McClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Alamoth

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McClintock Biblical Encyclopedia: Alamoth


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(Hebrew Alamoth', òֲìָîåֹú , virgins, as often; Sept. ἀëçìώè v. r.

ἀëáéìὠè and ἀëéìώè ,Vulg. arcana), a musical term used in 1Ch_15:20, apparently to denote that the choristers should sing in the female voice, i.e. our treble, or soprano. So Lafage (Hist. Gen. de la Musique) renders it “chant superieur ou a 'loctave" (comp. Mendelssohn, Introd. to Psalms). The word occurs in the same form and signification in the inscription of Psalms 46 (where the Sept. and Vulg. translate êñýöéá , arcana, i.e. secrets, as if indicative of the contents of the Psalm), and twice again in nearly the same form ( òִìְîåּú ), namely, in the inscription of Psalms 9 (where it has the same sense, but is differently rendered by our translators “upon Muth-," Sept. again ὑðὲñ ôῶí êñõößùí , Vulg. occultis), and in Psalm 48:15 (where the context requires the meaning forever, but our version has “unto death," Sept. correctly åἰò ôïὺò áἰώíáò , Vulg. in soecula). SEE MUTH-LABBEN. Forkel (Gesch. der Musik, 1, 142) understands virgin measures (Germ. Jungfernweise), i e. in maidenly style, but against the propriety of the usage. SEE PSALMS.