M U S I C I N TH E O LD TE S TA M EN T
.
U S I C belongs to the inalienable rights of m a n
It
is the e ffort to make one s self intelligible to his
fellow men by means of the stimulation of sounds of all
kinds M usic exists wherever men are found upon the
earth and everywhere they show a genuine refinement in
the discovery of means by which to originate sounds There
is hardly anything which can not be brought into use for
its purposes
We do not intend to lose ourselves here in speculation
upon the psychological reasons for this demoniac impulse ;
we will be content simply to establish the fact and will not
enter into it with regard to humanity in general but only
in so far a s the ancient people of I srael i s concerned
E ven with relation to the Old Testament we will limit
ourselves to what the Old Testament itself can tell us
about music and musical things
M any pas sages have proved very puz zling to B ible
readers For instance when we read in the heading of
“
P salm lxxx To the chief M usician upon S h osh a n n i m
”
Ed u th A P salm of Asaph ; or in the heading of P s lx
“
To the chief M usician upon S hushan e d u th M i ch tam
”
of David to teach ; or in the heading of P s lvi To the
chief M usician upon jon ath ele m rech ok i m M i ch ta m of
”
David ; or when Psalms viii lxxxi and lxxxiv bear the
“
inscription To the chief M u sician upon Gittith ; or the
“
”
three xxx 1x lxii and lxx v ii to Jeduthun ; we m ay cer
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M USI C
I N TH E OLD T ES T AM E N T
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ta i n ly assume that we have an explanation for these hiero
in
considering
that
they
possess
some
kind
of
a
i
l
h
s
c
g yp
m usical
character
Accordingly it will be our task to
gather together and to s ift out the information given by
the Old Testament itself upon music and musical m atters
and then to see whether we can unite and combine these
scattered and isolated features into one co m prehensive pic
ture or at least into a comparatively clear idea I t i s only
scattered and isolated features which th e Old Testament
o ffers us and not very much of them nor very abundan t ly
N ot perhaps because music had p layed a subordinate and
—
inconspicuous part in the life of ancient I srael on the
contrary they must have been a people of an unusually
musical temperament whose daily nourishment was song
and sound On this point the Old Testament itself le a ve s
l ittle room for doubt
E verywhere and at all times were song and music to
be found in Ancient I srael Every festival occasion every
climax of public or private life was celebrated with music
and song Just a s Homer called singing and string music
“
”3
the consecration of the meal
so also in ancient I srael
no ceremonial meal could be thought of without its a o
c om pan i m en t of either vocal or instrumental music
M ar
ri a g e ceremonies took place amid festive choruses with
music and dancing and at the bier of the dead sounded the
wail of dirge and flute The sheep were sheared and the
vintage gathered to songs of joy and dancing and tam
bouri me playing The same was true in public life The
2
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uth e r i hi s t r a slat i o mak es
attem p t to t r a slate th ese hi e r o
b t t h e above q oted mean i n gless com bi nat i ons o f lette r fr om t h e
gl y ph i
K i g J ames
e r s i o h a r dl y conve y less s i g i fi a ce to th e r eade r of to da y
th an hi s sentences E P l m A ph o d S p o
o z
i g
i g
od D
o
Ei g ii l d
Kl
id
i m gii l d
o
Ro
( lxxx )
l h
p
( 1x ) etc P r o f e o r Co ill co s i de r s t h e E n g l i s h t r ansl t i o
To t h e c h i ef M s i c i an as p r e fe r able to L ut h e r s o z
T h e Pol y
g
c h rome B i ble t r an l tes th i s w o r d ! o t h e L i tu rgy and i te r pr ets t h e suc
ses as t h e catc h w o r d of olde r so g to t h e tu e wh e r eof thi s
d i g cl
Tr
P salm w as to be sun g
’
L
n
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c s,
u
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an zu
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:
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ssa
sa
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re n
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av
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an r s en ,
v
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d ra flfi ua r a aa tHi s
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M U SI C
I N TH E OLD TE S TA M E N T
3
.
