Psalm 45/Notes/Lexical.v. 10.439383

v. 10 – Although the word שֵׁגַל is likely a loanword from Akkadian ša ekalli, as the "wife of the ruling king" (CAD, vol. 4, 61; cf. "wife of a king" in SDBH), it is only attested here and in Neh 2:6. The location "at your right hand" represents a place of honor. Although this word could refer to the queen consort, it may refer to the queen mother (see 1 Kgs 2:19, where King Solomon's mother Bathsheba takes a seat at his right hand). The Aramaic portion of Daniel uses the word to refer to part of the Babylonian king's entourage (his wives and concubines; Dan 5:2ff., 23). Although the word can also be used of a wife of the king (consort), it is not unusual for words to be used for either the wife or the mother of the king. A similar word is גְּבִירָה, which can refer to the wife of the king (1 Kgs 11:19) or the queen mother (2 Kgs 10:13; Jer 13:18; 29:2), as well as mistress (Ps 123:2; Prov 30:23). Further, the שֵׁגַל "stands" or "has taken her stand" (נִצְּבָ֥ה) at the king's right hand, in a position of authority, just as in the case of Bathsheba in 1 Kgs 2:13-35 (see further the arguments put forth in Schroeder 1996, 428). In light of the presence of other princesses as wives for the ruling king, it fits that the שֵׁגַל has taken her stand to exhort the incoming foreign bride throughout vv. 11-13 (Schroeder 1996, 432), especially due to the intentionality of the loan word and its etymology: ša ekalli "woman of the palace" (from aššatu and ekallu), reanalyzed as šēgallu (Fink 2020, 138-139; cf. the contribution of הֵיכָל ≈ ekallu towards the psalm's poetic structure in vv. 9, 16). In any case, if the queen mother, she would have previously been the queen of the previous king, so the lexeme שֵׁגַל is not out of place (cf. also the mention of "your fathers" in v. 17).