צַמָּה

From the study of Isaiah 47:2

Range of meaning

A rare noun (four times: Song 4:1, 3; 6:7; Isa 47:2). Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) give 'veil'. Older Jewish and Christian interpreters sometimes took it as 'locks' or 'tresses' of hair.

Against the English

KJV 'thy locks'; BSB, WEB, YLT and most modern versions 'veil'.

How it drifted

A modern reader may hear 'veil' as a bridal veil or as religious modesty. Here it is a mark of social rank and legal status.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Song of Songs the beloved's eyes are seen 'behind your ṣammāh' (4:1), which suits a veil better than hair. The Middle Assyrian Laws (A §40) require wives and daughters of free men to be veiled in public and forbid slave women and prostitutes to veil, with harsh penalties for a slave caught wearing one. The LXX here has 'uncover your covering' (katakalymma).

From the study of Song of Songs 4:1

Range of meaning

Rare: Song 4:1, 4:3, 6:7, and Isaiah 47:2. HALOT and most modern lexicons give 'veil'. Older Jewish interpreters, and the KJV after them, gave 'locks, plaited hair', connecting it to a root meaning 'to bind/tie'.

Against the English

Most modern versions: 'veil'. KJV: 'locks'. The ancient Greek version: 'your silence'.

How it drifted

Not drift. The meaning is genuinely uncertain because there are so few examples.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isaiah 47:2 decisively favours 'veil'. There, Lady Babylon is shamed and told to 'remove your ṣammāh, strip off your skirt'. Removing something there means losing a woman's covering and dignity, and hair cannot be 'removed'. Veiling of respectable married women is recorded in the Middle Assyrian Laws (A §40), and brides veiled themselves (Rebekah, Genesis 24:65, though with a different Hebrew word).

From the study of Song of Songs 4:3

Range of meaning

Usually taken as 'veil', a woman's face-covering. A minority view, found in the KJV and some medieval Jewish interpreters, takes it as 'hair, locks' or a plait. It appears four times: Song 4:1, 3; 6:7; Isa 47:2.

Against the English

Most modern versions have 'veil'. KJV has 'locks', and the Septuagint has the odd 'apart from your silence' (ἐκτὸς τῆς σιωπήσεώς σου). The Vulgate paraphrases: 'besides what lies hidden within'.

How it drifted

The early translators did not know the word. The Septuagint seems to have guessed from a root meaning 'be silent', and 'locks' came from guessing from the context.

Used elsewhere in the period

Isa 47:2 tells 'virgin Babylon' to 'remove your ṣammâ, strip off your skirt' as she is shamed and made a slave. That fits a veil worn by a woman of status, and fits 'hair' less well. Song 4:1 places her eyes 'behind' it, which also suits a veil. Related words in Aramaic and Arabic are cited for both meanings.