election of a king or his coronation or betroth a l were cele
b ra ted with music ; the victorious warriors and generals
were met upon their return home by choruses of m atrons
and maidens with dance and song S o M iria m s poke from
among the chorus of women who after the successful p as
“
sage through the Re d S ea went out with timbrels and
”
with dances ( E x xv
in the s a me w a y t oo David
wa s received by matrons and maidens after h i s successful
battle with the Philistines ( 1 S a m xviii 6) a nd u p on thi s
custom i s founded the frightful tragedy o f the story of
Jephthah whose daughter hastened in the joy of her heart
to o ffer greeting and praise to her victoriou s father only
to be m et by death a s the fulfil m ent o f his vow ( Judges
xi )
How great a place music occupied in the worship of
ancient Israel is universally known The entire P salter i s
nothing else than a collection of religi o us songs which were
sung in the temple worship where the priests with their
trumpets and the choruses of mu sic m aking Levites st a nd
before the eye of our imagination E speci a lly by typ ic a l
expressions do we learn what a sign ificance music h a d for
the life of the I sraelitish nation There i s in Hebrew a
saying which characterizes what we would call being c om
”
” “
”
m on talk
the obj ect of gossip
on everybody s tongue
in such a way as to indicate ditties sung in ridicule The
“
”
H ebrew expression n eg i n ah means string m usic being
” “
”
5
derived from the word n a gan
to beat
to touch with
special r eference to instruments as in stri king the chords
In Psalm lxix 1 2 this word n eg i n a h is used in a pass a ge
”
which literally reads : I am the lute song of drunkards
“
The Polychrome B ible translates the passage : I am the
”
subj ect of wine bibbers ballads
In the same sense the
word is used in Job xxx 9 with reference to the frightful
fate that had befallen him : And now am I their song ye a
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M U S I C I N TH E OLD T ES T AM E N T
4
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And in L a ment a tions we find ( iii I 4
I wa s a derision to all my people ; and their song
all the day
B ehold their sitting down and their rising
”
“
up ; I a m their music
Here the word translated song
”
and music is the same in both instances When Job s
fortune changes to evil he says ( xxx
M y harp als o
is turned to mourning and my organ into the voice of
”
them that weep
The dreadful desolation of Jerusalem
a fter its destruction i s described in Lamentations with the
words : The elders have ceased fro m the g a te the young
”
m e n from their music ( v I 4 )
Ancient I srael must have been recognized among out
s ide nations a s well as a particularly musical people whose
accomplishments in the art comprised a definite profession
For this view we have two extremely characteristic sources
of evidence one from Assyrian monuments and one from
the Old Testament I n his account of the unsuccessful
siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians in the year 70 1 B C
S a n h e ri b tells us according to the translation of Hugo
Winckler that Hezekiah king of Judah besides all kinds
of valuable articles sent also his daughters and the women
o f his palace together with men and women singers to the
great king at N ineveh while in the touching Psalm cxxxvii
we learn that the B abylonian tyrant demanded s on g s of the
Jewish exiles to cheer them up : S ing to us your beautiful
”
songs of ! ion
Jewish tradition has given expression to the fact that
music belongs to the earliest benefits and gifts of the cul
ture of mankind by establishing Jubal as the inventor of
music and father of musicians as early a s the seventh gen
e ra ti on after the creation ( Gen
iv
An important
influence on the human heart was ascribed to music and it
was employed to drive away the evil spirit o f m elancholy
when David played before the sick King S a ul ( 1 S am xvi
I t was also used a s a spiritual stimulus by which to
I am their byword
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M U S I C I N TH E OLD T ES T AM E N T
5
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acquire prophetic inspiration In S amuel s ti m e co mpanies
of prophets traversed the land to the music of psalter and
harp ( 1 S am x
and so t he Prophet E lisha to whom
the Kings Jehoshaph at and Jehoram applied for an oracle
from God sent for a lute player saying ( 2 Kings iii 1 5 )
But now bring me a minstrel And it came to pass when
the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon
”
him
An art to which such a powerful influence was attrib
s te rs the greatest king
u te d and to whose most famous maof I srael belonged must have been z ealou sly practised and
we will now undertake to gai n some idea of the cultivation
of music in ancient I srael To this end it will be mos t
useful if we will begin our investigation with what the
Old Testament says about musical instruments of course
with express exception of the book of Daniel which in its
third chapter mentions a large number of in struments
6
using their Greek names as naturalized words ; for these
prove absolutely nothing with regard to ancient Hebrew
music which at presen t i s our only consideration
We may with equal propriety exclude singing from our
investigation S ong i s such an especially instinctive and
spontaneous expres sion of the human soul that its pres
ence l s established a pri ori In this connection the question
might be raised with regard to the construction of the
tone system but this can not be answered without knowl
edge of the instruments employed Only I will not neglect
to mention that a s early as in the time of David profe s
s i on a l male and
female singers provided music during
mealtime David wished to take with him to Jerusalem
as a reward for fidelity the faithful old B arzillai who had
protected him at the time of Absalom s rebellion There
he would be the daily guest of the king ; but B arzillai a n
s w e re d ( 2 S am xix
I am this day fourscore ye ars
m7p y£
0p
ufi fi m
u¢ w l
wx fip
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M U S I C I N TH E OLD TE S TA M ENT
6
.
?
old ; a nd c a n I discern between good and e v il
C a n thy
servant taste wh a t I eat or what I drink ? Can I hear any
?
