Music, Vocal and or Instrumental?

  Music, Vocal and or Instrumental?

            Was all ancient Bible music vocal or both vocal and instrumental?  Although we know that vocal music was very important to ancient Hebrew music of the Bible, why are there some words that seem to mean basically instrumental music?  Why do  some of the words which have been translated sing etc. not seem to fit any of the other categories in the study? (For a more thorough discussion see chapter two of Music of the Bible in Christian Perspective.)

            First, the study of singing in the Bible reveals that not all music was both vocal and instrumental.  II Chronicles 20:22 states, "And when they began to sing (rinnah 7440) and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten."  They were in the middle of a military battle when they sang, and the Biblical account gives no indication that they used any melodic or percussive instruments as they sang.  The word translated sing (rinnah 7440) does not give any indication of instrumental usage.

            Second, vocal music was paramount to music of the Bible.  However, we do not know that Bible music was always both vocal and instrumental.  For example, the words sing my songs (negiynath 5058) probably means instrumental music in Isaiah 38:20.  In the Authorized Version the verse reads, "The LORD was ready to save me:  therefore we will (sing my songs 5058) to the (stringed instruments nagan 5059) all the days of our life in the house of the LORD."  No doubt this verse was perplexing to the translators, therefore it is no wonder that it faired so poorly in translation.  Probably the verse would have been more correctly rendered, "We will play stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD."  The word sing which is not in the original text misleads the reader as well as the word songs which should have been rendered stringed instruments.  Therefore, right in the middle of what we thought was a study of vocal music; instrumental music seems to be the correct sense of the original text.  It is risky to assume that the verse is speaking about vocal music merely because we know that musicians were most often singer-players or because many writers believe that instrumental music in the Bible was always in an accompanying role.