Bryant G. Wood
Music has always been an important part of Jewish and Christian worship. Just exactly what form that music should take, however, has been the subject of much debate. In Christian worship, it is generally agreed that hymn singing should be a part of the service. But when it comes to the instruments to accompany the singing, opinion is sharply divided. Preference ranges from no instrumental accompaniment at all to a full-scale orchestra. In view of our modern-day differences, it is interesting to note what the Bible has to say about the use of musical instruments in worship and the significant contribution archaeology has made to our understanding these instruments.
The New Testament is silent on the matter of the use of musical instruments in worship. Several instruments are mentioned in the New Testament, but never in the context of worship. Christians, however, are admonished to sing hymns as part of their worship of the Lord (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16). The Old Testament, on the other hand, abounds with references to musical instruments that are used in various religious ceremonies.
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Sacred Music in the Days of David
The first reference to the use of musical instruments for religious purposes was when David organized an orchestra to “raise sounds of joy” as the Levites brought the Ark to Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15:16, R.S.V.). It was composed of Levites who were both to sing and play instruments. Three men were chosen to play bronze meziltayim, or cymbals, eight to play nevelim, or harps (K.J.V., “psaltries”) and six to play kinnoroth, or lyres (K.J.V., “harps”) (1 Chronicles 15:19–21).
Bronze cymbals have been found in excavations at Hazor, Beth-Shemesh, Tell Abu-Hawam, Megiddo and Achzib dating from the 14th to the eighth century B.C. They are shaped like plates with a central hollow boss and they sometimes have a metal thumb loop. Their average diameter is about four-and-one-half inches. The Jewish historian Josephus notes that “the cymbals were broad and large instruments and were made of brass” (Antiquities, XII. 3).
The largest section of the orchestra was that of the nevelim. Eight Levites were assigned to play this particular instrument. Scholars are not entirely sure what kind of an instrument the nevel was. It is thought to have been a stringed instrument because of a statement of Josephus. He wrote that it “had 12 musical notes and was played
Bronze cymbals from Hazor. Actual size is 4 3/16 inches in diameter.
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upon by the fingers” (Antiquities XII. 3). By way of elimination, the most probably interpretation is the harp. Other possibilities, though, are the cittern and the lyre. Some scholars believe that an instrument depicted on several Bar-Kokhba coins (ca. A.D. 132-135) is a nevel. It has a wide sound box and vertical arms made of horn. One unusual feature of the instrument is that it has a small sound box above the main one.
Left, a bronze coin of the Bar-Kokhba revolt, ca. A.D. 132-135, showing a six-stringed nevel, or harp. Right, a reconstruction of the harp shown on the Bar-Kokhba coin.
The third of the instruments in the Levite orchestra, the kinnor, was perhaps the most common of the three. It is a stringed instrument in the lyre family, having a body and two unequal arms, joined together by an oblique yoke. This is the instrument which David played before Saul (1 Samuel 16:23). Many pictorial representations of the kinnor have been found throughout the Near East. The earliest is that on a wall painting at Beni Hassan, Egypt, dating to the 20th century B.C. Here, the instrument is being held by a Semite tribesman entering Egypt from Asia. The earliest representation found in Palestine is on a carved ivory plaque from Megiddo dating to the 12 century B.C. Also from Megiddo is a
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Philistine jug (11th century B.C.) showing a lyre-player walking between animals. From the ninth century B.C. comes a rather crude sketch of a seated figure playing a lyre, found on a large pottery jar at Kuntilet Ajrud in Northern Sinai (see Bible and Spade, Autumn 1976, pp. 125-127). Probably the most famous depiction is that of three Judean captives from Lachish playing their lyres as they are being led into captivity by the Assyrians in 701 B.C., as shown in the relief found in Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh (see Bible and Spade, Spring-Summer 1975, pp. 33-41).
1. Semite tribesman holding a lyre, from a tomb painting at Beni Hassan, Egypt, 20th century B.C. 2. A woman playing a lyre before an enthroned king, from an ivory plaque found at Megiddo, 12th century B.C. 3. Seated figure playing a lyre, drawn on a large pottery jar dating to the ninth century B.C. found at Kuntilet Ajrud in northern Sinai.
Left, lyre player from a Philistine jug found at Megiddo, 11th century B.C. Right, reconstructed lyre based on the Philistine jug from Megiddo.
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Judean captives playing lyres as they are led into captivity by the Assyrians, ca. 701 B.C. Detail from a relief depicting Sennacherib’s defeat of Lachish, found in Sennacherib’s palace at Nineveh.
The most interesting representation of a lyre is found on a recently published seal. The seal is part of a private collection and is said to have been found in Jerusalem. It is a scaraboid of brown jasper, 9.5 mm. wide, 12.5 mm, long and 6 mm. thick, with a lengthwise perforation. On the face of the seal is a lyre, underneath which is a two-line inscription reading, “Belonging to Ma’adanah the king’s daughter.” Ma’adanah is not mentioned in the Bible, and therefore we do not know who her father was. Based on the style of the letters in the inscription, the seal can be dated to the seventh century B.C. No closer dating is possible, however, so the father of Ma’adamah remains unknown.
