Psalms 45:8

All thy garments [smell] of myrrh, and aloes, [and] cassia,.... Either his human nature, as anointed with the oil of gladness, and filled with the graces of the Spirit, signified by the holy

All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. All thy garments (smell) of myrrh, and aloes, (and) cassia.

With myrrh, and aloes, and cassia they used to perfume their garments: see . This may denote those glorious and sweet-smelling virtues, which as they were treasured up inwardly in Christ’ s heart, so did they manifest themselves outwardly and visibly, and give forth a grateful smell in the whole course of his life and actions; his doctrine also was a sweet savour unto God and men, ,15. Out of the ivory palaces; which may be referred, either, 1. To the garments, which were usually kept in, and now upon this extraordinary solemnity were brought out of, palaces, or houses, or wardrobes of ivory; so called here, as also , not because they were wholly made of ivory, but because they were adorned or covered here and there with it. Or rather, 2. To the king himself, who is here supposed to reside in his ivory palaces; and his garments are so fragrant, that they do not only perfume the whole palaces in which he is, but the sweet savour thereof is perceived by those that pass by them, or are at some distance from them; all which is poetically said, and with a manifest allusion to Solomon’ s glorious garments and palaces. By these ivory palaces he may mean either, 1. His human nature, in which Christ dwelt, as in a tabernacle, as the Greek word signifies, ; in which all these fragrant virtues were, and from whence they were diffused every where. Indeed the body is called a temple, , and a house or tabernacle, ,2, and so it might be called a palace. But why it should be called palaces, and that of ivory, seems not so plain. Or rather, 2. Those glorious and heavenly mansions, , which may not unfitly be called ivory palaces, as elsewhere in the same figurative manner they are said to be made of or adorned with gold and precious stones, 8,19; from which mansions Christ came into the world, , and into which Christ went, and where he settled his abode, after he went out of the world, , and from whence Christ poured forth all the fragrant gifts and graces of his Spirit into the world and church, . Although there is no necessity to strain every particular circumstance in such poetical descriptions, nor to find out some particular thing in Christ to which it agrees; for some expressions may be used only as ornaments in such cases, as they are in parables; and it may suffice to know and say, that the glories and excellencies of the King Christ are described by such things in which earthly potentates do place their glory. Whereby; or, from which; either, 1. From which place or palaces. Or rather, 2. From which thing, i.e.

Psalms 45:8 All thy garments [smell] of myrrh, and aloes, [and] cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.Ver. 8. All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia] Things not only of good savour, but of great price. Myrrh some take to be musk, aloes amber, cassia a kind of cinnamon, which in Galen’ s time was very rare and hard to be found, except in the storehouses of great princes. And Pliny reporteth that a pound of cinnamon was worth a thousand denarii, that is, a hundred and fifty crowns of our money. This description, then, of Christ’ s clothing doth allegorically set forth the sweetness and pleasure that the Father findeth in him (ενωευδοκησα, Matthew 3:17), and that we also find, while he is made unto us of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 1 Corinthians 1:30, and that out of his ivory palaces, i.e. his heavenly habitation, from which he beholdeth us, and raineth down righteousness upon us. Whereby they have made thee glad] i.e. Servi et sodales tui, thy fellow friends and servants, who stand and hear the bridegroom, and rejoice greatly by reason of his voice, John 3:29, yea, make him glad by their ready obedience, setting the crown upon his head, and adorning him, as it were, with all his bravery in the day of his espousals, Son 3:11, and making him say, How fair, how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! Son 7:6.

(8) All thy garments smell of . . .—Or, perhaps, from the last verse (and comparing Psalms 133:2, and the customs there referred to), are anointed with. The spices mentioned may have been ingredients of the “oil of gladness.” Myrrh . . . cassia.—These spices formed part of the sacred oil described Exodus 30:23-24. On the other hand, for the custom of perfuming clothes, beds, &c, comp. Son 5:5; Proverbs 7:17. For myrrh see Genesis 37:25. Aloes.—Heb. ahâlôth (sometimes ahâlîm), a word formed from the native name aghil (Cochin China and Siam are its homes), which also appears in eagle-wood (Aquilaria agallochum). The lign aloes of Num 24:6, was most probably a different tree from that whose resin forms the precious perfume here mentioned. (See Bib. Ed. i. 243.) Cassia.—See Note Exodus 30:24. The Oriental’s love for these mixtures of many fragrant spices has been finely caught in some modern lines. “Heap cassia, sandal-buds, and stripes Of labdanum, and aloe-balls, Smeared with dull nard an Indian wipes From out her hair, such balsam falls From seaside mountain pedestals, From tree-tops where tired winds are fain— Spent with the vast and howling main— To treasure half their island gain.” R. : Paracelsus.Out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.—Rather, out of the ivory palaces music (literally, strings) has made thee glad.Of the many conjectured explanations this, though somewhat grammatically doubtful, is in all other respects preferable. Indeed, it would have been strange if a nuptial ode, giving a picture of the splendour and pomp accompanying the marriage, had missed the mention of music, and at this verse we may imagine the doors of the palace thrown open for the issue of the bridal train (comp. the procession immediately after the bath in the weddings in the Arabian Nights), not only allowing the strains of music to float out, but also giving a glimpse into the interior, where, surrounded by her train of ladies, the queen-bride stands. The word rendered “palace” (generally “temple,”) may from its derivation be only a spacious place, and so a receptacle. On the other hand, Amos 3:15 shows that ivory was frequently used as an ornament of the houses of the rich, and Ahab’s “ivory house” (1 Kings 22:39) is familiar.

Verse 8. All thy garments smell of myrrh] The Asiatics are very partial to perfumes; every thing with them is perfumed, and especially their garments. And the ivory palaces mentioned are the wardrobes inlaid with ivory, in which their numerous changes of raiment were deposited. Myrrh and aloes are well known; cassia is probably the bark or wood of the cinnamon tree. These with frankincense, galbanum and other odoriferous drugs, were and are frequently used in the perfumes of the Asiatic nations. Whereby they have made thee glad.] Referring to the effect of strong perfumes refreshing and exhilarating the spirits.

8. The bridegroom appears, arrayed for the marriage, his garments saturated with costly perfumes, brought from distant lands. Myrrh was a product of Arabia: aloes here denotes the perfumed wood of an Indian tree: cassia (a different word from that so translated in Exodus 30:24; Ezekiel 27:19, and found here only) was either a species of cinnamon, or the koost of India, Indian orris or costus. Myrrh and aloes are mentioned together in Son 4:14 among chief spices. Prof. Earle notes that “these English spice-names are all identical with the words in the Hebrew; for with these oriental spices their oriental names travelled westward, and they became through Greek and Latin the common property of the European languages.” Psalter of 1539, p. 285. out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad] An impossible rendering. Translate with R.V., out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad. Music greets the bridegroom as he enters the palace. Palaces ornamented with ivory, probably inlaid in panels, are mentioned in 1 Kings 22:39; Amos 3:15. Cp. 1 Kings 10:18; 1 Kings 10:22; Son 5:14; Son 7:4; Amos 6:4; Ezekiel 27:6; Ezekiel 27:15. Homer (Od. IV. 72) speaks of Echoing halls Of gold, electron, silver, ivory, in the palace of Menelaus. Vergil (Aen. x. 135 ff.) and Horace (Odes ii. 18. 2) mention the use of ivory for inlaying.

All thy garments smell of myrrh - The word “smell” is not in the original.

8, 9. The description of the king culminates in these verses. He has been praised as a man, as a warrior, as a ruler, and now as bridegroom.