The poet describes the magnificence of the royal court. The king’s robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. All three are perfumes derived from vegetable substance. Good News Translation has by use of “perfume of” indicated the nature of the substances, and names only two of them. The Hebrew text is a bit unusual, and New English Bible has “powder of aloes” for “aloes and cassia” of most other translations. In languages where there are known substances for making perfume, these may be substituted for myrrh and aloes and cassia. Alternatively, the translator must either employ the specific terms with a generic such as “substance,” or use some kind of descriptive phrase; for example, “a sweet smelling liquid.”
Ivory palaces (see 1 Kgs 22.39) are not palaces completely built of ivory, but palaces decorated with ivory, either in the building itself or in the furniture (see 1 Kgs 10.18; Amos 3.15; 6.4). The expression ivory palaces may be rendered in various ways. In some languages one may use a borrowed term for ivory and accompany it with a generic term; for example, “a material called ivory.” In other cases where ivory is unfamiliar, it can be compared to other materials such as bone, teeth, and animal horns; for example, “a material that looks like bone.” There is little point in using “elephants’ teeth” if elephants are unknown.
The stringed instruments in verse 8b are not further identified (the word occurs elsewhere only in 150.4); New English Bible “music of strings.” New Jerusalem Bible translates “lutes”; New Jerusalem Bible “harps.” Good News Translation has “musicians” instead of musical instruments; the translation can be “the music that is played….”
In verse 9 your ladies of honor is a rather polite designation of the women of the king’s harem. Some of them were royal princesses, daughters of kings. The phrase translated of honor is taken by some to mean “your prized possessions,” “your most valuable belongings.” New Jerusalem Bible has “Royal princesses are your favorites.” In some languages ladies of honor may be rendered, for example, “women who have the honor of serving you.”
At your right is the place of honor (see 16.11). In some languages the right hand is called “the man hand,” which is both the position of honor and on the side of power. The word translated queen is an unusual one, occurring only here and in Nehemiah 2.6; it can mean “queen mother” (so Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch footnote). Here the queen is the bride herself; the poet is describing the royal court, and not talking about a woman who is already queen, other than the queen-to-be (unless, in fact, the king’s mother is being referred to). In some languages no distinction exists between wife, woman, and bride. However, if the queen referred to is to be understood as the bride, it is often possible to qualify by saying “the Queen-woman the king will marry” or “the woman the king will marry.”
Gold of Ophir: it is not known exactly where Ophir was; southwest Arabia seems the most likely location. Its gold was the finest (see 1 Kgs 9.28; 10.11; Job 22.24; 28.16), and so Good News Translation has translated the phrase as “ornaments of finest gold.”
Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .