| 0. Linguistic Exegesis The superscription is a terse verbless heading rather than a full clause. lamnatseach {לַמְנַצֵּ֗חַ | lamnaṣṣēaḥ} ‘to the choirmaster’ opens the line with a prefixed lamed of dedication and a substantival participle, directing the composition toward liturgical leadership. mizmor {מִזְמ֥וֹר | mizmôr} ‘psalm’ identifies the piece as a musical composition, and leDavid {לְדָוִֽד | lədāwid} ‘of David’ supplies Davidic attribution, most naturally authorship or association within the Davidic collection. The sequence moves from performance setting to genre to attributed figure, creating a title-card effect before the body of the psalm. English represents that compact nominal structure with two short sentences to preserve the superscription’s heading function. |