Treasury of David Volume 2 by Charles Spurgeon - scotknight

Psalm 45 102Verse 8. The ivory palaces. The ivory courts. Probably so called from the greatquantity of ivory used in ornamenting and inlaying them; as the emperor Nero'spalace, mentioned by Suetonius, was named, "aurea, "or "golden, "because "litaauro, ""overlaid with gold." This method of ornamenting or inlaying roomswas very ancient among the Greeks. Homer in the fourth book of the Odyssey,seems to mention it, as employed in Menelaus's palace at Lacedaemon; and thatthe Romans sometimes ornamented their apartments in like manner, seemsevident from Horace and Ovid. So in modern times, the winter apartment of thefair Fatima at Constantinople, has been described by an eye witness as"wainscotted with inlaid work of mother of pearl, ivory of different colours, andolive wood." Ivory is likewise employed at Aleppo, as Dr. Russell informs us,in the decoration of some of the more expensive apartments. Richard Mant.Verse 8. Ivory palaces. Either edifices 1Ki 22:39 So 7:14, or ivory coffers, andwardrobes, whence those garments were taken, and are kept. WestminsterAssembly's Annotations.Verse 8. Whereby they have made thee glad. The best sense of the phrase—from which they rejoice thee—is had by making they refer to the king'sdaughters mentioned in the next verse. William S. Plumer.Verse 8. Gesenius and Delitzsch consider (ynm) an abbreviated form of theplural (Mynm) Ps 105:4, "strings, "or "stringed instruments, "and would renderthus:—"Thee glad out of the ivory palaces stringed instruments have made."Dalman Hapstone. (With this rendering Ewald and Lange agree.) J. L. K.Verse 9. King's daughters. Albeit the Catholic church consisting of trueconverts or real saints be but the one and only true spouse of Christ, yetparticular visible churches consisting of saints by calling, by obligation, byprofession, and common estimation, their own or others, are many. The truechurch consisting of true converts (whose praise is of God, to whom only theyare certainly known, and not of men), being but one, is compared to the queen;but the particular, whose collections and consociations are known to men,being many, are compared to ladies of honour who serve the queen. DavidDickson.Verse 9. The queen. It is written of Matilda, the empress, that she was thedaughter of a king, the mother of a king, and the wife of a king.Ortu magna, viro major, sed maxima prole,Hic jacet Henrici filia, nupta, parens.