The Bible often refers to songs, music, musical sounds and
instruments, and dancing. We can infer several details about the
instruments from their descriptions in the Bible as well as from
archaeological finds and other ancient texts. NT references to music
are scant; the OT material may be supplemented by ancient Near
Eastern resources from Egypt, Canaan/Israel, Ugarit, and Mesopotamia.
Music
Style.
In
all likelihood, Israel’s music sounded much like that of its
neighbors. This conjecture is particularly strengthened by findings
from Ugarit, a city on the Syrian coast across from Cyprus. These
findings, roughly from the time of the judges, mention some of the
same musical instruments found in the Bible, some of which have been
uncovered by archaeologists. The style of the poetry is very similar
to the Song of Deborah (Judg. 5). Lyrically, some of the descriptions
and titles used by the Canaanites for Baal are applied by Israel to
Yahweh, to assert that he is the true God who has these attributes.
Given these similarities in text, poetic style, and instrumentation,
it is most probable that Israel’s music sounded much like that
of its neighbors. Still, there is some evidence for regional styles.
The direction to play psalms “according to gittith”
(superscription to Pss. 8; 81; 84) may refer to the style of Gath,
and similar regional interpretations are proposed for other
directions in the psalms.
Lyrics.
The lyric side of Israel’s songs exhibits rhythm and deliberate
structure. The most obvious planned structure is the alphabetic
acrostic, where the poet or songwriter composes one or more verses to
begin with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. But the psalms
exhibit many other structures involving symmetries and balance, such
as equal halves, centered lines, symmetrical patterns of stanza
length, and other features. The lines themselves usually demonstrate
balance among their parts, having similar numbers of beats or
accented syllables. Several lament poems exhibit a particular pattern
known as qinah meter, which presumably also fits a musical template.
Performance.
The performance of the psalms was, on at least some occasions,
accompanied by multiple instruments and performed in a choir to
achieve the volume necessary for community gatherings, which had no
amplification equipment. It is generally assumed, though not known,
that all choir members sang melody rather than in parts. They may
well have integrated solo performances and musical interludes. From
the poetry of the psalms, we observe different speaking voices. That
is, in some instances, we hear the voice of the king, or of the
people generally, or an official who addresses the audience, or a
priestly or prophetic speaking voice, even the words of God himself.
This is very suggestive that public performance may have brought
different singers to the foreground at different times. There are
also poems that employ a repeated refrain, suggesting an antiphonal
performance, and others in which the priests or people in Jerusalem
take up parts different from those of the arriving worshipers. While
the exact execution of these songs is speculative, these elements
suggest a certain amount of pageantry, at least for community
settings. David is responsible for setting up Israel’s musical
orders for the temple, with professional musicians with rotating
responsibilities (1 Chron. 16; 25).
Instruments
Strings.
The
most frequently mentioned instrument is the kinnor, a lyre, also
often referred to as a harp. The sound box of the harp is at the
base, from which a straight or curved neck rises at a sharp angle so
that the strings going from the box to the neck are of different
length. The lyre has two uprights and a crosspiece on top, from which
the strings of similar length stretch down to the sound box. The
kinnor-lyre had eight to ten strings (based on Akkadian and Ugaritic
findings and Jewish descriptions) and could be played with a pick or
by hand. David’s “harp” was such a lyre. The “harp”
mentioned in the NT (1 Cor. 14:7; Rev. 5:8; 14:2; 15:2) probably
was also a lyre. Another OT lyre, or perhaps a harp, the nebel,
complemented the kinnor-lyre. Jewish tradition about the strings
implies that it produced a lower sound. The nebel-lyre is most often
mentioned with other instruments, though occasionally alone. Another
stringed instrument mentioned three times, the ’asor, may have
been a harp or a lyre with ten strings (Pss. 33:2; 92:3; 144:9). In
Pss. 45:8; 150:4 there is mention of “the strings,” which
may refer to more than just the stringed instruments specifically
mentioned in the Bible. The ancient world also had lutes, an
instrument with a long, straight neck, fretted like a guitar or
ukulele, proceeding from a small sound box.
Percussion.
