Bible Encyclopedias

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Alamoth

(Hebrew Alamoth', עֲלָמוֹת , virgins, as often; Sept. ἀλημώθ v. r.

ἀλαιμὠθ and ἀλιμώθ , Vulg. arcana), a musical term used in 1 Chronicles 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 κρύφια, arcana, i.e. secrets, as if indicative of the contents of the Psalm), and twice again in nearly the same form (עִלְמוּת ), namely, in the inscription of Psalms 9 (where it has the same sense, but is differently rendered by our translators "upon Muth-," Sept. again ὑπὲρ τῶν κρυφίων, Vulg. occultis), and in Psalm 48:15 (where the context requires the meaning forever, but our version has "unto death," Sept. correctly εἰς τοὺς αἰώνας, 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).