more the voice of singing men and singing women Where
fore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord
”
the king ? S olomon the P reacher also delighted in m en
singers and women S ingers and the delights of the sons of
”
men as musical instruments and that of all sorts ( E ccl
ii
,
,
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M usic a l instruments a re usually divided into t hree clas
ses perc u ssw e i nstruments stringed instruments and wind
instruments and we shall also follow this division Of
these three classes t he percussive instruments are t he most
primitive They can not be said to posses s any properly
articulated tones but sounds only and their single artistic
element is rhythm which however is certainly the foun
da t ion and essen t ial characteristic of music according to
“
the witty utterance of Hans von B ii l ow In the beginning
”
was the rhythm
Among percussive instruments the one most frequently
”
mentioned is the timbrel or tabret ( in Hebrew toph ) which
corresponds exactly to our tambourine Often they were
richly ornamented so that they were frequently referred
to a s decorations In one of the most splendid passages
“
of th e prophet Jeremiah we read : Again I will build thee
and thou shalt be built O virgin of I srael ; thou shalt again
be adorned with thy tabrets and shalt go forth in the
”
dances of them that make merry ( Jer xxxi
Thi s
passage i s particularly characteristic of the n a ture of the
tabret in two r espects ; first it u sually appears in the hands
of women ( in all passages where tabret players are ex
pressly mentioned they are matrons and maidens ) ; and
sec ondly it al mo st a lways appears in c o nnection with the
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M U S I C I N TH E OLD TE S TA M ENT
7
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dance a s being swung in the dance and m arking its
rhythm We can suppose it to have been undoubtedly
played by men only in connection with the music of the
companies of prophets in S amuel s time for if we read
t hat these prophets came down from the sacred high place
with a psaltery and a tabre t and a pipe and a harp before
them I S am x
we would hardly think of the mu si
c i a n s who accompanied thes e wild men and played th e
tabrets before them as women
The second percussive instrument is the fa m il i a r cym
bal which comes next to our mind in thinking of the music
of the Old Testament With regard to the nature and
character of this instrument we can gather all that i s e s
In the first place the cymbal
se n ti a l from the B ible itself
must have been constructed of brass for in the familiar
passage I Cor xiii I the Apostle Paul writes according
to the Greek text Though I speak with the tongues of
men and of angels and have not charity I am become as
”
sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal
The Hebrew root
8
ts a l al
from which both words for cymbal are derived
means clatter to give forth a S harp penetrating sound ;
"
and the word most frequently u sed m e ts il tayi m i s in th e
dual form which is never used in the H ebrew language in
its purely grammatical sense but only in the logical sense
of things which occur in nature only in pairs N ow since
a penetrating and loud tone is repeatedly attributed to the
cymbals we may consider them a s two metal plates to be
struck together ( Fig 4 ) that is to say t hey are the i n
s tru m en ts which we know a s cymbals and which ar e known
in German as B ec ke n and in I t alian as Ma tti and which
are most familiar to us in military music in combination
with a bass drum
Two other percussive instru m ents are m entioned of
which o ne is still doub t ful The one which is undoubt e dly
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9 x
vi
M U S I C I N TH E OLD TE S TA M E N T
8
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certain men a an zm ( 2 S am vi 5 ) evidently c o mes fro m
”
11
the root n u a
to shake and corresponds exactly with
2
the Greek sistrum which consists of m etal crossbars upon
which hang metal rings that are made to produce their
Accordingly in cur rent lan
tones by shaking ( Fig
guage it is the Turkish bell tree the c i n ell i with which
we are familiar also through German military music
3
Then too an instrument called the s ha l i s h i s men
ti on ed in the hands of women together with the tabret at
the t riumphant reception of David upon his return from
the conquest of th e giant Golia t h I S am xviii
The
word s h a l i s h being derived from the same root as s h a l os h
the number three we have been accustomed to identify
it with our modern triangle but it is a question whether
we are justified i n so doing With this instrument we
have exhausted the number of percussive instruments men
ti on e d in the Old Testament
It might perhaps be more logical for us to follow the
percussive instruments at once with the wind instruments
inasmuch as they are the most primitive next to the per
c u s s i v e instruments because horns of animals and reeds
are nature s own gifts to men while strings made from
catgut are a purely artificial product But as far a s an
cient I srael was concerned the stringed instruments were
by far the most important I will remind my readers once
more of the proverbial application of the word string
m usic above mentioned
Accordingly I will next consider the stringed i n stru
ments of which th e Old Testament mentions two the
“
15
ki n n or
and n e bel
That both were composed of strings
dr a wn across wood ( Fig 8) may be proved in so far a s
it needs proof by the fact that according to I Kings x 1 2
S olomon ordered certain instruments of this clas s intended
for the temple service to be made out of sand a l wood
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D J’J l l i n
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‘2 e
arpov
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BW
13 W‘
1‘ “1
133
M U S I C I N TH E OLD T ES TAM E N T
9
.
which he had obtained during his famous visits to Ophir
Of these two instruments the kinnor is the most important
but I will begin with the nebel because we have the m ore
definite tradition with regard to it When Jerome tells
16
us that the nebel whose name became n a bl a and n a bl i u m
in Greek and Latin possessed the form of a Greek Delta A
we thus have the triangular pointed harp indicated a s
plainly a s possible ( Fig I ) The only obj ection that can
be brou ght against thi s view namely that we repeatedly
meet this instrument in the hands of dancers and pilgrims
i s not sound In representations of Ancient E gypt we
also have harps so small th at they could easily be carried
and the best commentaries have lately S hown u s
( Fig
As syrian representations where pointed harp s with th e
points at the top and fastened with a band were likewise
carried in the hands of dancing processions ( Fig
If
the points of these Assyrian harps were regularly at the
top this will explain to u s better S t Jerome s comparison
with the Greek Delta which of course has the point a t th e
top
E specially noteworthy among others i s an Assyrian
