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"When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the
latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto His voice; (for
the Lord thy God is a merciful God); He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor
forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them."
Nehiloth.
We keep this title to Psa. 4:, not Psa. 5: Some commentators derive the word from
chalal to bore, which, by transition leads to the world `flute'. However, the ancient
versions suggest another derivation. Aquila's version of the Septuagint has "divisions of
inheritance" and that of Symmachus "allotments". The original Septuagint reads
"concerning her that inherits" as the meaning of the title, evidently reading Nehaloth
rather than Nehiloth. This gives us a deeper insight than the word `flute'. Jehovah was
the inheritance of His people (Psa. 16: 5 and see 73: 26; 119: 57; 142: 5) and this
great inheritance was infinitely more than anything material. The Psalmist's confidence
and repose were therefore in the word (Psa. 4: 3, 7, 8) and he could sleep with the peace
of God guarding his heart and mind. The Lord was his inheritance and he, in turn, was
the inheritance of the Lord (verse 3).
The tendency of expositors has been to interpret most of these titles as musical
expressions or musical instruments. As we have seen, there is no need for this.
However, there are three words which are linked with the special choirs that sang in
connection with the praise and worship of God. They are Al alamoth (relating to the
maidens' choir); Sheminith, meaning the eighth (division); and Jeduthun who was one
of the three directors of the Temple worship and the music associated with it
(I.Chron.xvi.41,42; 25: 1-6; II Chron. 5: 12). There is no need to regard Jeduthun as a
musical instrument. If alamoth refers to the maidens' choir, and there seems no reason to
doubt it, then sheminith may refer to the male singers. I Chron. 15: 20 and 21 should be
compared where these two divisions of the choir are mentioned. The word `on' can be
rendered `relating to'. As sheminith means eighth, it could refer to the octave, and the
fact that the men would be singing an octave below the women. It is very probable that
the singing was in unison and not in any form of harmony as we know it today. There are
other various explanations which are little more than guesses and we do not think it
necessary to mention them here.
Sheminith occurs only with Psa. 5: and 11: Alamoth is found with Psa. 45: and note
the references to "king's daughters", "honourable women" (verse 9), "the daughter of
Tyre" (verse 12), and "the virgin her companions" (verse 14).
We must also consider the words connected with literary form, such as michtam,
maschil, shiggaion or higgaion. For michtam the A.V. has a `golden Psalm' from
kethem, gold. It seems more likely to be from katam to engrave as in Jer. 2: 22. It
would then mean something written in a permanent form which cannot be erased. There
are 6 michtam Psalms (16:, 56:, 57:, 58:, 59: and 60:). These are all David's and
are private, personal and direct.