Music Beyond the Genesis Record-part 2

Music Beyond the Genesis Record-part 2

            Dr. Whitwell made some other assumptions about music of the Bible that are worthy of consideration.  “This account demonstrates the problem one encounters in attempting to consider the older parts of the Old Testament as literal history.  The Book of Daniel was written four hundred years after the events it describes and so it is prone to all the mistakes and exaggerations of oral tradition.  Furthermore, the actual instruments mentioned in Daniel, kar, mashrokita, katros, sambyke, pescanterin, and sumphonia, are expressed in several languages, including Greek, and at least two of them have no agreed upon modern meaning.  In view of these difficulties, the modern translator has tended to simply make up names of instruments which might be familiar to his readers.  Thus the King James Version gives us typical Renaissance band, consisting of cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer.  The Revised Standard Version (1952) invents an improbable ensemble of horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp and bagpipe.” David Whitwell, Ancient Views on Music and Religion Austin Texas: (Whitwell Publishing, 2013), p.6.  

            It is correct that translations both old and new have not fared well in their accuracy in translating the words from the original OT text in Daniel.3:5 and 15.  This text is written in Aramaic.  Cornet=qeren (Aramaic 7162), flute=mashroqiy (Aramaic 4953), harp=qitharoc (Aramaic 7030), sackbut=cabbaka (Aramaic 5443), psaltery =pecanterin (Aramaic 6460), dulcimer=sumphonia (Aramaic 5481), and all=kol (Aramaic 3606)> kinds=zan (Aramaic 2178) of musick=zamar (Aramaic 2170). Whitwell stated that the words put for musical instruments “are expressed in several languages”.  The original text is not written in several languages as he supposes. It is possible that the Aramaic words represent Greek loan words but this is not certain.  Although there are problems with the modern reader understanding the meaning of these Aramaic words put for the musical instruments were used in king Nebuchadnezzar’s court that is no sign that what is written in the Book of Daniel is not “literal history” or that it is not accurate.  When we view the OT through Western eyes centuries after it was written we often have problems understanding such ancient meanings.

Thought for the Day

Christian musicians should not consider the list of musical instruments used in the worship of king Nebuchadnezzar to be a proof that we cannot trust what the Bible teaches about music.  We should all be reminded that when we read passages from the Bible there are many mysteries that present themselves to the 21^st century reader.  This is the case concerning many topics of which music is only one of the many.