Psalm 16/Notes/Lexical.v. 1.342154

• The meaning of the word miktam (מִכְתָּם) in the superscription is unclear (see DCH for a list of five different possibilities with bibliography). It occurs in five other psalms (Pss 56–60), all of which are psalms of David. Three of these psalms are also accompanied by the note "Do not destroy" (אַל־תַּשְׁחֵת) (Pss 57–59; cf. שָֽׁחַת in Ps 16:10). The Septuagint translates the term as "inscription" (στηλογραφία) (so HALOT; cf. DCH: "perh. in ref. to writing on a tablet"). In a Neopunic inscription discovered in Africa (KAI 165) the (related?) term ktm (or ktmm [plural]) appears, apparently with the meaning "stone with inscription" (Hoftijzer and Jongeling 1995, 547). Given the thematic significance of death in Ps 16, one might imagine this psalm written as a tomb inscription. Tomb inscriptions, which could include long poems, were common in the ancient Near Eastern world (see COS 2.14, 2.52–69). The main request in Psalm 16 – "protect me" (שָׁמְרֵנִי, v. 1) – would be consistent with a burial context. The Aaronic blessing (Num 6:24–26), which features the same word "protect" or "keep" (שׁמר), was found written on two silver plaques in a pre-exilic tomb in Jerusalem (Ketef Hinnom; see Barkey et al. 2004, 61, 68). The heading "Do not destroy" (אַל־תַּשְׁחֵת), which occurs in three of the miktam psalms, would also make sense in the context of a tomb inscription, either as a prayer for divine preservation (cf. Ps 16:10) or as a warning against desecration.