Levite Ministers of Music-part 3

Levite Ministers of Music-part 3 

             It should be pointed out to avoid confusion that the Jeduthun mentioned in the earlier posts is generally believed to be synonymous with the name Ethan of I Chronicles 6:44, and 15:17 and 19, whose father was Kishi (Kushaiah).  Another Ethan mentioned in I Chronicles 6:42 was the son of Zimmah.  We do not have record of the father of Jeduthun, but the name Ethan was only used these two times in conjunction with Asaph and Heman.  All the rest of the times (which were many more) the trio is recorded as Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun.
            At any rate, as we discussed earlier, these three chief Levites in I Chronicles twenty-five were the scholars under whom a complex system of twenty-four divisions was organized, each division consisting of twelve vocalists and instrumentalists, separated by lot and totaling 288 musicians in all.  Furthermore, we can hypothesize that the six sons of Jeduthun, the fourteen sons of Heman (notice no daughters are mentioned in verses 8-31), and the four sons of Asaph made up the leaders of the twenty-four divisions and were leaders of a second degree--each having eleven students.  A study of "Levite Music Administration"  in my Book Music of the Bible  explains that the chief musicians, teachers (the sons of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman), were the sons of each chief musicians, and the number of students and teachers per lot are numerated.

            From verses six and seven of chapter twenty-five we see that the various members of the 288 musicians were instructed in the following:  Songs of the Lord, cymbals, psalteries, and harps.  Furthermore, verse seven tells us that all 288 were cunning (995)or could teach or perceive concerning music.  Verse eight refers to the 288 musicians as teachers and scholars.  As we can see from the explicitness of the scripture, the Levite musicians were organized.  I Chronicles fifteen gives the specific job of each of the musicians:  verse nineteen names three leaders (chiefs), vocalists, and cymbal sounders; verse twenty names eight psaltery (lyre) players; verse twenty-one names six harp players.  The words alamoth and sheminith give specific instructions as to how the instruments were to be played.  (See Chapter VIII of Music of the Bible).  Finally, verse twenty-two mentions another leader "And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song:  he instructed about the song, because he was skillful."  Various writers have made conjecture that he was a voice teacher or a choral director.