1 Chronicles 15:20
in 1 Chronicles 15Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play the harps according to Alamoth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries set to Alamoth;
KJV
And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries on Alamoth;
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This verse in 1 Chronicles 15
Commentary
6 notes on this verseWith psalteries on Alamoth - Some suppose that the word signifies virgins, or women singers, the persons mentioned here being appointed to accompany them with psalteries, and preside over them. The Vulgate says arcana cantabant, they sang secret things or mysteries; probably prophetic hymns.
This site's exposition
with psalteries on Alamoth
on 1 Chronicles 15:20-21
Two more groups of singers are assigned two technical terms, Alamoth and Sheminith, whose precise meaning had already passed out of use by the time the commentators wrote. Proposed readings include a pitch register, a known tune, or women's voices for Alamoth, and an eighth or an octave below it for Sheminith. Neither term is explained in the text and no reading commands certainty; the roster simply preserves that David organized the choir into parts distinct enough to need names, whatever those names once meant.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Alamoth - Or, with Alamoth which is thought to be the name of an instrument of musick; or of a certain tune, or note, or part in musick. The certain signification of it is not now known; and the like may be said of Sheminith, ver. 21.
And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint . . . the singers with instruments--These eminent Levites were instructed to train the musicians and singers who were under them, for the solemn procession. The performers were ranged in three choirs or bands, and the names of the principal leaders are given (1Ch 15:17, 18, 21), with the instruments respectively used by each.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Psalteries on Alamoth - Probably, psalteries whose tone resembled the voices of girls (עלמות ‛ălâmôth). Compare the “female flutes” of the Lydians.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
And the singers: Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, etc. To make a resounding voice, they were appointed over those musical instruments.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּזְכַרְיָ֨ה | uzekharyah | and Zechariah | H2148 → | 43 times |
| וַעֲזִיאֵ֜ל | vaaziel | and Aziel | H5815 → | |
| וּשְׁמִֽירָמ֤וֹת | ushemiramot | and Shemiramoth | H8070 → | 4 times |
| וִֽיחִיאֵל֙ | vichiel | and Jehiel | H3171 → | 14 times |
| וְעֻנִּ֣י | veuni | and Unni | H6042 → | |
| וֶֽאֱלִיאָ֔ב | veeliav | and Eliab | H446 → | 21 times |
| וּמַעֲשֵׂיָ֖הוּ | umaaseyahu | and Maaseiah | H4641 → | |
| וּבְנָיָ֑הוּ | uvenayahu | and Benaiah | H1141 → | 42 times |
| בִּנְבָלִ֖ים | binvalim | with lyres | H5035 → | 38 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| עֲלָמֽוֹת׃ | alamot | alamoth | H5961 → |
וּזְכַרְיָ֨הand Zechariah
uzekharyahH2148 →43 times
וַעֲזִיאֵ֜לand Aziel
vaazielH5815 →
וּשְׁמִֽירָמ֤וֹתand Shemiramoth
ushemiramotH8070 →4 times
וִֽיחִיאֵל֙and Jehiel
vichielH3171 →14 times
וְעֻנִּ֣יand Unni
veuniH6042 →
וֶֽאֱלִיאָ֔בand Eliab
veeliavH446 →21 times
וּמַעֲשֵׂיָ֖הוּand Maaseiah
umaaseyahuH4641 →
וּבְנָיָ֑הוּand Benaiah
uvenayahuH1141 →42 times
בִּנְבָלִ֖יםwith lyres
binvalimH5035 →38 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
עֲלָמֽוֹת׃alamoth
alamotH5961 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About 1 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.