צלמות, an Etymological and Semantic Reconsideration

צַלְמָוֶת is a dubious word in the Hebrew Bible. It has been commonly interpreted as a compound noun צֵל-מָוֶת, translated with 'shadow of death' or an abstract noun צַלְמוּת from the Semitic stem ṣlm-II, 'darkness'. However, both readings are cumbersome: a translation 'shadow of death' fits badly in most contexts of צַלְמָוֶת, while the mere existence of ṣlm-II in Northwest Semitic is problematic. With some new evidence from Ugaritic research, I will argue that the צֵל-מָוֶת etymology is to be preferred. However, the translation should indeed be centred around the concept of 'darkness'. Using collocation analysis and insights from cognitive semantics, I will make a full semantic analysis of the term, charting all its meaning aspects. Thus I will demonstrate how צַלְמָוֶת has a conceptual structure including the notions of 'darkness', 'terror (of death)' and 'locality'. These notions can be explained with a צֵל-מָוֶת reading and less so with a ṣlm-II reading.