Reference: Music
American
The ancient Hebrews had a great taste for music, which they used in their religious services, in their public and private rejoicing, at their weddings and feasts, and even in their mourning. We have in Scripture canticles of joy, of thanksgiving, of praise, of mourning; also mournful elegies or songs, as those of David on the death of Saul and Abner, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah on the destruction of Jerusalem; so, too, songs of victory, triumph, and gratulation, as that which Moses sung after passing the Red Sea, that of Deborah and Barak, and others. The people of God went up to Jerusalem thrice a year, cheered on their way with songs of joy, Ps 84:12; Isa 30:29. The book of Psalms comprises a wonderful variety of inspired pieces for music, and is an inexhaustible treasure for the devout in all ages.
Music is perhaps the most ancient of the fine arts. Jubal, who lived before the deluge, was the "father" of those who played on the harp and the organ, Ge 4:21; 31:26-27. Laban complains that his son-in-law Jacob had left him, without giving him an opportunity of sending his family away "with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp." Moses, having passed through the Red Sea, composed a song, and sung it with the Israelitish men, while Miriam, his sister, sung it with dancing, and playing on instruments, at the head of the women, Ex 15:20-21. He caused silver trumpets to be made to be sounded at solemn sacrifices, and on religious festivals. David, who had great skill in music, soothed the perturbed spirit of Saul by playing on the harp, 1Sa 16:16,23; and when he was himself established on the throne - seeing that the Levites were not employed, as formerly, in carrying the boards, veils, and vessels of the tabernacle, its abode being fixed at Jerusalem - appointed a great part of them to sing and to play on instruments in the temple, 1Ch 25. David brought the ark to Jerusalem with triumphant and joyful music, 1Ch 13:8; 15:16-28; and in the same manner Solomon was proclaimed king, 1Ki 1:39-40. The Old Testament prophets also sought the aid of music in their services, 1Sa 10:5; 2Ki 3:15.
Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun were chiefs of the music of the tabernacle under David, and of the temple under Solomon. Asaph had four sons, Jeduthun six, and Heman fourteen. These twenty-four Levites, sons of the three great masters of the temple-music, were at the head of twenty-four bands of musicians, which served in the temple by turns. Their number there was always great, but especially at the chief solemnities. They were ranged in order about the altar of burnt-sacrifices. As the whole business of their lives was to learn and to practice music, it must be supposed that they understood it well, whether it were vocal or instrumental, 2Ch 29:25.
The kings also had their music. Asaph was chief master of music to David. In the temple, and in the ceremonies of religion, female musicians were admitted as well as male; they generally were daughters of the Levites. Ezra, in his enumeration of those whom he brought back with him from the captivity, reckons two hundred singing men and singing women, 2Sa 19:35; Ezr 2:65; Ne 7:67.
As to the nature of their music, we can judge of it only by conjecture, because it has been long lost. Probably it was a unison of several voices, of which all sung together the same melody, each according to his strength and skill; without musical counterpoint, or those different parts and combinations which constitute harmony in our music. Probably, also, the voices were generally accompanied by instrumental music. If we may draw any conclusions in favor of their music from its effects, its magnificence, its majesty, and the lofty sentiments contained in their songs, we must allow it great excellence. It is supposed that the temple musicians were sometimes divided into two or more separate choirs, which, with a general chorus, sung in turn responsive to each other, each a small portion of the Psalm. The structure of the Hebrew Psalms is eminently adapted to this mode of singing, and very delightful and solemn effects might thus be produced. Compare 10/type/darby'>10/type/darby'>Ps 24:10/type/darby'>10,10/type/darby'>10,10/type/darby'>10.
Numerous musical instruments are mentioned in Scripture, but it has been found impossible to affix heir names with certainty to specific instruments now in use. By a comparison, however, of the instruments probably held in common by the Jews with the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, a degree of probability as to most of them has been secured. They were of three kinds:
A. Stringed instruments:
1. KINNOR, "the harp," Ge 4:21. Frequently mentioned in Scripture, and probably a kind of lyre.
2. NEBEL, "the psaltery," 1Sa 10:5. It appears to have been the name of various large instruments of the harp kind.
3. ASOR, signifying ten-stringed. In Ps 92:4, it apparently denotes an instrument distinct from the NEBEL; but elsewhere it seems to be simply a description of the NEBEL as ten-stringed. See Ps 33:2; 144:9.
4. GITTITH. It occurs in the titles of Ps 8:1; 81:1; 84:1. From the name, it is supposed that David brought it from Gath. Others conclude that it is a general name for a string instrument.
5. MINNIM, strings, Ps 150:4. Probably another kind of stringed instrument.
6. SABECA, "sackbut," Da 3:5,7,10,15. A kind of lyre.
7. PESANTERIN, "psaltery," occurs Da 3:7, and is supposed to represent the NEBEL.
8. MACHALATH. Found in the titles of Ps 53:1; 88:1; supposed to be a lute or guitar.
B. Wind instruments:
9. KEREN, "horn," Jos 6:5. Cornet.
10. SHOPHAR, "trumpet," Nu 10:10. Used synonymously with KEREN.
11. CHATZOZERAH, the straight trumpet, Ps 98:6.
12. JOBEL, or KEREN JOBEL, horn of jubilee, or signal trumpet, Jos 6:4. Probably the same with 9 and 10.
13. CHAIL, "pipe" or "flute." The word means bored through, 1Sa 10:5.
14. MISHROKITHA, Da 3:5, etc. Probably the Chaldean name for the flute with two reeds.
15. UGAB, "organ" in our version Ge 4:21. It means a double or manifold pipe, and hence the shepherd's pipe; probably the same as the syrinx or Pan's pipe; or perhaps resembling the bagpipe.