Timbrels,
cymbals, and castanets or rattles are percussion instruments
mentioned in the Bible. The timbrel, also known from Egypt and
Ugarit, was a hand drum, like a tambourine but without metal jingles.
The timbrel accompanies dancing and may have been used by the dancers
(Exod. 15:20; Judg. 11:34; 1 Sam. 18:6). Cymbals may have been
paired or individual, but it is not certain whether these latter were
suspended cymbals or finger cymbals, being four to six inches in
diameter. In 2 Sam. 6:5 there is mention of another percussion
instrument, mena’an’im (the root of this word means “to
shake”), perhaps “sistrums” (NIV) or “castanets”
(NASB) (although the KJV renders it as “cornets”).
Egyptian sistrums were small, forked, metal instruments with three
sliding crossbars that had hooked ends. Archaeologists have also
found rattles made of pottery, with ceramic balls inside. Castanets
were small hand-clappers joined with a string. Israel likely had all
of these, though it is hard to know which is referred to in 2 Sam.
6:5. The cymbal is mentioned once in the NT (1 Cor. 13:1),
though not as musically pleasing in that context.
Woodwinds
and horns.
The OT attests to both an animal horn, most frequently called a
shopar, and a metal trumpet, the khatsotserah (Num. 10:2–10).
The NT refers to a horn with a word used to translate both OT terms
(salpinx). The ancient world had both flutes and shawms. Shawms have
a bell-like flare at the end, while the shaft of a flute is straight
to the end. What is likely a double-reed shawm is frequently
translated “flute” (1 Sam. 10:5; 1 Kings 1:40;
Isa. 5:12; 30:29; Jer. 48:36 [NIV: “pipes”]). It is
unclear whether the instrument mentioned in Gen. 4:21; Ps. 150:4
commonly translated as “flute” is a woodwind or a
stringed instrument. The NT also mentions a flute or reed instrument
(Matt. 11:17; 9:23; 1 Cor. 14:7; Rev. 18:22) that could be
played for dancing or mourning.
Simplicity
and complexity.
Instruments such as horns, trumpets, and some percussion instruments
were not used only for making music. The blowing of the ram’s
horn or the trumpet might be used to sound the alarm, convene an
assembly, or in preparation for an announcement. Aaron was to wear
metal bells on the hem of his robe when entering the holy place
(Exod. 28:33–35). Some of the percussion instruments may have
been used to augment dance and keep rhythm more than to make music
for singing. The strings were the primary instruments to accompany
singing, though they were not necessarily accompanied by song.
A
few Assyrian texts treat the tuning and playing of music with
technical notations. From their string designations and tuning
directions we can infer that their scales utilized seven notes as in
the modern octave (seven notes plus one repeating). The notes for
tuning stringed instruments suggest that the tunings produced
different scales. Musical theory, then, was not completely absent.
Many of the pictorial representations of musicians from Egypt and
Mesopotamia include multiple instruments being played together (cf.
Nebuchadnezzar’s instructions in Dan. 3:5, 7, 10, 15 and
David’s celebration in 2 Sam. 6:5). These are not simply
multiple kinds of noisemakers, although community gatherings would
require volume. Rather, they exhibit a sense of understanding which
instruments complemented each other well. While the singing of the
ancient Near East no doubt included chanting, singing with multiple
instruments suggests something more melodious than mere chanting
interspersed with the strumming of a lute. This music could be styled
to fit different moods, to soothe, to celebrate, to mourn, to
worship. It is reasonable to suggest that the music accompanying the
psalms reflected the wide range of emotions mentioned in the text.
Dancing
The
dancing mentioned in the Bible is usually celebratory and positive
and is combined with singing or the playing of musical instruments.
Such dancing may occur at any happy occasion but is mentioned most
often in connection with victory or worship (e.g., Exod. 15:20; Judg.
11:34; 1 Sam. 18:6). The women of Shiloh “join in the
dancing” (Judg. 21:21) at an annual festival, which implies
some manner of folk dancing. The dancing of Herodias’s daughter
probably was erotic (Matt. 14:6; Mark 6:22), and the dancing of the
Israelites around the golden calf probably was laden with sensuality
as well (Exod. 32:19).
