Psalm 6/Notes/Lexical.v. 1.153988

• The phrase on the octave (עַל־הַשְּׁמִינִית) (cf. Ps 12:1) is difficult to interpret. See The Meaning of הַשְּׁמִינִית in Psalm 6:1 for an in-depth discussion. In short, the word שְּׁמִינִית is probably a musical term. Beyond this general claim, however, it is difficult to say much with any degree of confidence. As HALOT notes, "the final answer must remain undecided." Nevertheless, of the two main options given by translations ("eight-stringed instrument" and "octave"), the 'octave' interpretation, suggested by the use in 1 Chronicles 15:21 where it is parallel to the term עֲלָמוֹת, seems more likely. In the past, scholars had objected to this view on the grounds that the heptatonic scale was foreign to ancient Israelite music. Several 20th-century discoveries, however, provide evidence that a heptatonic scale was probably known in Mesopotamia and Ugarit at a very early time and therefore might have been known also in Israel. One of these texts, the so-called Akkadian "Tuning Text," which gives detailed information about different ways to tune a lyre, appears to assume the existence of a heptatonic scale. Interestingly, another text, the 15th-century Hurrian hymn discovered at Ugarit, has an Akkadian colophon that specifies the use of one of the tunings mentioned in the "Tuning Text." It would be reasonable to guess, then, especially in light of the fact that the שְּׁמִינִית is usually associated with "stringed instruments" (Ps 6:1; 1 Chr 15:21), that the word gives information for how the stringed instruments were to be tuned (perhaps to a lower octave).