C. Instruments which gave out sound on being struck:
17. TOPH, Ge 31:27, the tambourine and all instruments of the drum kind.
18. PHAAMON, "bells," Ex 28:33. Attached to the hem of the high priest's garment.
19. TZELITZELIM, "cymbals," Ps 150:5. A word frequently occurring. There were probably two kinds, hand-cymbals.
20. SHALISHIM, 1Sa 18:6. In our version, "instruments of music." "Three-stringed instruments." Most writers identify it with the triangle.
21. MENAANEIM, "cymbals," 2Sa 6:5. Probably the sistrum. The Hebrew word means to shake. The sistrum was generally about sixteen or eighteen inches long, occasionally inlaid with silver, and being held upright, was shaken, the rings moving to and fro on the bars.
Further particulars concerning some of these may be found under the names they severally bear in our English Bible.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of those who handle the harp and pipe.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of those who handle the harp and pipe.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of those who handle the harp and pipe.
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast deceived me, and hast carried away my daughters as captives of war? Why didst thou flee away covertly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have conducted thee with mirth and with songs, with tambour and with harp;
Why didst thou flee away covertly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have conducted thee with mirth and with songs, with tambour and with harp;
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the tambour in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambours and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing to Jehovah, for he is highly exalted: The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
And on the skirts thereof thou shalt make pomegranates of blue, and purple, and scarlet, round about the skirts thereof; and bells of gold between them round about:
And in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in your new moons, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings and over your sacrifices of peace-offering; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am Jehovah your God.
And seven priests shall carry before the ark seven blast-trumpets; and on the seventh day ye shall go round the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. And it shall come to pass when they make a long blast with the blast-horn, that all the people on hearing the sound of the trumpet shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall flat, and the people shall go up, each one straight before him.
After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying.
After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying.
Let our lord now speak; thy servants are before thee: they shall seek out a man, a skilful player on a harp; and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.
And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; and Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambours, with joy, and with triangles.
And David and all the house of Israel played before Jehovah on all manner of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with sistra, and with cymbals.
I am this day eighty years old: can I discern between good and bad? can thy servant taste what I eat and what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? and why should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?
And Zadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, Long live king Solomon! And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.
And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren, the singers, with instruments of music, lutes, and harps, and cymbals, that they should sound aloud, lifting up the voice with joy. And the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; read more. and with them their brethren of the second rank, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, the doorkeepers; and the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, to sound aloud with cymbals of brass; and Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with lutes on Alamoth; and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith to lead the singing. And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites for the music, gave instruction in music, for he was skilful. And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark. And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew with the trumpets before the ark of God; and Obed-Edom and Jehijah were doorkeepers for the ark. And David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the house of Obed-Edom with joy. And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, that they sacrificed seven bullocks and seven rams. And David was clothed with a robe of byssus, and all the Levites that bore the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah chief of the music of the singers; and David had upon him a linen ephod. And all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah with shouting, and with sound of the trumpet, and with clarions, and with cymbals, playing aloud with lutes and harps.
And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with lutes, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of Jehovah through his prophets.
besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred singing men and singing women.
besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five singing-men and singing-women.
{To the chief Musician. Upon the Gittith. A Psalm of David.} Jehovah our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy majesty above the heavens.
Who is he, this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
Who is he, this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
Who is he, this King of glory? Jehovah of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
Give thanks unto Jehovah with the harp; sing psalms unto him with the ten-stringed lute.
{To the chief Musician. On Mahalath: an instruction. Of David.} The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God! They have corrupted themselves, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
{To the chief Musician. Upon the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.} Sing ye joyously unto God our strength, shout aloud unto the God of Jacob;
{To the chief Musician. Upon the Gittith. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.} How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Jehovah of hosts!
Jehovah of hosts, blessed is the man that confideth in thee!
{A Song, a Psalm for the sons of Korah. To the chief Musician. Upon Mahalath Leannoth. An instruction. Of Heman the Ezrahite.} Jehovah, God of my salvation, I have cried by day and in the night before thee.
For thou, Jehovah, hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
Praise him with the tambour and dance; praise him with stringed instruments and the pipe; Praise him with loud cymbals; praise him with high sounding cymbals.
Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a feast is sanctified; and joy of heart, as of one who goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.
that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up;
that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up;
Therefore at that time when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Therefore at that time when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;
Now if ye be ready at the time that ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast that same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace: and who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
Easton
Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Ge 4:21). The Hebrews were much given to the cultivation of music. Their whole history and literature afford abundant evidence of this. After the Deluge, the first mention of music is in the account of Laban's interview with Jacob (Ge 31:27). After their triumphal passage of the Red Sea, Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of deliverance (Ex 15).
But the period of Samuel, David, and Solomon was the golden age of Hebrew music, as it was of Hebrew poetry. Music was now for the first time systematically cultivated. It was an essential part of training in the schools of the prophets (1Sa 10:5; 19:19-24; 2Ki 3:15; 1Ch 25:6). There now arose also a class of professional singers (2Sa 19:35; Ec 2:8). The temple, however, was the great school of music. In the conducting of its services large bands of trained singers and players on instruments were constantly employed (2Sa 6:5; 1Ch 15; 16; 23:5; 25:1-6).
