Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Genesis 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 (Genesis 31:27). After their triumphal passage of the Red Sea, Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of deliverance (Exodus 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 (1 Samuel 10:5; 19:19-24; 2 Kings 3:15; 1 Chronicles 25:6). There now arose also a class of professional singers (2 Samuel 19:35; Ecclesiastes 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 (2 Samuel 6:5; 1 Chronicles 15; 16; 23;5; 25:1-6).

In private life also music seems to have held an important place among the Hebrews (Ecclesiastes 2:8; Amos 6:4-6; Isaiah 5:11, 12; 24:8, 9; Psalm 137; Jeremiah 48:33; Luke 15:25).

Music, Instrumental

Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were,

(1.) The kinnor, the "harp."

(2.) The nebel, "a skin bottle," rendered "psaltery."

(3.) The sabbeka, or "sackbut," a lute or lyre.

(4.) The gittith, occurring in the title of Psalm 8; 8; 84.

(5.) Minnim (Psalm 150:4), rendered "stringed instruments;" in Psalm 45:8, in the form minni, probably the apocopated (i.e., shortened) plural, rendered, Authorized Version, "whereby," and in the Revised Version "stringed instruments."

(6.) Machalath, in the titles of Psalm 53 and 88; supposed to be a kind of lute or guitar.

Of wind instruments mention is made of,

(1.) The `ugab (Genesis 4:21; Job 21:12; 30:31), probably the so-called Pan's pipes or syrinx.

(2.) The qeren or "horn" (Joshua 6:5; 1 Chronicles 25:5).

(3.) The shophar, rendered "trumpet" (Joshua 6:4, 6, 8). The word means "bright," and may have been so called from the clear, shrill sound it emitted. It was often used (Exodus 19:13; Numbers 10:10; Judges 7:16, 18; 1 Samuel 13:3).

(4.) The hatsotserah, or straight trumpet (Psalm 98:6; Numbers 10:1-10). This name is supposed by some to be an onomatopoetic word, intended to imitate the pulse-like sound of the trumpet, like the Latin taratantara. Some have identified it with the modern trombone.

(5.) The halil, i.e, "bored through," a flute or pipe (1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Kings 1:40; Isaiah 5:12; Jeremiah 48:36) which is still used in Palestine.

(6.) The sumponyah, rendered "dulcimer" (Dan. 3:5), probably a sort of bagpipe.

(7.) The maskrokith'a (Dan. 3:5), rendered "flute," but its precise nature is unknown.

Of instruments of percussion mention is made of,

(1.) The toph, an instrument of the drum kind, rendered "timbrel" (Exodus 15:20; Job 21:12; Psalm 68:25); also "tabret" (Genesis 31:27; Isaiah 24:8; 1 Samuel 10:5).

(2.) The paamon, the "bells" on the robe of the high priest (Exodus 28:33; 39:25).

(3.) The tseltselim, "cymbals" (2 Samuel 6:5; Psalm 150:5), which are struck together and produce a loud, clanging sound. Metsilloth, "bells" on horses and camels for ornament, and metsiltayim, "cymbals" (1 Chronicles 13:8; Ezra 3:10, etc.). These words are all derived from the same root, tsalal, meaning "to tinkle."

(4.) The menaan'im, used only in 2 Samuel 6:5, rendered "cornets" (R.V., "castanets"); in the Vulgate, "sistra," an instrument of agitation.

(5.) The shalishim, mentioned only in 1 Samuel 18:6, rendered "instruments of music" (marg. of R.V., "triangles or three-stringed instruments").

The words in Ecclesiastes 2:8, "musical instruments, and that of all sorts," Authorized Version, are in the Revised Version "concubines very many."

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) The science and the art of tones, or musical sounds, i. e., sounds of higher or lower pitch, begotten of uniform and synchronous vibrations, as of a string at various degrees of tension; the science of harmonic tones which treats of the principles of harmony, or the properties, dependences, and relations of tones to each other; the art of combining tones in a manner to please the ear.

2. (n.) Melody; a rhythmical and otherwise agreeable succession of tones.

3. (n.) Harmony; an accordant combination of simultaneous tones.

4. (n.) The written and printed notation of a musical composition; the score.

5. (n.) Love of music; capacity of enjoying music.

6. (n.) A more or less musical sound made by many of the lower animals. See Stridulation.