† I. [
נָצַח]
verb be pre-eminent, enduring (Ecclus [Pi.]
make brilliant Ecclesiasticus 43:5; Ecclesiasticus 43:13 [?] (compare Oxford ed.
xxxiii); Late Hebrew
נָצַח conquer, etc.; Phoenician
נצח, Aramaic
H5330 נְצַח,
shine, be illustrious, pre-eminent, victorious; Arabic
be pure, reliable; Ethiopic
be pure, innocent; both classes of meaning probably derived form
shine, be bright, brilliant, see also Dr
1S 15, 29); —
Niph. Participle active feminine
נִצַּ֫חַת Jeremiah 8:5 enduring (
מְשֻׁבָה apostasy).
Piel =
act as overseer, superintendent, director, only Chronicles and Psalm-titles; —
Infinitive לְנַצֵּחַ 1 Chronicles 15:21 +
4 times; participle
לַמְנַצֵּחַ Habakkuk 3:19;
Psalm 4:1 +
54 times Psalms;
plural מְנַצְּחִים 2 Chronicles 2:1 [
2 Chronicles 2:2];
2 Chronicles 2:17 [
2 Chronicles 2:18];
2 Chronicles 34:13; —
3. in liturgical service of song,
עלהֿשׁמינית, over the bass voices, leading them with
כִּנֹּרוֺת 1 Chronicles 15:21;
לַמְנַצֵּחַ in titles Psalms has probably simile meaning, =
musical director or
choirmaster; Greek Vrss. of 2nd cent. A.D., Aq Theod Sym, and so Jerome, think of Aramaic
victorious, but no clear explanation;
εἰς τὸ τέλος (probably
לַמִּנְצָח) follows ordinary meaning of noun
נֵצַח, which may be explained in eschatological sense as referring to end of age of world after Euseb Theod; or for
full rendering after De; neither satisfactory. Chronicles, near in date, gives the clue which is intrinsically probably:
לְ indicates, not assignment (nothing special in these Psalms to suggest it, and assignment of Psalms for such use a matter of course), but that these Psalms were taken by final editor from an older major Psalter known as the Director's Collection, compare the still earlier collections known as
(ל)דוד,
(ל)אסף,
(ל)בני קרח. The 55 Psalms with
למנצח were taken 39 from Davidic, 9 from Korahite, and 5 from Asaphic Psalters; only 2 anonymous.
Habakkuk 3 originally belonged to Director's Psalter. This and other Director's Psalms have musical directions in titles. The Director's Psalter was probably the prayer-book of synagogue of Greek period, presupposed by our Hab., the collection of the twelve Minor Prophets, the prophetic canon, and Daniel (see Br
Gen. Intr. 123).
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
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BLB Scripture Index of Brown-Driver-Briggs