In private life also music seems to have held an important place among the Hebrews (Ec 2:8; Am 6:4-6; Isa 5:11-12; 24:8-9; Ps 137; Jer 48:33; Lu 15:25).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of those who handle the harp and pipe.
Why didst thou flee away covertly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have conducted thee with mirth and with songs, with tambour and with harp;
After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying.
And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth by Ramah. Then Saul sent messengers to take David; and they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as president over them; and the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. read more. And it was told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great well that is in Sechu; and he asked and said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold, at Naioth by Ramah. And he went thither to Naioth by Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth by Ramah. And he himself also stripped off his clothes, and prophesied, himself also, before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?
And David and all the house of Israel played before Jehovah on all manner of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with sistra, and with cymbals.
I am this day eighty years old: can I discern between good and bad? can thy servant taste what I eat and what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? and why should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the children of men, a wife and concubines.
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the children of men, a wife and concubines.
Woe unto them that, rising early in the morning, run after strong drink; that linger till twilight, till wine inflameth them! And harp and lyre, tambour and flute, and wine are in their banquets; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, nor do they see the operation of his hands.
the mirth of tambours ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They do not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to them that drink it.
And joy and gladness is taken away from the fruitful field and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: they shall no more tread with shouting; the shouting shall be no shouting.
that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves from the midst of the stall; that chant to the sound of the lute, and invent them instruments of music, like David; read more. that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments; but are not grieved for the breach of Joseph.
And his elder son was in the field; and as, coming up, he drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
Fausets
(For illustrations, see DANCE; DAVID; FLUTE; HARP; JEDUTHUN.) Its invention is due to a Cainite, Jubal son of Lamech, "father (first teacher) of all such as handle the harp (lyre) and organ" (pipe). "The lyre and flute were introduced by the brother of a nomadic herdsman (Jabal); it is in the leisure of this occupation that music is generally first exercised and appreciated" (Kalisch: Ge 4:21). "Mahalaleel," third from Seth, means "giving praise to God," therefore vocal music in religious services was probably earlier than instrumental music among the Cainites (Ge 5:12). Laban the Syrian mentions "songs, tabret (tambourine), and harp" (Ge 31:27); Job (Job 21:12) "the timbrel (tambourine), harp, and organ (pipe)". Instead of "they take," translated "they lift up (the voice)," as in Isa 42:11, to accompany "the tambourine," etc. (Umbrett.) Thus the "voice," stringed and wind instruments, include all kinds of music. The Israelite men led by Moses sang in chorus, and Miriam led the women in singing the refrain at each interval, accompanied by tambourine and dances (Ex 15:21).
Music rude and boisterous accompanied the dances in honor of the golden calf, so that Joshua mistook it for "the noise of war," "the voice of them that shout for the mastery and that cry for being overcome" (Ex 32:17-18). The triumphant shout of the foe in the temple is similarly compared to the joyous thanksgivings formerly offered there at solemn feasts, but how sad the contrast as to the occasion (La 2:7). The two silver trumpets were used by the priests to call an assembly, and for the journeying of the camps, and on jubilant occasion (Nu 10:1-10; 2Ch 13:12). (On the rams' (rather Jubilee) horns of Joshua 6, see HORNS.) The instruments at Nebuchadnezzar's dedication of his golden image were the "cornet," like the French horn; "flute" or pipe blown at the end by a mouthpiece; "sackbut," a triangular stringed instrument with short strings, in a high sharp key; "psaltery," a kind of harp; "dulcimer," a bagpipe, emitting a plaintive sound, a Hebraized Greek word, sumfonia (Da 3:4).
The schools of the prophets cultivated music as a study preparing the mind for receiving spiritual influences (1Sa 10:5; 19:19-20): at Naioth; also at Jericho (2Ki 2:5,7), "when the minstrel among Jehoshaphat's retinue played, the hand of Jehovah came upon Elisha" (2Ki 3:15); Gilgal (2Ki 4:38); Jerusalem (2Ki 22:14). "Singing men and women" were at David's court (2Sa 19:35), also at Solomon's (Ec 2:8; Gesenius translated for "musical instruments and that of all sorts," shiddah wishidot, "a princess and princesses".) They also" spoke of Josiah in their lamentations, and made them an ordinance in Israel" (2Ch 35:25).
Music was often introduced at banquets (Isa 5:12), "the harp and viol" (nebel, the "lute", an instrument with 12 strings), etc. (Lu 15:25.) Am 6:5; "chant (parat, 'mark distinct tones,' the Arabic root expresses an unmeaning hurried flow of rhythmical sounds without much sense, as most glees) to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music like David"; they fancy themselves David's equals In music (1Ch 23:5; Ne 12:36). He added to the temple service the stringed psaltery, kinor ("lyre"), and nebel ("harp"), besides the cymbals. These as distinguished from the trumpets were "David's instruments" (2Ch 29:25-26; 1Ch 15:16,19-21,24; 23:5). The age of Samuel, David, and Solomon was the golden one alike of poetry and of music. The Hebrew use of music was inspirational, curative, and festive or mournful. David's skill on the harp in youth brought him under Saul's notice, and he played away Saul's melancholy under the evil spirit (1Sa 16:16-23).
