''Miktam'' or ''Michtam'' (Hebrew: מִכְתָּם) is a word of unknown meaning found in the headings of
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
16 and
56–
60 in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...
. These six Psalms, and many others, are associated with
King David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, but this tradition is more likely to be sentimental than historical.
[Berry, G. R.]
The Titles of the Psalms
''Journal of Biblical Literature'', Vol. 33, No. 3 (Oct., 1914), pp. 198–200, accessed 20 February 2020 They may have formed one of several smaller collections of psalms which preceded the present
psalter
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the emergence of the book of hours in the Late Middle Ages, psalters we ...
and on which it was based.
''Miktam'' corresponds to the
Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
ian ''nakamu'', lid, a metal cover for a vessel, but efforts to derive a meaning for the term in the Psalms have not been convincing.
[S. Langdon, Babylonian and Hebrew Musical Terms, ''The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland'', No. 2 (April 1921), pp. 169–191.]
In
modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the He ...
, the word has come to mean "
epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
", and numerous collections of Hebrew epigrams have used that word in their titles.
See also
*
References
{{reflist
External links
A miktam of DavidHebrew Word Study: Miktam
Hebrew words and phrases in the Hebrew Bible
Psalms