solomon on the day of his wedding to the daughter of the King of Tyre. Symbolically, the Psalmist is asserting the importance of understanding the superiority of the mind over the body, a necessary quality if the king, or for that matter, any human being, so that he can\u00a0 maximize his personal potential, exemplifying how one is to interact appropriately with the world at large.<\/span><\/p>\n

The commentators for Psalm 45 listed above can be categorized into two groups:<\/span><\/p>\n

1) those who think that the Psalmist is speaking of the general human condition (Rashi, Alshaich #2, Malbim #2);<\/span><\/p>\n

and<\/span><\/p>\n

2) those who define the \u201cking\u201d as a particular, Jewish personality(ies) (Rashbam, Radak, Alshaich #1, Malbim #1).<\/span><\/p>\n

To the extent that Psalms, while a significant part of the Bible, is often also approached as \u201cwisdom literature,\u201d and therefore pertinent to the overall human condition, my own preference is to consider this chapter as a statement that offers insights into the human race.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joseph Wood Krutch reflected upon how once man viewed himself as royalty (e.g., several of the plays of Shakespeare,) but in the modern period, now perceives himself in much more \u201ceveryman\u201d terms (e.g., Arthur Miller.)\u00a0 Universalist understandings of Psalms 45 retain the \u201cold world\u201d view of man\u2019s potential greatness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":65172,"id":65172,"title":"is9-king","filename":"is9-king.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-son-of-god-and-the-king-of-the-jews\/is9-king\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is9-king","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":65171,"date":"2019-11-04 19:31:09","modified":"2023-04-04 06:07:28","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1313,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-300x205.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":205,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-768x525.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":525,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-1024x700.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":700,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1050,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1313,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-1200x821.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":821,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/is9-king-614x420.jpg","home_baner-width":614,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Who - 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