What is "miktam"

Miktam (Hebrew: מִכְתָּם) is a word that is part of the Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon whose meaning is not ascertained. It is a "technical term found in psalm titles" of the Bible. Miktam is one of several "collections" of psalms which include David, Asaph, Maskil, Mizmor, and Korah. An example of a Miktam of David is Psalm 16. It also occurs in 5 other Psalms, namely Psalm 56, Psalm 57, Psalm 58, Psalm 59 and Psalm 60. It has been suggested that Miktam may pertain to a " wind instrument" in Psalm 16, the Miktam of David. Miktam is also understood as a Babylonian and Hebrew musical term. In philological terms, "Miktam corresponds to the Babylonian nakamu, lid, metal cover for a vessel, and the Hebrew word may denote an instrument of percussion like the tambourine or cymbal."

In modern Hebrew, the word has come to mean " epigram", and numerous collections of Hebrew epigrams have used that word in their titles.