In the heading to Psalm 16, we read:
A miktam of David.
So, what’s a Miktam?
Well, no one’s really too sure how to answer that. You see, this Hebrew word only appears six times in the entirety of the Bible. Here and then also in the headings to Psalms 56-60.
Since we don’t have much context for how this word was used, we can’t be entirely sure what it means.
However, there are a few theories.
First, we can compare ancient translations of the Old Testament to see what ancient authors thought it meant.
For example, in Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translation of the Old Testament, he translates the term as Tituli inscriptio, which loosely means “an inscription of honor”. In this same vein, other scholars think Miktam meant something along the lines of “an engraving”.
This idea is that the Psalms with Miktam in their headings were so important that they should be “engraved” or “inscribed” on stone tablets in addition to just being on a paper scroll.
Another theory comes from later Jewish tradition. It states that Miktam means “golden” or “precious”, again emphasizing the importance of these six Psalms.
There are also a few other theories that it could be some sort of musical term, but the above two theories are most popular. The one that makes most sense to me is that Miktam probably means “engraving” because that’s what some of the ancient translators thought it meant.