As David elevated music to the praise of God, so the degenerate Israelites of Amos' time degraded it to the service of their own sensuality (like Nero fiddling when Rome was in flames), yet they defended their luxurious passion for music by his example. Solomon's songs were a thousand and five (1Ki 4:32). In the procession accompanying the ark to Zion, the Levites led by Chenaniah, "master of the song," played cornets, trumpets, cymbals, psalteries, and harps, accompanying David's psalm composed for the occasion (1 Chronicles 15; 16; 2Sa 6:5). Of the 48,000 in the tribe 4,000 praised Jehovah on David's instruments (1Ch 23:5-6). Heman led the Kohathites, Asaph the Gershonites, and Ethan or Jeduthun the Merarites (1Ch 15:17; 25:1-8). The "cunning" or skilled musicians were 288: 24 courses, 12 in each, headed by the 24 sons of Heman, Asaph, and Jeduthun.
The rest of the 4,000 were "scholars." David's chant (1Ch 16:34,41) was used for ages, and bore his name: at the consecration of Solomon's temple (2Ch 7:6); before Jehoshaphat's army when marching against the Ammonite invaders, to the thanksgiving is attributed God's giving of the victory, "when they began to sing and to praise, Jehovah set ambushments against ... Ammon" (2Ch 20:21-22), compare in Abijah's victory over Jeroboam the priests' sounding of trumpets (2Ch 13:12-22); at the laying the second temple's foundation (Ezr 3:10-11). Heman, Asaph, and Ethan played with cymbals of brass to mark the time the more clearly, while the rest played on psalteries and harps (1Ch 15:19; 16:5).
The "singers" went first, "the damsels with timbrels" in the middle, "the players on (stringed) instruments followed after" (Ps 68:25). In intelligent worship the word has precedence of ornamental accompaniments (1Co 14:15); music must not drown but be subordinate to the words and sense. Amos (Am 8:3) foretells the joyous "songs of the temple" should be changed into "howlings." In Ps 87:7 translated "the players on pipes" or "flutes" (Gesenius), but Hengstenberg, "dancers" (choleel); the future thanksgiving of the redeemed heathen (1Ki 1:40). Women were in the choir (1Ch 13:8; 25:5-6; Ezr 2:65). The priests alone blew the trumpets in the religious services (1Ch 15:24; 16:6), but the people also at royal proclamations (2Ki 11:14). A hundred and twenty priests blew the trumpets in unison with the Levite singers, in fine linen, at the dedication of Solomon's temple (2Ch 5:12-13; 7:6). So under Hezekiah in resanctifying the temple (2Ch 29:27-28).
As the temple, altar, and sacrifices were Jehovah's palace, table, and feasts, so the sacred music answers to the melody usual at kings' banquets. The absence of music such as accompanied bridal processions is made a feature of a curse being on the land (Isa 24:8-9; Jer 7:34; Eze 26:13). Judah's captors in vain called on her singers to sing her national melodies, "songs of Zion," in Babylon. She hung her harp on the willows of that marshy city, and abjured "mirth in a strange land" (Ps 137:2-4). Away from Zion, God's seat, they were away from joy. Love songs (Psalm 45 title) as well as professional mourners' (Am 5:16) dirges were composed. Harlots attracted men by songs to the guitar (Isa 23:15-16). (See MOURNING,) The grape was gathered and trodden with joyous song (Isa 16:10). (See HYMNS.)
Music, instrumental and vocal, was all in unison, not harmony, which was unknown to the ancients; the songs were all melodies, choral and antiphonal, as Moses' and Miriam's song, and Nehemiah's musicians in two responsive choirs at the dedication of the wall (Ne 12:40-42). For "instruments of music" (Da 6:18) translated "concubines." Xenophon's picture of Darius as addicted to wine and women, without self control, accords with Daniel's mention of his abstinence as something extraordinary. In Ps 45:8 Gesenius translated for "whereby" (mini), as in Ps 150:4), "out of the ivory palaces the stringed instruments make thee glad"; Hengstenberg shows this untenable, KJV is better. In 1Sa 18:6 "instruments of music," shalishim, is from shalowsh, "three," probably "triangles," invented in Syria (Athenaeus, Deipnos, 4:175).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of those who handle the harp and pipe.
Why didst thou flee away covertly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have conducted thee with mirth and with songs, with tambour and with harp;
And Miriam answered them, Sing to Jehovah, for he is highly exalted: The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
And Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, and said to Moses, There is a shout of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the sound of a shout of victory, neither is it the sound of a shout of defeat: it is the noise of alternate singing I hear.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shalt thou make them; and they shall serve for the calling together of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. read more. And when they shall blow with them, the whole assembly shall gather to thee at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And if they blow with one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather unto thee. And when ye blow an alarm, the camps that lie eastward shall set forward. And when ye blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie southward shall set forward; they shall blow an alarm on their setting forward. And when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not blow an alarm: the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an everlasting statute throughout your generations. And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before Jehovah your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. And in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in your new moons, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings and over your sacrifices of peace-offering; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am Jehovah your God.
After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where are the outposts of the Philistines; and it shall come to pass, when thou comest thither, into the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with lute and tambour and pipe and harp before them; and they themselves prophesying.
Let our lord now speak; thy servants are before thee: they shall seek out a man, a skilful player on a harp; and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. And Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. read more. And one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing, and he is a valiant man and a man of war, and skilled in speech, and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him. Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep. And Jesse took an ass with bread, and a flask of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul. And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he has found favour in my sight. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; and Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambours, with joy, and with triangles.
And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth by Ramah. Then Saul sent messengers to take David; and they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as president over them; and the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.
And David and all the house of Israel played before Jehovah on all manner of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with sistra, and with cymbals.
I am this day eighty years old: can I discern between good and bad? can thy servant taste what I eat and what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? and why should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?
And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
And he spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five.
