A technical musical or literary term appearing in the superscriptions of thirteen psalms (Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52, 53, 54, 55, 74, 78, 88, 89, 142) and once within a psalm text as an instruction — 'sing a maskil!' (Ps 47:7). Derived from the Hiphil of שָׂכַל ('to be prudent, to give insight'), the word likely signals a psalm that imparts wisdom or demands skillful, thoughtful performance. The maskil psalms span a wide emotional range: from David's joyful confession of forgiveness (Ps 32) to the sons of Korah's desperate lament over national catastrophe (Ps 44; 74; 88). The term's precise ancient meaning was already uncertain by the time of the Septuagint translators, who rendered it variously.