represent ation ( Fig 1 5 ) in which three prisoners are b e
ing led into exile by an Assyrian king and all three are
pl a ying four stringed harps on the march but the harps
are so turned that th e broad side i s on top I t i s v ery pos
sible that thes e figures may represent captive I sraelites
There must have been several varieties of nebel ( e g
A harp of ten strings ( d ek a c h ord ) i s repeatedly
Fig
17
m entioned in clear distinction from the u sual ones which
accordingly must have h a d fewer than ten strings p erh a ps
four a s in that Assyrian sketch An instrument of six
strings i s the interpretation of many exegetists of the
8
word s h us h a n which Luther translates by R os en in the
headings to Psalms xl v lx lxix and lxxx When we re a d
‘ “
Ps xxx iii 2 ; xc 4 ; c l i g
2
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in Luther s B ible in the headings to Psalms vi and x i i to
” 9
be rendered on eight strings
this i s hardly an accurate
translation of a musical term with which we shall occupy
ourselves later
By far the m ost important stringed instru m ent on the
other hand is th e kinnor Its invention is ascribed to
Jubal and we meet with it on every hand in the most varied
occasions The exiles hung them on the willows by the
waters of B abylon ( P S cxxxvii 2 ) and according to a
passage in the book of I saiah which to be sure comes from
a much later date probably the Greek period they are used
by harlots for the public allurement of men ( I s xxiii
For us the kinnor has indeed a conspicuous interest and
a p a rticular significance in that it was the instrument of
King David by which the son of Jesse subdued the mel
an c h ol y of King S a n ] and which he played when dancing
before the ark We ar e particul arly fortun a te in posses
s ing a n authentic copy of this instrument on an E gyptian
monument On the tomb of Ch n u m h ote p the Prince of
M iddle E gypt at B eni Hassan in the time of Pharaoh U sur
te sen II of the 1 2 th dyn asty which can not be placed later
th a n 2 300 B C a procession of S emitic nomads i s re pre
sented which Ch n u m h ote p is leading into the presence of
Pharaoh in order to obtain th e royal permission for a
d w elling place in E gypt In this procession a man who
comes immediately behind the women and children is carry
ing by a leather thong an instrument which we can not
fail to recogn ize a s the kinnor ( Fig 3 cf also Fig
It
is a board w ith four rounded corners and with a sounding
hol e in the upper part over which eight strings are
stretched The m an picks the strings with the fingers of
his left hand while he strikes them with a so called plec
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Th e Pol yc h rome B b le h e r e unde r stan ds i n t h e e i gh t h !mode ] o r ke y
Th e au th o r i zed ve r s i on aga i n r e o r ts to a t r ansc ri pt i on of t h e H e b r e w On
D r Corn i l l s v i e w i s g i ven on p a g es 2 5 7 f
Tr
N e gi n ot h upon Sh em i n i t h
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M U S I C I N TH E OLD TE S T AM E N T
II
.
tru m
a s mall stick held in hi s right hand That the
I sraelites also played their stringed instruments partly with
their fingers and partly by means of s uch a plectrum we
might conclude from t he two characteristically di fferent
”
2
expressions for playing on strings : z a m a r
to pluck
”
22 “
and n ag an
to strike
All antiquity was unacquainted
with the use of bows to produce sound from stringed i n
s tru m e n ts of any kind
Hence t he kinnor may first of all be compared to our
z ither except tha t it apparently had no hollow space under
neath and no special sounding board The stringed i n
s tru m e n ts a s they are represented in countless di fferent
varieties on Je w i sh coins ( Figs I 3 and 1 4 ) do not corre
spon d either with the nebel or the kinnor but much more
23
closely resemble the G reek lyre and therefore have little
value with reference to the Old Testament
We might also consider the g i tti th a stringed i n stru
ment where the he a dings to P s viii lxxxi and lxxxiv read
“
”2
upon Gittith
But it is very doubtful whether the word
”
i
t
t
i
t
h
translates a musical instrument and not rather a
g
particular kind of song or melody In either case it will be
better not to confuse the old I sraelitish temple orchestra
with the gittith
We have still to consider the wind instruments One
of these whose invention is likewise ascribed to Jubal is
called the
B esides in Gen iv 2 1 it is mentioned
twice in the book of Job and once in P S cl in which all
instruments and everything that hath breath are sum
m on ed to give praise and thanksgiving to God ( P s cl 4 ;
Job xxi 1 2 ; xxx
This a ga b is most probably the
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9° n l
fi
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xrpov
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133
Mpa
Th e Polyc hr ome B ible commen ts : W e do n ot kn o w wh eth e r G i tti th
means be l on g mg to th e c i t y of G ath whi ch p r obabl y h ad b een d est r oyed b e
fo r e th e B abylon i a n E x i le o r be l on gm g to a w i ne p re s s ( S on g fo”r th e
o r w h et h e r i t denotes a mode o r ke y o r a mus i cal i n st r ume n t Tr
“
’
‘
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1 s )
i s t r anslated i n th e auth o ri zed e r s i o b y or ga
th e ma rgi n as p i pe Tr
9°
4 , in
It
v
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M U S I C I N TH E OLD T ES T AM E N T
12
.
s a me as the bag pipe which i s of cours e a very primitive
a nd widely spread instrument familiar to us a s the national
instrument of the S cotch an d best known in continental
E urope a s the pi fi era ri of Italy It has been customary
”
!
to translate n ga b by shawm ; Luther calls it p ipes
( P fei fen )
The most important reed instrument the flute we find
27
referred to a s kh a l i l
only in five passages : with the
thundering m usic of the prophets ( 1 S am x
at th e
proclamation of S olomon a s the successor of David ( 1
Kings i
twice in the book of I saiah in connection
with the dinner music of the rich gluttons and winebibbers
at Jeru salem ( v
and als o when one goeth with the
”
pipe to come into the mountain of the Lord ( xxx
and finally once in the book of Jeremiah as th e instrument
of m ourning and lamentation where we read ( xlviii
”
Therefore mine heart shall sound for M oab like pipes
In thi s connection we are reminded to some extent of th e
awakening of Ja i ru s s little daughter When Jesu s reached
the house of mourning h e found there before him flute
28
players and wee p ing women ( M att ix 2 3 ; M ark v
Of the construction of these flutes th e Old Testament
tells us nothing and leaves nothing to be inferred and yet
we imagine that the khalil wa s not a transverse flute but
probably a sort of beaked flute thus corresponding much
more closely to our clarinet We find the transverse flutes
only in v ery isolated cases on Egyp tian monuments while
on the other hand we find the beaked flutes regularly in an
overwhelming m a jority with the Assyrians and indeed
-
,
.