We may assume that Princess Ma’adanah was an ardent lyre-player and therefore she chose this instrument as the emblem for her seal. Since the source of the seal is the royal family of Judah, it may be regarded as the first true Hebrew rendering of the lyre and perhaps closer to the kinnor of David and of his Levite orchestra than any other known representation of this musical instrument.
When the ark arrived in Jerusalem, David placed it in a tent
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Left, seal impression of Ma’adonah the king’s daughter, seventh century B.C. Right, sketch of the lyre depicted on Ma’adonah’s seal.
which he had prepared for it (1 Chronicles 16:1). Following a sacrificial service (vss. 2–3), David appointed Levites “to invoke, to thank and to praise the Lord” (vs. 4, R.S.V.) Again, the instruments were cymbals, harps, and lyres (vs. 5). In addition to these instruments, David chose two priests to blow hazozeroth, or trumpets, “continually before the Ark of the covenant of God” (vs. 6).
The hazozeroth were the instruments of the priests and were always used in pairs. They are mentioned some 30 times in the Bible. Their introduction into Israelite ceremonies is attributed to Moses (Numbers 10:1–10). Trumpets were made of precious metal, usually silver, and were therefore highly valued as spoils of war. Pictorial representations of this instrument include the spoils taken from the Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70, as depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome, and on Bar-Kochba coins.
Sacred Music in the Days of Solomon
Musical instruments for the worship of the Lord are again mentioned in 1 Chronicles 25. In this instance David is setting up the organization of Levite musicians who would serve in the Temple which Solomon was about to construct. A total of 288 musicians were selected for Temple service (vs. 7). Again, the instruments in
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Trumpets seen among the Temple spoils taken by the Romans in A.D. 70, as depicted on the Arch of Titus in Rome.
use were lyres, harps and cymbals (vss. 1, 3, 6). It took Solomon seven years to build the Temple — from the fourth year of his reign until the 11th (1 Kings 6:1, 38). Upon completion of the Temple, the Ark was brought from the tent where David had kept it and placed in the Holy of Holies. During the ceremony, the Temple musicians stood at the east end of the altar, arrayed in fine linen, with their cymbals, harps, and lyres in hand, along with 120 priests with their trumpets (2 Chronicles 5:12). Their musical program is described in the following manner:
And it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,
“For He is good,
for His steadfast love endures forever,”
the House, the House of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the House of God (2 Chronicles 5:13–14, R.S.V).
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Sacred Music in the Days of Hezekiah
Following the heretical reign of Ahaz several hundred years after Solomon, Hezekiah reinstated Temple worship in ca. 715 B.C. As part of this religious orchestra:
He stationed the Levites in the House of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of the king’s seer and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was from the Lord through His prophets. The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets (2 Chronicles 29: 25–26, R.S.V.).
Sacred Music After the Exile
After the Exile, when the Judahites returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple and the city, a sacred orchestra was again used in the dedication ceremonies:
And when the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with the trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the directions of David, king of Israel; and they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord,
“For He is good,
for His steadfast love endures
forever toward Israel.”
And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the House of the Lord was laid (Ezra 3:10–11, R.S.V).
And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgiving and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres (Nehemiah 13:27, R.S.V.).
In the time of Nehemiah the temple staff was organized along the lines that existed prior to the Exile, including the musicians:
(The priests and Levites) performed the services of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. For in the days of David and Asaph of old there was a chief of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levits set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron (Nehemiah 12:45–47, R.S.V.).
It is clear from the passages which we have surveyed, that orchestrated music was a vital part of Israel’s religious life from the time of David onward. A professional orchestra of Levites was
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maintained, with their instruments being cymbals, harps and lyres. The Aaronic priests, on the other hand, used trumpets in the religious ceremonies of the Temple. Through the various visual representations which have been discovered, archaeology has greatly added to our knowledge of these musical instruments. Based on this knowledge, the most apt description of the Temple orchestra of ancient Israel is that it resembled a large-scale folk band.
References:
1. Musical Instruments, pp. 469-476 of Vol. 3 of the Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Abingdon Press, 1962.
2. Musical Instruments, pp. 242-249 of Biblical Archaeology by Shalom M. Paul and William G. Dever, Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., 1974.
3. The King’s Daughter and the Lyre, by Nahman Avigad, Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 28 (1978), pp. 146-151.
4. Music in the Ancient World, by The Haifa Music Museum and AMLI Library, The Haifa Museum of Ancient Art, second enlarged edition 1979.
“And now we will hear a selection by the Big Beat Coffeehouse Five.”
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