Der Rahmen von Ps 45 (V. 1–2; 17–18)

Abstract While the core of Ps 45 (vv. 3–16) clearly bears the stamp of a Phoenician royal court, the beginning and end highlight features that elucidate the psalm’s main body. V. 1 f. present an author who has assumed an Aramaic title (סוֹפֵר מׇהִיר): he reflects on his works, puts his poetry indirectly on a par with a Greek poem by adopting the Greek concept of ποίημα (= מַעֲשֶׂה), and through the superscription »a love song« secondarily reads this idea into the psalm, even though love is nowhere mentioned. V. 17 f. link up organically with the psalm’s main body, but no longer deal with the king alone; the focus is now on his dynasty, whose impact is international, unbounded by time or place.