And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, Dost thou know that Jehovah will take away thy master from over thy head to-day? And he said, I also know it: be silent!
And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite afar off; and they two stood by the Jordan.
And now fetch me a minstrel. And it came to pass when the minstrel played, that the hand of Jehovah was upon him.
And Elisha came again to Gilgal. And there was a famine in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him. And he said to his servant, Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.
And she looked, and behold, the king stood on the dais, according to the custom, and the princes and the trumpeters were by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets. And Athaliah rent her garments and cried, Conspiracy! Conspiracy!
And Hilkijah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe: now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the second quarter of the town; and they spoke with her.
And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.
And the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;
and the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, to sound aloud with cymbals of brass;
And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, blew with the trumpets before the ark of God; and Obed-Edom and Jehijah were doorkeepers for the ark.
Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, with instruments of lutes and with harps; and Asaph sounding with cymbals; and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually, before the ark of the covenant of God.
Give thanks unto Jehovah, for he is good; For his loving-kindness endureth for ever.
and with them Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest that were chosen, who were expressed by name, to give thanks to Jehovah, because his loving-kindness endureth for ever;
and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith. And David divided them into courses according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
And David and the captains of the host separated for the service those of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun who were to prophesy with harps and lutes and cymbals; and the number of the men employed according to their service was: of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asharelah, the sons of Asaph under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied at the direction of the king. read more. Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Isaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, and Shimei six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the harp, to give thanks and to praise Jehovah. Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkijah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth: all these were sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to exalt his power; and God had given to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
all these were sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to exalt his power; and God had given to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these were under the direction of their fathers Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, for song in the house of Jehovah, with cymbals, lutes and harps, for the service of the house of God, under the direction of the king.
All these were under the direction of their fathers Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, for song in the house of Jehovah, with cymbals, lutes and harps, for the service of the house of God, under the direction of the king. And the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of Jehovah, all of them skilful, was two hundred and eighty-eight. read more. And they cast lots with one another over the charges, the small as well as the great, the teacher with the scholar.
and the Levites the singers, all they of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, clad in byssus, with cymbals and lutes and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets), it came to pass when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one voice to be heard in praising and thanking Jehovah; and when they lifted up their voice with trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised Jehovah: For he is good,
And the priests stood in their charges, and the Levites with Jehovah's instruments of music, which David the king had made to praise Jehovah, for his loving-kindness endureth for ever, when David praised by their means; and the priests sounded the trumpets opposite to them, and all Israel stood.
And the priests stood in their charges, and the Levites with Jehovah's instruments of music, which David the king had made to praise Jehovah, for his loving-kindness endureth for ever, when David praised by their means; and the priests sounded the trumpets opposite to them, and all Israel stood.
And behold, we have God with us at our head, and his priests, and the loud-sounding trumpets to sound an alarm against you. Children of Israel, do not fight with Jehovah the God of your fathers; for ye shall not prosper. But Jeroboam caused an ambush to come about behind them; and they were before Judah, and the ambush behind them. read more. And Judah looked back, and behold, they had the battle in front and behind; and they cried to Jehovah, and the priests sounded with the trumpets. And the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it came to pass that God smote Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah; and God delivered them into their hand. And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter; and there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men. And the children of Israel were humbled at that time, and the children of Judah were strengthened, because they relied upon Jehovah the God of their fathers. And Abijah pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him: Bethel with its dependent villages, and Jeshanah with its dependent villages, and Ephron with its dependent villages. And Jeroboam did not recover strength again in the days of Abijah; and Jehovah smote him, and he died. But Abijah strengthened himself, and took fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. And the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his sayings, are written in the treatise of the prophet Iddo.
And he consulted with the people, and appointed singers to Jehovah, and those that should praise in holy splendour, as they went forth before the armed men, and say, Give thanks to Jehovah; for his loving-kindness endureth for ever! And when they began the song of triumph and praise, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, who had come against Judah, and they were smitten.
And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with lutes, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of Jehovah through his prophets. And the Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. read more. And Hezekiah commanded to offer up the burnt-offering on the altar. And at the moment the burnt-offering began, the song of Jehovah began, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded, all the time until the burnt-offering was finished.
And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day; and they made them an ordinance for Israel. And behold, they are written in the lamentations.
besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred singing men and singing women.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel, with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah according to the directions of David king of Israel. And they sang alternately together in praising and giving thanks to Jehovah: For he is good, for his loving-kindness endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout to the praise of Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid.
and his brethren, Shemaiah, and Azareel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethaneel, and Judah, Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God; and Ezra the scribe before them.
And both choirs stood in the house of God, and I, and the half of the rulers with me; and the priests, Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, Hananiah, with trumpets; read more. and Maaseiah, and Shemaiah, and Eleazar, and Uzzi, and Jehohanan, and Malchijah, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang loud; and Jizrahiah was their overseer.
They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
Myrrh and aloes, cassia, are all thy garments; out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad.
The singers went before, the players on stringed instruments after, in the midst of maidens playing on tabrets.
As well the singers as the dancers shall say, All my springs are in thee.
We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that made us wail required mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. read more. How should we sing a song of Jehovah's upon a foreign soil?
Praise him with the tambour and dance; praise him with stringed instruments and the pipe;
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the children of men, a wife and concubines.
And harp and lyre, tambour and flute, and wine are in their banquets; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, nor do they see the operation of his hands.
