Topic
Musical Instruments of the Hebrews
11 passages cited, from 1 classic reference work.
These works date from 1884 and are in the public domain. They reflect the Protestant scholarship of their time: their history, archaeology and dates can be out of date, and where they interpret, other traditions read the text differently. The verses are shown in the King James Version, the wording these works were written against.
The verses
The passages the works cite, those cited by more of them first.
- Genesis 4:21Smith
And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
- 1 Samuel 18:6Smith
And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick.
- 2 Samuel 6:5Smith
And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.
- Psalms 8:1Smith
O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
- Psalms 53:1Smith
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
- Psalms 81:1Smith
Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
- Psalms 84:1Smith
How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!
- Psalms 88:1Smith
O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:
- Psalms 150:3Smith
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
- Daniel 3:5Smith
That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
- Daniel 3:6Smith
And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
In the reference works
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884) · 12 references
- The harp or lyre. [See illustration]
- The psaltery , the name of various large instruments of the harp kind.
- The sackbut , a harp-like instrument of four strings and of triangular form.
- A kind of lute or guitar (mahalath), in titles to (Psalms 53:1) and Psal 88:1 With a long, flat neck, and a hollow body of wood whose surface was perforated with holes. There were three strings, end the whole instrument was three or four feet long.
- The gittith , in titles to (Psalms 8:1; 81:1; 84:1) a stringed instrument, probably found by David st Gath, whence its name. II. INSTRUMENTS OF PERCUSSION.
- The timbrel , a form of tambourine, a narrow hoop covered with a tightened skin, and struck with the hand on the Egyptian monuments are three kinds --the circular, the square, and another formed by two squares separated by a bar.
- The drum (toph). Of this there were many varieties, some of them resembling modern drums. The Egyptians had along drum, of wood or copper, 2 1/2 feet long, resembling the tom-tom of India, and beaten by the hand. Another form was shaped like a cask with bulging centre, and was made of copper. It was of the same length as the other, but larger around, and was beaten with sticks. Another drum was more like our kettledrum; and one of these, the rabbins say, was placed in the temple court to the priests to prayer, and could be heard from Jerusalem to Jericho.
- Bells (paanton), attached to the high priest’s dress, and rung by striking against the knobs, shaped like pomegranates, which were hung near them.
- Cymbals . The earliest cymbals were probably finger cymbals -small plates of metal fastened to the thumb and middle finger, and struck together. Afterward there were the large cymbals, played with both hands.
- Systra (menaanim), (2 Samuel 6:5) there translated comets. The systrum was a carved bronze or copper frame, with a handle, in all from 8 to 18 inches long, with movable rings and bars. It was shaken with the hand, and the rings and bars made a piercing metallic sound by striking against the bronze frame.
- The triangle (shalishim), (1 Samuel 18:6) a musical instrument (machol) used for accompanying the dance, and several times translated dancing. (Psalms 150:3,45) It was a metallic rim or frame sometimes with a handle and had small bells attached to it, or bars across on which were strung metallic rings or plates. It was held in the hand, and was played by the women at weddings and merry-makings. III. WIND INSTRUMENTS. --
- The syrinx, pandean pipe or bagpipe (ugab); translated "organ" in (Genesis 4:21) Either like the bagpipe, or a series of pipes from 5 to 23 in number, though usually only 7.
- The horn ,in the form of an animal’s horn even when made of metal but originating in the use of the horns of cattle.
- The trumpet (shophar) same as horn, 2.
- The straight trumpet .
- The flute (halil , meaning "bored through "), a pipe perforated with holes, originally made from reeds, but afterward of wood bone, horn or ivory. It was chiefly consecrated to joy or pleasure.
- The flute , alluded to in (Daniel 3:6) probably a kind of double flageolet.
- The dulcimer , (Daniel 3:5) a kind of bagpipe with two shrill reeds. The modern dulcimer is a triangular instrument strung with about 60 brass wires, and played upon with little sticks or metallic rods. It more resembles the ancient psaltery than the dulcimer of (Daniel 3:5) --ED.)
Texts: Smith's Bible Dictionary (1884), from the CrossWire SWORD modules (public domain). Verse references were parsed from the works' own markup and checked against the KJV verse list.