עֲלָמוֹת

From the study of 1 Chronicles 15:20

Range of meaning

A technical musical term that appears only here and in the heading of Psalm 46 ('ʿal-ʿalamot. A song'). Some also find it, re-divided, in Psalm 9:1 ('ʿal-mut labben') and Psalm 48:14 ('ʿal-mut'). In form it is the feminine plural of ʿalmah, 'young woman (of marriageable age)' (H5959), and the most natural sense is 'in the manner of young women'.

Against the English

Most versions simply write out 'Alamoth' (BSB, KJV, WEB, ESV, NIV), which is honest about our ignorance. NASB adds 'tuned to', and some versions paraphrase it as 'soprano' or 'high-pitched'. YLT's 'besides virgins' turns the word into actual people standing next to the players, which the grammar does not support.

How it drifted

There is no long-term drift. The meaning was lost early, as the ancient translations already show. The risk comes from wooden literalism such as YLT's 'virgins', and from readers who link the word to the 'ʿalmah' debate over Isaiah 7:14, which has nothing to do with this verse.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint here writes the word out (alaimōth), which shows that the translators did not recognise it as an ordinary word. In Psalm 46 (45) the Greek reads 'concerning the hidden things', taking the root as ʿ-l-m, 'to hide'. The Latin Vulgate here likewise has the players singing 'arcana' ('secret things'). The Mishnah (Arakhin 2:6) mentions Levite boys whose voices added 'sweetness' to the Temple choir. Some use this as indirect support for a high-voice register, but it is not a definition of the word.