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.
,
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.
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,
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,
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i e thi s a rt i cle a p pea r ed m Th M o t M Ph i ll i ps B a rry m a ve ry
r eadable a r t i cle ( M om s t ! I ! J ul y 1909 pp 4 5 9 4 61 ) h po i nted out t h at
th e t rad i t i o al r en d e r i n g of ug b
b gp i pe i s ot w ell fou ded but r ests
upo
e rr o r J ust wh at th e g b i s h o w ev e r B a rry hi msel f i s ot able to
sa y
Tr a slated i n t h e aut h o r i zed v e r s i o by p i p e Tr
Th e E n gl i s h e r s i o s p eaks s i mpl y of m i nst r els d t h e peop le mak in g
wi th out t r a slat i g th e k i d of i st r ument used Tr
a n o i se
S nc
n zs
e
r
.
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M U S I C I N TH E OLD TE S T AM E N T
I 3
.
often composed of two tubes as was the comm o n for m
among the Greeks ( Fig
But nearer than this w e
c a n not a ffirm any t hing with regard t o t heir use in ancient
.
I s rae L
We find animal horns men t ioned twice among wind
instrumen t s as ram s horns once indeed in connecti o n
with the t heophany of S inai ( E xodu s xix I 3) and once
”
The term horn
a t the cap t ure of Jericho ( Josh vi
2
i
n
for
a
musical
instrument
comes
under
Greek
ren
e
q
On the other hand in
fl u en c e again in the book of Daniel
3
Old Testament times on l v the two forms s h ofar and
1
h a ts ots era h were in common use On the triumphal arch
of Titus ( Figs 1 6 and I 7 ) and on two Jewish coins
t
h
a
t
s
o
Fig
we
have
esthetic
representa
t
ions
of
the
1
8
(
)
serah which was peculiarly the instrument of worship and
wa s blown by the priests According to N um x two hat
s otse rot
h ( the word always occurs in the plural in the
Hebrew with one exception ) were to be fashioned out of
s ilver by skilful handiwork and t here the priests made use
of them to call together the people and to announce th e
fe a sts and new moons That these instruments in the
ancient temple were indeed of silver we learn als o from an
incidental notice in 2 Kings xii I 3 in the reign of Ki n g
Joash According to many pictures they are rather long
and slender and perfectly straight widening gradually in
front into a bell mouth hence the very instruments which
the pictures of ancient art used to place in the hands of
angels and which may b est be compared with the s o called
clarion of ancient music a kind of cl a rinet made of metal
The wind instrument which i s second in importance
the s h ofa r still plays a part in the worship of the syn
agogue but in the Old T e stament a s far a s religious u se
i s concerned it i s far behind the h a tsotse ra h According
to Jerome the horn of the shofar i s bent backward in c on
’
,
,
.
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,
.
.
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,
.
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30
15 1W
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41
M U S I C I N TH E OLD T ES T AME N T
4
.
trast to the straight horn of the h a tsotse rah I t is es p e
for
c i a l ly the instrument for sounding signals of al a rm
which purpose it was widely used According to law
this trumpet was to be sounded on the day of atonement
e very forty ninth year the year of jubilee ( Lev xxv
There i s a noteworthy passage in the book of I saiah where
it says that on that day a t the sounding of the great trum
pet ( s h ofa r ) all the Jews scattered and exiled throughout
the whole world shall come back to worship in t he holy
m ount at Jerusalem ( I s xxvii I 3) and thi s eschatological
and a p ocalyptical passage has also become significant with
regard to the N ew Testament for from it the Apostle
Paul takes the trump of the last judgment by whose sound
the dead will arise according to I Cor xv 5 2 and I Thess
iv 1 6 ( Cf also M att xxiv
According to the
p rophet ! echariah the Lord of S abaoth himself shall blow
the trumpet ( s h ofa r) at the last j udgment ( ! ech ix
Whether the ancient I sraelites really played melodies
or signals in the natural tones of the bugle or the signal
trumpet we do not know We have only two c h a ra c te ri s
tically di fferent expressions for the blowing on the shofar
”3 2
and h a tsotse rah viz
blow
on the instruments and
” 33
how 1 on them By the first word is meant to make a
noise by short sharp blasts and by the last by long drawn
out ringing notes This i s what we learn from the Old
T estament about musical instruments of ancient I srael
and their u se
.
,
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-
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><
The char acter of the music of ancient I srael we must
consider in general as merry and gay almost boisterous
so that it seemed advisable to refrain from music in the
presence of men who were ill tempered or moody In the
P roverbs of S olomon xxv 2 0 we have the expressive
as vinegar upon nitre so is he that singeth songs
s i m ile
ppmt k a
Ir an h e r i a
,
,
-
.
.
