H4210 H4210
mizmor -- a psalm; a technical superscription term for a musical composition sung with instrumental accompaniment
The masculine noun mizmor, derived from the root z-m-r ('to make music, to sing with instruments'), is a technical liturgical term appearing exclusively in the superscriptions of 57 psalms. It designates a composition intended for sung performance with instrumental accompaniment, distinguishing it from other superscription terms like shir ('song'), maskil ('contemplative poem'), or miktam. The word never occurs in the body of a psalm or elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible -- only in titles. Arabic mazamir, Syriac mazmure, and Ethiopic mezmur are all loan-words from this Hebrew term, testimony to its influence on the worship vocabulary of multiple Semitic traditions. Spanish Salmo, French psaume, and German Psalm all render it as a single, consistent genre label.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A technical term for a psalm meant for musical performance, confined to superscriptions of 57 psalms. It appears alone (Ps 98:1), with Davidic attribution (Ps 3:1; 23:1), or paired with shir (Ps 30:1; 92:1). Cognate forms in Arabic, Syriac, and Ethiopic confirm it as the pan-Semitic word for psalmody. Spanish Salmo, French psaume, and German Psalm render it uniformly. 57×
AR["مَزْمورٌ", "مَزْمُورٌ"]·ben["গীত", "সংগীত", "সঙ্গীত"]·DE["ein-Psalm"]·EN["a-psalm"]·FR["psaume"]·heb["מזמור"]·HI["भजन"]·ID["Mazmur"]·IT["salmo"]·jav["Masmur", "Mazmur", "masmur"]·KO["시편", "찬송"]·PT["Salmo"]·RU["псалом"]·ES["Salmo", "salmo"]·SW["Zaburi"]·TR["Mezmur", "mezmur"]·urd["زبور"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)H7121 1. call, summon, name (575×)H6680 1. command, order, charge (483×)H6030b 1. answer, respond, reply (289×)G2980 1. speak, talk (277×)H5046 1. Hifil: to tell, report (237×)G0611 1. answer or respond verbally (232×)H1288 1. Piel: bless, invoke blessing (227×)H7650 1. swear, take an oath (Niphal) (154×)H3789 1. Qal passive participle: written, recorded (112×)H1984b 1. praise, laud (Piel) (111×)H7592 1. ask, inquire, question (96×)H3034 1. give thanks, praise (Hifil) (94×)G1321 1. teach, instruct actively (92×)H3789 2. Qal active: write, compose (89×)G1125 1. to write, compose (a letter or document) (84×)H5046 2. Hifil: to declare, proclaim (79×)H7892a 1. song, musical composition (78×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† מִזְמוֹר n.[m.] melody (techn. design. of psalms; cf. HupPsalm. Einl. § 7, 2 De4 on ψ 3, BaePsalmen, xiii; مَزَامِيرٌ, ܡܰܙܡܘܽܖ̈ܶܐ, መዝሙር: loan-wds., all = Psalm(s); on מ׳, in relation to תהלה cf. LgOr ii. 22f.), always in this form; in 57 ψ-titles:—מ׳ alone ψ 98:1, מ׳ שׁיר ליום הַשַּׁבָּת 92:1, מ׳ לְתוֹדָה 100:1; usually with pers. name or title; מ׳ לְדָוִד ψ 3:1; 15:1; 23:1; 29:1; 63:1; 141:1;…