I. Stringed Instruments. — We begin with these, be- cause upon almost all occasions of the use of instru- mental music, either in public or private, we find them occupying the principal place; while in point of an- tiquity of date they were not inferior apparently to other instruments of a simpler and ruder character
chief varieties of this class of instruments may be ar- ranged as follows :
1. The "I'iT, Idnruir, commonly translated in our version harp; in the Sept. Kiiapa; Chald. Xirs ; Dan. iii, 5, 10, D"nr.^jr. This is the stringed instru- ment ascribed to the invention of Jubal, and the only one referred to by Laban in his remonstrance with Jacob (Gen. xxxi, 27). It is mentioned among the instruments used by the sons of the prophets in their schools (1 Sam. x, 5); and it was tlie favorite instru- ment of David, of which he became so celebrated a master. In the first ages the kinnor was consecrated to joy and exultation, hence the frequency of its use by David and others in praise of the divine Majesty. It is thought probable that the instrument received some improvements from David (comp. Amos vi, 5). In bringing bacli the ark of the covenant (1 Chron. xvi, o), as well as afterwards at the consecration of the Temple, the kinnor was assigned to players of known eminence, chiefly of the family of Jeduthun (1 j Chron. xxv, 8). Isaiah mentions it as used at festi- I vals along with the nehel; he also describes it as car- ' ried round by Bayaderes from town to town (xxiii, ■ IG), and as increasing V)y its presence the joy of vin- tage (xxiv, 8). When Jehoshaphat obtained his great victory over the Moabites, the triumphal entry into I Jerusalem was accompanied by the nehel and the Mn- 1 nor (2 Chron. xx, 27, 2)^). The sorrowing Jews of the I captivity, far removed from their own land and the j shadow of the sanctuary, hung their kinnors upon the willows by the waters of Babylon, and refused to sing ! the songs of Zion in a strange land (Psa. cxxxvii, 2). IMany other passages of similar purport might be ad' duced in order to fix the uses of an instrument, the name of which occurs so often in the Hebrew Script- ures. They mostly indicate occasions of joy, such as jubilees and festivals. Of the instrument itself the I Scripture affords us little further information than j that it was composed of the sounding parts of good I wood, and furnished with strings. David made it of the berofh wood, or cypress ("fir"); Solomon of the I more costly a/r/um (2 Sam. vi, 5 ; 2 Kings x, 12) ; and
^';u■ious forms of Eijypt
(Gen. iv, 21). The common name for all such instru- ments in Ilelirew is n3''33 (negindth), from a root de- noting to strike, like the (Jreck root xpaWio, to strike, whicii yields in like manner v^aXr/zpioi-, with a like general meaning. But in this genus were included a great variety of species of stringed instruments, some of wliich are of constant occurrence in the Old Testi- ment ; while others are limited to those books which belong to the period of the Babylonish captivity, and are to be regarded rather as Babylonian than Hebrew instruments. Keeping this distinction in view, the
Josephus mentions some composed of the mixed metal called electrum. He also asserts that it was furnished with ten strings, and played with a plectrum (.Ih/. xi, 12, 3), which liowever is not understood to imply that it never had any other number of strings, or was al- ways played witli the plectrum. David certainly played it" with the hand (1 Sam. xvi, 23; xviii, 10; xix, 9), and it was jirobably used in both ways, ac- cording to its sizo.
Kitto (^Pict. Bible, note on Psn. xliii, 4) demurs to its being regarded as a harp, and argues at great length
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ^65 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
in favor of its being a lyre ; the chief difference of these two being that, while in the harp the strings were free on both sides throughout their whole length, in the lyre they were carried in part over the foce of the sounding-board, and could in that part of their length only be struck on one side with one of the hands. But it is obvious that a difference of this kind was only a modification of form, and did not involve any essential difference in the principles of construction. The main principle of construction was the same in both iiistru- mants, viz. the production of differences of sound by differences in the length of the strings, whatever mod- ifications of form might be used in order to obtain this difference of length, and whatever modifications of size and shape might be called for, when the instrument was to vary in power, and according as it was to be employed either in solo or in choir. The lyre was onl}' a mo<lification of the harp. Even in Greek the words Ki'bapa and Xipa were anciently used convert- ibly, as Dr. Kitto admits ; and it is highlj^ improbable that the Hebrew word kinnor did not originall}' include all instruments of the harp kind, whatever might be their differences in size or shape, or subordinate ar- rangement. Harps for single use would usually be made portable and light. Those intended for choral performances in the Temple service would probably bo made large and powerful, so as to stand upon the ground when played instead of being carried. Some would have a larger, some a smaller number of strings, according to the degree of perfection wanted. In point of fact all these varieties are actuallj^ to be found upon the Egyptian monuments, and we see no good reason why the same generic name might not be applied to them all. The most eminent lexicographers are clear- ly of this mind. While Gesenius defines kinnor to be a species of harp or lyre, and Furst renders it by the single word harp, Winer expresses himself in such a wa}' as to indicate an opinion that the Hebrew instru- ment so named might be either harp, lyre, or lute. Engel leans to the same opinion as Dr. Kitto, but does not appear to have added anything to the arguments by which the latter has sought to support it. " It is uncertain," he thinks (p. 281), "which of the Hebrew names of the stringed instruments occurring in the Bible reall}^ designates the harp." Still he thinks also that the kinnor, the favorite instrument of king David, was most likely a lyre ; although he owns in another place (p. 310) "that the reasons which can be given in support" of this opinion "are certainly far from conclusive." When he urges that the kinnor was a light and very portable instrument ; that king David, according to the rabbinic records, used to suspend it daring the night over his pillow ; and that all its uses mentioned in the Bible are especial!}- applicable to the l5're rather than to the harp — these considerations are all such as have already been fully met in the obser- vations made above ; and it is answer enough to them to refer the reader to the accompanying monumental illustrations, which make it plain and certain that the harps of ancient nations were extremely various in size and power, and that some of their varieties were as light and portable as the lyre itself.