,
“
,
32
a
‘
33
'
M U S I C I N TH E OLD TE S T A M ENT
I 6
.
the hall was much too small for the number of the
members of the Congress which seemed to be the chronic
state of things in Algiers Hence with my particular gift
always and everywhere t o get t he worst place I was
pressed against the far t hes t wall where it was necessary
in this instance to stand for two good hours wedged in a
fearfully crowded corner and so greatly to my sorrow
many occurrences escaped me
S t ill the impression of the whole was decidedly strik
ing presumably because of t he di fference between male and
female singing N ever did both groups perform together
in a mixed chorus ( just as Oriental s do not recogniz e a
dance between men and women ) but each group sang by
itself The song and music of the men was very solemn
and dignified in slow time without a distinct rhythm or
melodious cadence but in a sort of recitative ( S preen
n
which
is
now
in
vogue
in
t
he
la
t
est
music
The
e
s
a
g
g)
music of the women was very di fferen t In their perform
ance all was fire and life They sang in a pronounced
melody with sharply accentuated rh v th m in a passionate
te mpo and t hey treated the instruments upon which they
accompanied their singing with incredible expression N ot
only throat and fingers but the whole person in all its mem
bers was engaged in making music I f we may imagine
the women who sang in ancien t I srael entirely or a pprox i
mately like t heir modern feminine counterparts it i s easy
to unders t and how a man like the prophet Amos at the
outbreak of such a band in the temple at B ethel might have
”
received t he impression of a variety show in church
And ano t her thing occurred to me in connection with the
songs of t h ose women that according to the language of
music they are all composed in minor and indeed only
in the two scales of D M inor and A M inor which with
their characteri stic intervals in the case of the so called
”
“
church keys have been named Doric and Aeolic — so
an d
,
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,
,
,
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,
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-
,
M U S I C I N TH E OLD TE S T AM E N T
I 7
.
then we see tha t just a s a deep meaning of t en lies in the
games of children the familiar German pun that the trum
pe ts of t he Israeli t es before the walls of Jericho were
blown in the key of D M inor ( D m al l ) because t hey d e
m a l i sh e d those walls was no t made entirely out of whole
cloth
This brings us quite na t urally to the question whether
or not t he m usic of ancient I srael had a t one system and
a defini t e scale When even on the earlies t E gyp t ian and
Assyrian monuments t he pointed harps have s t rings of
constan t ly diminishing length and the flutes have sound
holes where the players manipulate their fingers it i s ab
s ol u te l y necessary for us to investiga t e this question for
t hese pictorial illus t rations testify to definite tones of vary
ing pitch and in that case a fixed scale must have previously
exis t ed
To be sure I must at the outset abandon one means of
determining this scale a n d that is accent B esides the
vowel S igns our Hebrew texts have also so called accents
which perform a threefold function ; first as accent in its
proper signification to indicate the s t ress of voice then as
punctuation marks and finally as musical notation This
accent also denotes a definite m e l i s m a or a definite cadence
according to which the emphasized word in t he intoned
“
—
discourse of the synagogue ( the so called n i gg u n ) was
to be recited The learned bishop of the M oravian B reth
ren and counsellor of the B randenburg consistory Daniel
E rnst Jablonski in the preface to the Berlin edition of 1 699
of the Old Testament made under his patronage under
took to rewrite these accen t s according to the cus t om of
t he S efa rd zm ( that is of the S panish Portuguese Jews )
in modern notes and has thus rewritten in notes one longer
coherent passage in Genesis ( xlviii I 5
which I
sometimes have occasion to sing to my students at col
,
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,
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,
-
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,
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'
-
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34
11:
,
M U S I C I N TH E OLD TE S TA M ENT
18
.
lege But this n i ggu n as evidence has lately been found
to prove i s of Christian origin an imitation of the so
called n an ni es u sed in the Greco S yrian communities of
the Orient in reciting the Gospels and accordingly has been
handed down from the church to the syn agogue and so
—
for ancient I srael and its music has no meaning a t least
directly for the Church was es sentially under Greek in
fl u e n c e and Greek mu sic must not be identified with that
of ancient I srael nor must the latter be constructed accord
ing to the former The only trace although an uncertain
one in the Old Testament itself appears in the expressio n
which I have however already mentioned and which Lu
”
ther transla tes on eight strings ( a uf a c h t S a i ten ) But
36
in Hebrew the word i s s h emi n i th meaning ordinal num
”
”
ber so that we must no t t ranslate on eight but on ( or
”
after ) the e i gh th Accordingly a musician can hardly do
”
otherwise than insert this eighth in the familiar oc tav e
t he foundation of our tone system and assume that the
ancient I sraelites also had a scale of seven intervals so that
the eighth becomes the same scale but placed an octave
higher And thi s interpretation has also a support in the
Old Tes t ament Our principal so urce for the music of
ancient I srael i s the B iblical book of Chronicles which has
e vidently been written by a specialist a Levitical musicia n
of the temple who o ffers u s a complete series of technical
statements with regard to ancient musical culture S o we
read in one of the most important passages ( 1 Chron xv
2 0 2 1 ) that a circle of temple musicians played upon the
7
h f literally translated after the
n e be l the harp a l a l a m a t
”
manner of maidens and another on the ki n n or the lute
”
3
h
literally after th e eighth
By the
a l h as l l s h e m i n i t
”
designation af t er th e manner of maidens can only be
meant the high clear voices of women that i s t o say so
”
and
then
it
is
of
course
natural
to
see
in
t
he
eighth
r
n
a
o
p
.
,
,
,
-
,
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.
