Trying to understand the meaning/purpose when it comes to Psalm 45 use of the word "daughter"

Question

Hebrews 1:5-9 (NASB)

5 For to which of the angels did He ever say,

“You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”?

And again,

“I will be a Father to Him And He shall be a Son to Me”? ......................................................... ..................................................................... ..............................................................................................

8 But of the Son He says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, And the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom. 9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness above Your companions.”

Psalm 45:5-7 (NASB)

5 Your arrows are sharp; The peoples fall under You; Your arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies.

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows.

Within the aforementioned scriptures, it is quite clear that Psalm 45 emphasizes the Triune(Trinity)'s Heavenly Father and Son relationship because the Psalm 45:6 verse's wording is extremely similar to Hebrews 1:8.

However, I find difficulty as I try to find the Jesus Christ to church bride( or even God to Israelite bride) marital relationship in Psalm 45.

The following Psalm 45:9-14 verses are confusing because it uses the word "daughter" a lot( it would have been clearer if it said bride), and it would have been better if it said God's daughter as opposed to suggesting/hinting King's daughter because Hebrews 1:8 shows us that the Son(Jesus Christ) is the King

Psalm 45:9- (NASB)

9 Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies; At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

10 Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear: Forget your people and your father’s house; 11 Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him. 12 The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift; The rich among the people will seek your favor.

13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within; Her clothing is interwoven with gold. 14 She will be led to the King in embroidered work; The virgins, her companions who follow her, Will be brought to You. 15 They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing; They will enter into the King’s palace. ............................................ ........................................................................

I was trying to see if the use of the word "daughter" in Psalm 45 aligned with Galatians 3:16 and Galatians 3:29 emphasis of the spiritual heirs/descendants of Abraham because they have put their faith in the God of Abraham, but it seems like a very weak association

Galatians 3:15-17 (NASB)
Brethren, I speak [x]in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s [y]covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds [z]conditions to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ. 17 What I am saying is this: the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise.

Galatians 3:27-29 (NASB)
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is [aj]neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you [ak]belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s [al]descendants, heirs according to promise.

Could someone please provide more insight or more elaborate details when it comes to the meaning/purpose behind using the word "daughter" in Psalm 45?

Answer 1

Psalm 45 appears to be bridal wedding hymn celebrating the marriage of the king of Israel to a Tyrian princess. It has been interpreted by some (eg, Matthew Henry, Barnes and others) as a type of Christ and His bride, the church (which is both legitimate and probably correct). I will not comment on this but simply examine the Psalm as it is. Let us look at the literary structure of Psalm 45:

• V1: Comments by the author
• V2-5: Praise of the king about to married
• V6-7: Reminder that the king is only a deputy of God (whose throne is eternal)
• V8-9: Praise to the bride that the king will marry
• V10-12: Advice to the bride
• V13-15: Praise of the bride and bridal procession
• V16-17: Praise to the king and a hope for a long reign and dynasty

Thus, there are three persons (at least) being addressed here: the king, his bride, and God. However, Psalm 45:6-7 makes clear (via Heb 1:8, 9 quoting the LXX) that God here is at least two persons:

But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the sceptre of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore O God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”

This quote from Heb 1 says that the king being addressed in Ps 45 is Jesus, the Son. In Heb 1 Jesus is being praised by the Father and both are described as "God".

COINCLUSION

In Ps 45 the "daughter/s" occurs twice:

• Ps 45:9 where "daughters" are part of the bridal procession
• Ps 45:10, 12 where "daughter" is the daughter of Tyre who appears to be the bride. She is asked to forget her people and her father's house because she is marrying into a new family and new nation.

Answer 2

The OP asks for insights about the meaning of "daughter." Using the NABRE translation of the verses cited, here is a clear way to understand it.

The poet addresses the king:

With myrrh, aloes, and cassia your robes are fragrant. From ivory-paneled palaces stringed instruments bring you joy. 10 Daughters of kings are your lovely wives; a princess arrayed in Ophir’s gold comes to stand at your right hand.

The poet addresses the daughter:

11 Listen, my daughter, and understand; pay me careful heed. Forget your people and your father’s house, 12 that the king might desire your beauty. He is your lord; 13 honor him, daughter of Tyre. Then the richest of the people will seek your favor with gifts. 14 All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters, her raiment threaded with gold; 15 In embroidered apparel she is led to the king. The maids of her train are presented to the king.

In this translation, once the person who is addressed is known, the meanings of "daughter" are quite clear. In verse 10 "daughters" are the princesses of foreign kings, similar to the situation in both David and Solomon's courts. But here, the king is probably Ahab, who married a Tyrian princess: Jezebel (1 Kings 16:31). The text identifies her father as the "king of the Sidonians" but Tyre ruled Sidon and part of Cyprus at the time. In vss. 11-14 it is the princess herself who is addressed by the poet as "daughter."

The OP also asks about the meaning of the Psalm as viewed through the lens of Hebrews 1:5-9. This presumes that the Psalm is not an earthly wedding poem in which God is the initial Person addressed, but an allegory about God the Father and God the Son. This approach involves theological speculation. The daughter is often seen to symbolize the Church, who is betrothed to Christ. The Pulpit Commentary suggests a correlation between the daughter/bride and the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, in whose glory she is clothed. In a Jewish interpretation, Rashi says that the daughter is Israel, who is to be married to God as her King.

Conclusion: While not ruling out allegorical interpretations, the straightforward meaning of "daughter" in Psalm 45 is that in vs. 10 it means "tribal or national princesses whom the king has taken as his wives," and in the rest of the poem it refers to a specific "daughter of Tyre" who has married the King of Israel. Although other possibilities exist, the one such woman named in the Bible was Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal I of Tyre.