Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>]

Mark,
Most mss write it as "almoth laben", without a dash between al & moth. 
Almoth is the plural of almah in Isa 7:14, meaning "virgin" from a root
meaning "hidden" or "mystery".

LXX translated it as "secrets for the son", indicating that LXX saw "almoth"
as one word.

I think the most straightforward translation is "virgins for the son".

I do not think your #3 is possible because the "la" prefix in front of "son"
does not allow that meaning. It could mean "death for the son" or "death by
the son", but not "death of the son".

The meaning you have for #4 from Ps 46 is implied from translating it as
"upon virgin [voices]". A more literal meaning is the YLT translation, "For
the virgins."

I am not recommending it, but you may be interested in James Thirtle's "THE
TITLES OF THE PSALMS - THEIR NATURE AND MEANING EXPLAINED".
http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/OTeSources/19-Psalms/Text/Bo
oks/Thirtle-PsTitles/Thirtle-PsTitles.htm
Search for "Psalm 8". He interprets the heading of Psalm 9 as a postscript
to Psalm 8. I think the meaning he gives to the words is a wild stretch.

Sincerely,
-Steve Miller
Detroit
www.voiceInWilderness.info
Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as
villages without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein, and I,
says the Lord, I will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be
the glory in the midst of her. (Zechariah 2:4-5)

> From: Mark Spitsbergen
> 
> Can anyone shed some light on why "muth labben," in Psalms 9 should
> be in the words of Mitchell Dahood, "an unknown technical term?" The
> LXX reads "kruphion to uiou." which seems to imply "the son of a
> friend" or perhaps refers to "al alamoth" of Psalms 46. As I
> understand, this phrase could be translated:
> 
> 1- death makes white (disregarding all pointing)
> 2- death of Labben (an enemy)
> 3- a death of a son
> 4- a corruption of al alamoth of Psalms 46, which I think means
> "accompaniment at a high pitch?"
> 5- an unknown technical term.
> 
> thanks,
> 
> Mark Spitsbergen