-mv
36 n
5 1 by
37 1
111 7 :
38
m ama 51:
M U S I C I N TH E OLD T E S T AM E N T
19
.
the deeper voices of the men an octave lower I f this com
bination i s correct and it is at least very promising we
see clearly proven in it the existence of a scale of seven
intervals even if we know nothing about the particular
intervals and their relation to each other
Another characteristic of the music of ancient I srael
i s that it does not take into account pure instru m ental
music the s o called absolute music but on the contrary
regards instruments simply as accompaniment for S inging
The usage of the language i s significant with regard to
39
this point The Hebrew calls instruments ke l e h as h s hi r
”
“
instruments of song and calls musicians simply sing
”
ers ; for it has long been observed that in the passages
which treat of s ingers in the proper sense a particular form
4
of the participle i s always found the so called K a l while
another participial form of the same root the so called
P ol e l
designates musicians in general Accordingly I S
rael considers the essential nature and the foundation of
all music to be in song in M e l as And what an ingeniou s
instinct what an artistic delicacy of feeling i s given utter
ance in this designation ! The end pursued by modern
music is to compres s the living human voice into a dead
instrument while the great musicians of all times have
considered it their task rather to let th e instruments sing
t o put a living human soul into the dead wood metal or
S h ee pgu t
S uch was the case with t he people of I srael
Likewise the music of ancient I srael knew nothing of
polyphony which is an abomination to Orientals in gen
eral And to be sure must not polyphony be designated as
?
a two edged sword For counterpoint i s commonly under
stood to come in exactly at the point when the musician
lacks melody and conception And what is even the most
artistic polyphony of a R ichard S trauss or a M ax R eger
compared to the heavenly melody of the larghetto in M O
.
,
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-
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“
0
-
,
,
-
,
4 1
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.
-
.
39 T an “
7:
40
41
m m:
M U S I C I N TH E OLD TE S T A M E N T
20
.
clarinet quintet ! What the chronicler considers an
idea l performance is stated in a characteristic passage :
I t came even to pas s as the trumpeters and S ingers were
as one to m ake one sound to be heard in prai sing and
”
thanking the Lord ( 2 Chron v
Hence a single
powerful n n i s an a is the ideal of the music of ancient I srael
The passage of Chronicles above quoted leads us to the
dedication of S olomon s temple And since I srael i s the
nation of religion and a s w e are moreover best informed
by the chronicler just about temple music we shall in con
elusion make an a ttempt to sketch a picture of the temple
music of ancient I srael
With regard to the orchestra of the temple the lack of
wooden wind instruments is noteworthy E ven the flute
is mentioned only once in connection with a procession of
pilgrims ( I s xxx
but never in connection with th e
worship proper
S ince the trumpets were reserved for the use of the
priests in giving signals at certain definite places in the
ritual the temple orchestra consisted only of stringed i n
ru m en ts harps and lutes so that the music of the temple
st
“
”
43
i s repeatedly called S imply stringed music n eg i n a h
And to these stringed instruments cymbal s also may
be added These three instruments cymbals harps and
lutes are a lways mentioned in this order as played by the
Levites
The Levites were again divided into three groups after
David s three singing masters Asaph Heman and Jedu
thun ( sometimes E than ) S ince these three names always
occur in the same order we are led to combine the corres
ponding systems and to give to Asaph the cymbals to
’
z a rt s
“
,
,
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’
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,
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-
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,
T h e P ol ychrome B i ble r eads J oy o f h ea r t l i ke hi s w h o et fo r th to
th e fl ute to go to th e mount i n o f ! a h ve h but m t h e a t h o ri zed ve r s i on th e
i st r ument i called p i pe and not fl te T
I n t h e h ead i n g s om l m i v v i l i v l lx i lx ii and lxx i Cf
also I s xxx i i i ; and H b
9
s
”
a
“
s
n
”
“
s
sa
.
v
.
20
a
.
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M U S I C I N TH E OLD T ES T AM E N T
21
.
H eman the harp and to Jeduthun the lute ; and for the
first and third of thes e combinations we have corroborative
quota t ions : Once in 1 Chron xvi 5 it i s expressly men
ti on e d a s a function of Asaph that he made a sound wi t h
”
c ymbals ; and again in 1 Chron xxv 3 Jedu t hun is men
This shows
ti on e d as he who prophesied with a
u s how to understand the heading of the three Psalms
” 5
To Jeduthun
These evidently
x xxix lxii and lxxvii
are to be accompanied only by Jeduthun with the lute and
this agrees wi t h t he grave and somber character of those
three psalms
This indicates that even in the most primitiv e beginnings
there was an art of instrumentation which took into con
s ideration the timbre of the instruments and a s a modern
analogy we might point out certain priestly passages in the
M agic Flute The wonderful e ffect of these passages rests
on the fact that M ozart neglected the common u sage
which
would
have
combined
two
violins
with
a
tenor
and
(
bass viol in the string quartette ) and left out the violins
a ssigning the quartette exclu sively to the viols But just
here in this division of instruments is a point expressly
handed down by tradition which must appear strange to
u s : to Asaph who is always mentioned in the first place
and apparently acts as the first orchestra leader is assigned
But these cymbals
only the ringing brass of the cymbals
a pparently served the purpose of a baton in the hand of a
modern orchestra leader marking the rhythm with their
s harp penetrating tone and so holding together the whole
The trumpets of the priests were to serve the people as a
”
memorial before God ( N um x 9 1 0 ) Hence they are
Th e E gl i s h e r s i o t r a slates t hi s also as h a rp Tr
W l lh
i n hi s N otes to t h e Pol y h r ome E d i t i o of Th B ook of
P l m t h s expl i ns t h e w o r d whi c h h e t r a slates as fo r ( o r f r om ) J edu
th n
l i ke K o h d A ph w as t h e ame of a p ost E x i l i c gu i ld
J d th
of temple mu i c i a s H e ce th e P salms ma y h ave bee att r i buted to t h em
o ri gi n ll y i just t h e s me w a y th at man y G e r ma hym s a r e att rib uted to th e
M o r v i n B r et hr en t h e y belon g ed o rigi all y to a p ri ate collect i o and sub
se q entl y f ound th e ir w y i to t h e commo hym book T r
,
.
