The first mention of music in the times after the Deluge is in the narrative of Laban's interview with Jacob. Moses has recorded words of Laban, the father- in-law of Jacob, from which it appears that instruments of various kinds were already in use among the ancient family beyond the Euphrates from which the Hebrews sprang : " Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and steal away from me, and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, with tabret and with harp?" (Gen. xxxi, 27). Whatever else, then, the posterity of Jacob may have learned from " the wisdom of the Egyptians" during their long stay in Egypt^ — that ancient cradle of the arts and sciences — it may be assumed as certain that they were familiar with at least the rudiments of music before they went down to sojourn there, although it is reasonable to sup- pose that they were indebted to that ingenious and in- ventive people for some further progress in the art. It is a remarkable and interesting fact that their exodus from Egypt, which was their birthday as a nation, was an event celebrated by an outburst both of poetry and song. But whatever may have been its origin, and in whatever way it was preserved, the practice of music existed in the upland country of Syria ; and of the three possible kinds of musical instruments, two were known and employed to accompany the song. The three kinds are alluded to in Job xxi, 12.
On the banks of the Red Sea, Moses and the chil- dren of Israel sang their triumphal song of deliver- ance from the hosts of Egypt; and Miriam, in cele- bration of the same event, exercised one of her func- tions as a prophetess by leading a procession of the women of the camp, chanting in chorus the burden to the song of Closes, " Sing ye to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously ; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." Their song was accompanied by timbrels and dances, or, as some take the latter word, by a musical instrument of which the shape is unknown, but which is supposed to have resembled the modern tambourine (see Dance), and, like it, to have been used as an accompaniment to dancing. The expression in the A. V. of Exod. xv, 21, " and Miriam answered them," seems to indicate that the song was alternate, Miriam
IVIUSIC
152
MUSIC
leading off v.-itli the solo, while the T,-omen responded in lull chorus, lint it is probable tliat the Hebrew word, like the corresponding Arabic, has merely the sense of sinf^ing, wliich is retained in the A.V. of Exod. xxxii, 18; Numb, xxi, 17; 1 Sam. xxix, 5; I'sa. cxlvii, 7; Hos. ii, 15. Tlie same word is used for the shouting of soldiers in battle (Jer. li, 14), and the cry of wild beasts (Isa. xiii, 22), and in neither of these cases can the notion of response be ap|jropriate. All that can be inferred is that Miriam led off the song, and this is confirmed by the rendering of theYwh^., pra'cinebat. The triumphal hymn of Moses had unquestionably a religious character about it, but the employment of music in religious service, though idolatrous, is more distinctly marked in the fes- tivities which attended the erection of the golden calf. ■\Vitli this may be compared the musical service which accompanied the dedication of the golden image in the plains of Dura (Dan. iii), the commencement of which was to be the signal for the multitude to prostrate them- selves in worship. The wild cries and shouts which reached the ears of Moses and Joshua as they came down from the mount sounded to the latter as the din of battle, the voices of victor and vanquished blending in one harsh chorus. But the quicker sense of Mo- ses discerned the rough music with which the people worshipjK'd the visible representation of the God that brought them out of Egypt. Nothing could show more clearly than Joshua's mistake the rude character of the Hebrew music at this period (Exod. xxxii, 17, 18), as untrained and wild as the notes of their Syrian forefa- thers. Comp. Lam. ii, 7, where the war-cry of the ene- my in the Temple is likened to the noise of the multi- tude on a solemn feast-day : " They have made a noise in the house of Jehovah as in the day of a solemn feast." The silver trumpets made by the metal workers of the tabernacle, whicli were used to direct the movements of the camp, point to music of a very simple kind (Numb. X, 1-10), and the long blast of the jubilee horns, with which the priests brought down the walls of Jericho, had probably nothing very musical about it (Josh, vi), any more than the rough concert with whicli the ears < f tlie sleeping IMidianites were saluted by Gideon's tliree hundred warriors (Judg. vii). Tlie song of Debo- orah and Barak is cast in a distinctly metrical form, and was probably intended to be sung with a musical accompaniment as one of the people's songs, like that with which Jephthah's daughter and her companions met her father on his victorious return (Judg. xi).
2. Gulden Aye of 1 1 threw Music. — The period of Sam- uel, David, and Solomon forms a new ajra in Hebrew music, as well as in Hebrew poetrj' (see Delitzsch, Commentar iiber den Psalter, 1859 -GO). The simpler impromptu with which the women from the cities of Israel greeted David after the slaughter of the Philis- tine was apparently struck off on the spur of the mo- ment, under the inlluence of the wild joy with which they welcomed their national chamjuon, •' the darling of the songs of Israel." The accompaniment of timbrels and instruments of music must have been equally sim- j)le, and such that all could take part in it (1 Sam. xviii, 6, 7). I'p to this time we meet with nothing like a systematic cultivation of music among the Hebrews, but the establishment of the schools of the prophets ap- pears to have supplied this want. Whatever the stu- dents of these schools may have been taught, music was an essential part of their practice. At Bethel (1 Sam. X, 5) was a school of this kind, as well as at Naioth in Kamah (1 Sam. xix, 19, 20), at Jericho (2 Kings ii, 5, 7, 15), Gilgal (2 Kings iv, 38), and perhaps at Jerusalem (2 Kings xxii, 14). Professional musicians soon became attached to the court ; and though Saul, a liardy warrior, had only at intervals recourse to the soolhing influence of David's harp, yet David seems to have gathered around him "singing men and singing women," wlio could celebrate his victories and lend a charm to his hours of peace (2 Sam. xix, 35). Solomon did the same (Eccles. ii, 8), adding to the luxury of his court by his