And joy and gladness is taken away out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyards there is no singing, neither is there shouting: the treaders tread out no wine in the presses, I have made the cry of the winepress to cease.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it shall be for Tyre as the harlot's song. Take a harp, go about the city, thou forgotten harlot! Make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
the mirth of tambours ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. They do not drink wine with a song; strong drink is bitter to them that drink it.
Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit; let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains:
And I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste.
The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath rejected his sanctuary; he hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of her palaces: they have made a noise in the house of Jehovah, as on the day of a set feast.
And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
And the herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages,
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting; neither were concubines brought before him; and his sleep fled from him.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, the Lord: Wailing shall be in all broadways; and they shall say in all the streets, Alas! alas! And they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing.
that chant to the sound of the lute, and invent them instruments of music, like David;
And the songs of the palace shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah. The dead bodies shall be many; in every place they shall be cast forth. Silence!
And his elder son was in the field; and as, coming up, he drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray also with the understanding; I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing also with the understanding.
Smith
Music.
1. The most ancient music. --The inventor of musical instruments, like the first poet and the first forger of metals, was a Cainite. We learn from
that Jubal the son of Lamech was "the father of all such as handle the harp and organ," that is, of all players upon stringed and wind instruments. The first mentioned of music in the times after the deluge is in the narrative of Laban's interview with Jacob,
so that, whatever way it was preserved, the practice of music existed in the upland country of Syria, and of the three possible kinds of musical instruments two were known and employed to accompany the song. The three kinds are alluded to in
On the banks of the Red Sea Moses and the children of Israel sang their triumphal song of deliverance from the hosts of Egypt; and Miriam, in celebration of the same event, exercised one of her functions as a prophetess by leading a procession of the women of the camp, chanting in chorus the burden of the song of Moses. The song of Deborah and Barak is cast in a distinctly metrical form, and was probably intended to be sung with a musical accompaniment as one of the people's songs. The simpler impromptu with which the women from the cities of Israel greeted David after the slaughter of the Philistines was apparently struck off on the spur of the moment, under the influence of the wild joy with which they welcomed their national champion. "the darling of the sons of Israel."
Up to this time we meet with nothing like a systematic cultivation of music among the Hebrews, but the establishment of the schools of the prophets appears to have supplied this want. Whatever the students of these schools may have been taught, music was an essential part of their practice. Professional musicians soon became attached to the court.
2. The golden age of Hebrew music. David seems to have gathered round him "singing men and singing women."
Solomon did the same,
adding to the luxury of his court by his patronage of art, and obtaining a reputation himself as no mean composer.
But the temple was the great school of music, and it was consecrated to its highest service in the worship of Jehovah. Before, however the elaborate arrangements had been made by David for the temple choir, there must have been a considerable body of musicians throughout the country.
(David chose 4000 musicians from the 38,000 Levies in his reign, or one in ten of the whole tribe. Of these musicians 288 were specially trained and skillful.
The whole number was divided into 24 courses, each of which would thus consist of a full band of 154 musicians, presided over by a body of 12 specially-trained leaders, under one of the twenty-four sons of Asaph, Heman or Jeduthun as conductor. The leaders appear to have played on the cymbals, perhaps to make the time.
All these joined in a special chant which David taught them, and which went by his name.
Women also took part in the temple choir.
These great choirs answered one to another in responsive singing; thus the temple music most have been grand and inspiring beyond anything known before that time.
3. Character of Hebrew music.--As in all Oriental nations, the music of the Hebrews was melody rather than harmony, which latter was then unknown. All old and young, men and maidens, singers and instruments, appear to have sung one part only in or in octaves. "The beauty of the music consisted altogether in the melody;" but this, with so many instruments and voices, was so charming that "the whole of antiquity is full of the praises of this music. By its means battles were won, cities conquered, mutinies quelled, diseases cured." --ED.)
4. Uses of music. --In the private as well as in the religions life of the Hebrews music held a prominent place. The kings had their court musicians,
and in the luxurious times of the later monarchy the effeminate gallants of Israel amused themselves with devising musical instruments while their nation was perishing ("as Nero fiddled while Rome was burning"). But music was also the legitimate expression of mirth and gladness The bridal processions as they passed through the streets were accompanied with music and song.
The music of the banquets was accompanied with song and dancing.
Lu 15:26
The triumphal processions which celebrated victory were enlivened by minstrels and singers.
There were also religious songs.
Love songs are alluded to; in
title, and Isai 5:1 There were also the doleful songs of the funeral procession, and the wailing chant of the mourners. The grape-gatherers sang at their work, and the women sang as they toiled at the mill, and on every occasion the land of the Hebrews during their national prosperity was a land of music and melody.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to Jehovah, and spoke, saying, I will sing unto Jehovah, for he is highly exalted: The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the tambour in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambours and with dances.
Then sang Deb'orah and Barak the son of Abin'o-am on that day:
Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah; and behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
And it came to pass as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambours, with joy, and with triangles. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath smitten his thousands, And David his ten thousands.
And David and all the house of Israel played before Jehovah on all manner of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with sistra, and with cymbals.
I am this day eighty years old: can I discern between good and bad? can thy servant taste what I eat and what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? and why should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?
And he spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five.
And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.
and the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, to sound aloud with cymbals of brass;
Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, with instruments of lutes and with harps; and Asaph sounding with cymbals;
and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
all these were sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to exalt his power; and God had given to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these were under the direction of their fathers Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, for song in the house of Jehovah, with cymbals, lutes and harps, for the service of the house of God, under the direction of the king.
And to Shemaiah his son were sons born, who were rulers in their father's house; for they were mighty men of valour. The sons of Shemaiah: Othni, and Rephael, and Obed, and Elzabad, whose brethren were valiant men, Elihu and Semachiah.
