from the womb of dawn. The
second of the two nouns here in the Masoretic Text, mishḥar, is doubtful
in meaning. The translation follows the Septuagint in reading mireḥem shaḥar,
“from the womb of dawn.” A scribe may have inadvertently repeated the mem at
the end of reḥem and at the beginning of shaḥar as well (an
instance of dittography). The image is evidently of an army sallying forth at
daybreak.
yours is the dew of your youth.
This somewhat mystifying phrase might refer to the fresh energy of a young
king. Many manuscripts read “I gave you birth” instead of “your youth” (a
difference only of vocalization), but this scarcely improves matters because
the idea of giving birth to the king like (?) dew is puzzling. (Robert Alter, The
Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 3:265)