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,
“
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.
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4
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,
,
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,
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-
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s
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-
a
u
a
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.
a
u
s
.
c
u n,
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n
ra
.
an
sa
-
n
,
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a
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:
a
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ause n
e
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v
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”
-
.
.
M USI C
22
I N TH E OLD T ES T AME N T
.
in some measure a knocking at the door of God and a p
pa ren tl y have the same func ti o n a s the bell at a Catholic
mas s in giving the people the si gn al to fall upon their knees
The supposition has been ex
( 2 Chron xxix 2 7
pressed that the puzzling s el ah in the P salms which u n
doubtedly had a musical liturgical sense and indicated an
interruption of the singing by instruments marked t he
places where the priests blew their trumpets— a n a ssu m p
tion which can be neither proved nor disproved
What now i s the case with regard to the temple song
?
which of course was the singing of psalms
We learn
from Chronicles that the later usage removed women s
voices from the service and recognized only Levitical sing
ers In a remarkable passage ( Psalms lxviii 2 5 ) which
describes a procession of the second temple the women s t ill
come into prominence a s damsels playing with timbrels
but ordinarily only male singers and l ute players are m en
But if P salm xlvi for instance were sung accord
ti on e d
” 6
ing to its inscription after the manner of maidens
we
must assume that the men sang in a falsetto just a s not
so v ery long ago when women s voices were in the sam e
manner excluded from the service of th e E vangelical
Church falsetto was regularly practised and belonged t o
the art of Church music
With regard to the melodies to which the Psalms were
sung here again a s it seems we have th e same process
a s in the German Church songs When we find ascribed
to the Psalms as melodies the words To the Tune of the
”4 7
Winepress
Psalms viii lxxxi lxxxiv ; To the Tune
”4 8
“
of Lilies
P salms xlv lx lxix lxxx ; To the Tune of
The H ind of the
Psalm xxii ; To the Tune of
,
.
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,
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’
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“
,
,
,
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,
,
,
T hi s pa rt of th e h ead i n g to P salm xlv i Luth e r t r anslates ! a n d e r
th e a u t h o ri zed E n gl i s h v e r s i on g i ves a son g u pon
J u ge n d v orz u si n g en
wi t h E l a m i te i nst r umen t s T r
a n d t h e P ol y c h r ome B ib le sa y s
A la m ot h
48 w e r
47 11 a
e by
51: i f d e r i ve d from m w i ne p r e s
,
”
,
”
“
“
,
’
.
1
s
49
.
arm 1 115 11 51?
M U S I C I N TH E OLD T ES T AM E N T
24
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and all that were present with him bowed them sel v es and
worshipped
M oreover Hezekiah the king and the princes com
m an d ed the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the
words of David and of Asaph the seer And they sang
praises with gladness and they bowed their heads and
worshipped
And Jesus S irach says in describing the installation of
S imon a contemporary as high priest ( E cclesiasticus 1
15 2 1 )
He stretched out his h a nd to the cup and poured of
the blood of the grape he poured out at the foot of the
altar a s w ee tsm e l l i n g savour unto the most high King of
all
Then shouted the sons of Aaron and sounded the
silver trumpets and made a great noise to be heard for
a remembrance before the most High
Then all the people together hasted and fell down to
the earth upon their faces to worship their Lord God A l
mighty the most High
The singers also sang praises with their voices with
great variety of sounds was there made sweet melody
And the people besought the Lord the most High
by prayer bef ore him that is merciful till the solemnity
of the Lord was ended and they had finished the service
Then h e went down and lifted up his hands over the
whole congregation of th e children of I srael to give the
blessing of the Lord with his lips and to rejoice in his name
And they bowed themselves down to worship the sec
ond time that they might receive a blessing from the most
”
High
Here we see art inserted organically in the whole of the
service ; music too like the swallow had found a nest on
the altar of the Lord of Hosts ( P salm lxxxiv
From such descriptions we comprehend t he enthusiastic
,
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,
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,
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M USI C
I N TH E OLD T ES T AM E N T
25
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love and devotion Of the I sraelite for his te mple where
everything that was beautiful in his eyes was consecrated
and illumined by religion where he m ight behold the
”
beautiful worship of the Lord as Luther translates P s
2
xxvii 4 incorrectly t o be sure but most comfortingly ;
and music has contributed the richest share in m aking
”
this beautiful worship of the Lord
Both the secular and temple music of ancient I srael
have long since died out in silence N ot one tone has re
mained alive not one note of her melodies do we hear but
not in vain did it resound in days Of old Wi t hout temple
music there would be no temple song ; without temple song
no psalms The psalms belong to the most precious treas
ures among the spiritual possessions of mankind ; these we
owe to the music of ancient I srael and in them the temple
music Of ancient I srael continues to live to day and will
endure for all time
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5
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T h e aut h o r i zed v e r s i on h as s i m p l y t h e beaut y of th e Lo r d
.
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