Alamoth, utter, Ps. xlvi., probably signifies virgins, and hence denotes music for female voices, soprano or treble. So Gesenius, Delitzsch, and Hengstenberg, after Gusset, who, in Comment.
Ling. Hebr. sub voce thy, explains it—vox clara et acuta, quasi virginum (see below under Sheminith).
Al-taselzith, destroy thou not, is found over Ps. lvii. lix. lxxv., and signifies, by general consent, some well-known ode beginning with the expression, to the tune of which these compositions were to be sung.
Degrees, im6ynrl, the ascents, appears over fifteen Psalms (cxx.-cxxxiv.), called Songs of Degrees, and has been explained in various ways, of which the following are the chief. I. The ancients under stood by it stairs or stip:, as appears from the Sept. version of the title, OM riTip civapa,Onav, and the Vulgate, carmen graduum, song of the steps ; and in accordance with this, Jewish writers relate (Mishna, Swan, cap. v. 4), that these fifteen Psalms were sung on fifteen steps (one on each), leading from the court of the women to the court of Israel. This explanation is now exploded, though Fiirst, in his Concordance, sanctions it. 2. Luther, whom Tholuck is inclined to follow, renders the title a song in the higher choir, supposing the Psalms to have been sung from an elevated place or ascent, or with elevated voice. 3. Gesenius and De Wette think the name refers to a peculiar rhythm in these songs, by which the sense advances by degrees, and so ascends from clause to clause. Thus in Ps. cxxi.— 1. I will lift up my eyes to the hills, From whence conzeth my help.
2. illy help comet/: from the Lord, The maker of heaven and earth.
3. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved, Thy helper will not slumber: 4. Behold, he will neither slumber nor sleep, The keeper of Israel.
5. Jehovah is thy keeper, Jehovah, thy shade on thy right hand.
7. /thovah will keep thee from all evil, He will keep thy soul : 8. Jehovah will keep thy going out and thy com in, From this time even for evermore.
To this very ingenious explanation it is objected, that this rhythm by gradation (as De Wette calls it) is not at all obvious in the structure of most of these songs, and therefore could hardly suggest the name. 4. According to the most prevalent and
probable opinion, the title signifies song of the as cents, or pilgrim song, meaning a song composed for, or sung during, the joumeyings of the people up to Jerusalem, either as they returned from Babylon, or as they statedly repaired to the national solemnities. So Herder (Geist der Eh,: Poesie, ii. 353-357), Ewald (Poet. Bucher, i. 595), Hengstenberg and Hupfeld. Journeys to Jeru. salem are generally spoken of as ascents, on account of the elevated situation of the city and temple (see Ezra vii. 9, and especially Ps. cxxii. 4). This ex planation of the name is favoured by the brevity and the contents of these songs, and by the versions .
of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, who ren. der ri13 by ziyapticzas.
Ea'zzth, see below under Shushan.
Gittith, rpm", appears over Ps. viii. lxxxi. lxxxiv., and is of very uncertain meaning, though not improbably it signifies an instrument or tune brought from the city of Gath. So Rosenmiiller, De Wette, Ewald, Hengstenberg, and Delitzsch. In the opinion of not a few the word comes from J1, winepress, and denotes either an instrument or a melody used in the vintage. So the Sept. ren ders it inrep riay Aram Gesenius in his Thesaurus, and Fiirst in his Lexicon, prefer other explanations [MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS].
Higgaion, is found in Ps. ix. 16, and probably means either musical sound, according to the opinion of most, and the Sept. i,35.4 ; or meth tation according to Tholuck and Hengstenberg (see more below, under Selah).
)11,11`, is found over Ps. xxxix. lxii. lxxvii., and is generally taken for the name of choristers descended from Jeduthun, of whom we read in I Chron. xxv. I, 3, as one of David's three chief musicians or leaders of the Temple music. This use of the name Jeduthun for Jeduthunites is just like the well-known use of Israel for the Israelites. It is most probable that in Ps. xxxix. Jeduthun himself is meant, and not his family. So Rosenmiiller and Hengstenberg [JaptrrHur].