And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah; and all the singing men and singing women spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day; and they made them an ordinance for Israel. And behold, they are written in the lamentations.
They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
{To the chief Musician. Upon Shoshannim. Of the sons of Korah. An instruction; a song of the Beloved.} My heart is welling forth with a good matter: I say what I have composed touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the children of men, a wife and concubines.
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights of the children of men, a wife and concubines.
Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a feast is sanctified; and joy of heart, as of one who goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.
And I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste.
And having called one of the servants, he inquired what these things might be.
Does any one among you suffer evil? let him pray. Is any happy? let him sing psalms.
Watsons
MUSIC is probably nearly coeval with our race, or, at least, with the first attempts to preserve the memory of transactions. Before the invention of writing, the history of remarkable events was committed to memory, and handed down by oral tradition. The knowledge of laws and of useful arts was preserved in the same way. Rhythm and song were probably soon found important helps to the memory; and thus the muses became the early instructers of mankind. Nor was it long, we may conjecture, before dancing and song united contributed to festivity, or to the solemnities of religion. The first instruments of music were probably of the pulsatile kind; and rhythm, it is likely, preceded the observation of those intervals of sound which are so pleasing to the ear. The first mention of stringed instruments, however, precedes the deluge. Tubal, the sixth descendant from Cain, was "the father of all such as handle the harp and the organ." About five hundred and fifty years after the deluge, or B.C. 1800, according to the common chronology, both vocal and instrumental music are spoken of as things in general use: "And Laban said, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away unawares to me, and carried away my daughters, as captives taken with the sword? Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp?" Ge 31:26-27.
Egypt has been called the cradle of the arts and sciences, and there can be no doubt of the very early civilization of that country. To the Egyptian Mercury, or Thoth, who is called Trismegistos, or "thrice illustrious," is ascribed the invention of the lyre, which had at first only three strings. It would be idle to mention the various conjectures how these strings were tuned, or to try to settle the chronology of this invention. The single flute, which they called photinx, is also ascribed to the Egyptians. Its shape was that of a horn, of which, no doubt, it was originally made. Before the invention of these instruments, as Dr. Burney justly observes, "music could have been little more than metrical, as no other instruments except those of percussion were known. When the art was first discovered of refining and sustaining tones, the power of music over mankind was probably irresistible, from the agreeable surprise which soft and lengthened sounds must have occasioned." The same learned writer has given a drawing, made under his own eye, of an Egyptian musical instrument, represented on a very ancient obelisk at Rome, brought from Egypt by Augustus. This obelisk is supposed to have been erected at Heliopolis, by Sesostris, near four hundred years before the Trojan war. The most remarkable thing in this instrument is, that it is supplied with a neck, so that its two strings were capable of furnishing a great number of sounds. This is a contrivance which the Greeks, with all their ingenuity, never hit upon. "I have never been able," says the doctor, "to discover in any remains of Greek sculpture, an instrument furnished with a neck; and Father Montfaucon says that in examining the representations of near five hundred ancient lyres, harps, and citharas, he never met with one in which there was any contrivance for shortening the strings during the time of performance, as by a neck and finger board." From the long residence of the Hebrews in Egypt, it is no improbable conjecture that their music was derived from that source. However that may be, music, vocal and instrumental, made one important part of their religious service. If the excellence of the music was conformable to the sublimity of the poetry which it accompanied, there would be no injustice in supposing it unspeakably superior. to that of every other people; and the pains that were taken to render the tabernacle and temple music worthy of the subjects of their lofty odes, leaves little doubt that it was so. That the instruments were loud and sonorous, will appear from what follows; but as the public singing was performed in alternate responses, or the chorus of all succeeded to those parts of the psalm which were sung only by the appointed leaders, instruments of this kind were necessary to command and control the voices of so great a number as was usually assembled on high occasions.
The Hebrews insisted on having music at marriages, on anniversary birth days, on the days which reminded them of victories over their enemies, at the inauguration of their kings, in their public worship, and when they were coming from afar to attend the great festivals of their nation, Isa 30:29. In the tabernacle and the temple, the Levites were the lawful musicians; but on other occasions any one might use musical instruments who chose. There was this exception, however: the holy silver trumpets were to be blown only by the priests, who, by the sounding of them, proclaimed the festival days, assembled the leaders of the people, and gave the signal for the battle and for the retreat, Nu 10:1-10. David, in order to give the best effect to the music of the tabernacle, divided the four thousand Levites into twenty-four classes, who sung psalms, and accompanied them with music. Each of these classes was superintended by a leader, placed over it; and they performed the duties which devolved upon them, each class a week at a time in succession, 1Ch 16:5; 23:4-5; 25; 2Ch 5:12-13. The classes collectively, as a united body, were superintended by three directors. This arrangement was subsequently continued by Solomon after the erection of the temple, and was transmitted till the time of the overthrow of Jerusalem. It was indeed sometimes interrupted, during the reign of the idolatrous kings, but was restored by their successors, 2Ch 5:12-14; 29:27; 35:15. It was even continued after the captivity, Ezr 3:10; 12/45/type/darby'>Ne 12:45-47; 1 Mac. 4:54; 13:51. It should be remarked, however, that neither music nor poetry attained to the same excellence after the captivity as before that period.
There were women singers as well as men in the temple choir; for in the book of Ezra, among those who returned from the Babylonish captivity, there are said to have been two hundred, Ezr 2:65; and in Ne 7:67, we read of two hundred and forty-five singing men and women. The Jewish doctors will, indeed, by no means admit there were any female voices in the temple choir; and as for those ??????meshoreroth, as they are called in the Hebrew, they suppose them to be the wives of those who sung. Nevertheless, the following passage makes it evident that women, likewise, were thus employed: "God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters; and all these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God," 1Ch 25:5-6. Instrumental music was first introduced into the Jewish service by Moses; and afterward, by the express command of God, was very much improved with the addition of several instruments in the reign of David. When Hezekiah restored the temple service, which had been neglected in his predecessor's reign, "he set the Levites in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet; for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets," 2Ch 29:25.
The harp, ????, kinnor, was the most ancient of the class of stringed instruments, Ge 4:21. It was sometimes called ??????, or "eight stringed," 1Ch 15:21; Ps 6:1; 12:1; although, as we may gather from the coins or medals of the Maccabean age, there were some harps which were furnished with only three strings. The nablum or psaltery, ???????, ?????, ???, is first mentioned in the Psalms of David. In Ps 33:2; 144:9, it is called ???? "a ten-stringed instrument;" but in Ps 92:3, it is distinguished from it. Josephus assigns to it twelve strings, which, taken in connection with the fact above stated, leaves us to conclude that it sometimes had ten and sometimes twelve strings. It was not played with a bow or fret, but with the fingers: the act of playing it is expressed in Hebrew by the word
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And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of those who handle the harp and pipe.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of those who handle the harp and pipe.
And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast deceived me, and hast carried away my daughters as captives of war? Why didst thou flee away covertly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have conducted thee with mirth and with songs, with tambour and with harp;
Why didst thou flee away covertly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have conducted thee with mirth and with songs, with tambour and with harp;
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took the tambour in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambours and with dances.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of beaten work shalt thou make them; and they shall serve for the calling together of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. read more. And when they shall blow with them, the whole assembly shall gather to thee at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And if they blow with one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather unto thee. And when ye blow an alarm, the camps that lie eastward shall set forward. And when ye blow an alarm the second time, the camps that lie southward shall set forward; they shall blow an alarm on their setting forward. And when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not blow an alarm: the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an everlasting statute throughout your generations. And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before Jehovah your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. And in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in your new moons, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings and over your sacrifices of peace-offering; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am Jehovah your God.
And David and all the house of Israel played before Jehovah on all manner of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with sistra, and with cymbals.
and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-Edom and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith to lead the singing.
Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah and Obed-Edom, and Jeiel, with instruments of lutes and with harps; and Asaph sounding with cymbals;
Of these, twenty-four thousand were to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges; and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.
all these were sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to exalt his power; and God had given to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. All these were under the direction of their fathers Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, for song in the house of Jehovah, with cymbals, lutes and harps, for the service of the house of God, under the direction of the king.
and the Levites the singers, all they of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, clad in byssus, with cymbals and lutes and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets), it came to pass when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one voice to be heard in praising and thanking Jehovah; and when they lifted up their voice with trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised Jehovah: For he is good, read more. and the priests could not stand to do their service because of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of God.
And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with lutes, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of Jehovah through his prophets.
And Hezekiah commanded to offer up the burnt-offering on the altar. And at the moment the burnt-offering began, the song of Jehovah began, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel.
And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the doorkeepers were at every gate; they had not to depart from their service, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them.
besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred singing men and singing women.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel, with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah according to the directions of David king of Israel.
besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred and forty-five singing-men and singing-women.
And, with the singers and the doorkeepers, they kept the ward of their God, and the ward of the purification, according to the commandment of David and of Solomon his son. For of old, in the days of David and Asaph, there were the chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgivings to God. read more. And all Israel, in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah, gave the portions of the singers and the doorkeepers, every day what was needed, and they consecrated things for the Levites; and the Levites consecrated for the children of Aaron.
And he hath made me a proverb of the peoples; and I am become one to be spit on in the face.
They shout to the tambour and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
{To the chief Musician. Upon Nehiloth. A Psalm of David.} Give ear to my words, O Jehovah; consider my meditation.
{To the chief Musician. On stringed instruments, upon Sheminith. A Psalm of David.} Jehovah, rebuke me not in thine anger, and chasten me not in thy hot displeasure.
{To the chief Musician. Upon Sheminith. A Psalm of David.} Save, Jehovah, for the godly man is gone; for the faithful have failed from among the children of men.
Give thanks unto Jehovah with the harp; sing psalms unto him with the ten-stringed lute.
Upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the lute; upon the Higgaion with the harp.
O God, I will sing a new song unto thee; with the ten-stringed lute will I sing psalms unto thee:
And harp and lyre, tambour and flute, and wine are in their banquets; but they regard not the work of Jehovah, nor do they see the operation of his hands.
Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a feast is sanctified; and joy of heart, as of one who goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.
Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a feast is sanctified; and joy of heart, as of one who goeth with a pipe to come unto the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel.
Therefore my heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and my heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres; because the abundance that he hath gotten is perished.
thou wast in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the chrysolite, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the carbuncle, and the emerald, and gold. The workmanship of thy tambours and of thy pipes was in thee: in the day that thou wast created were they prepared.
that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up;
that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up;
that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, bagpipe, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up;
Therefore at that time when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;
Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;
Now if ye be ready at the time that ye hear the sound of the cornet, pipe, lute, sambuca, psaltery, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast that same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace: and who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO JEHOVAH; and the pots in Jehovah's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.