ARE WOMEN MUSICIANS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE? Part 6

ARE WOMEN MUSICIANS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE? Part 6

            Women in the Bible were reported as singing a low kind of music.  Even at its best it was for dancing or funeral mourning and at its worst to aid in the sensuous appeal of harlots on the street.  Isaiah's satire (23:15) states, ". . . after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot” (or KJV margin, "It shall be unto Tyre as the song of an harlot") It is no wonder that women were not used in Temple worship since it was so closely related to paid dancing at weddings and funerals and was associated closely with harlotry in ancient Israel.

            The question of importance to Church Musicians today is, should we or should we not use women in church music?  Should we consider the disuse of women in the music of Temple worship, and the Biblical silence about women in public worship as "proof" that women should not be used in church music today?  The Bible is silent concerning the use of women in Temple worship.  However, this silence does not implicate that women should not be used in church music today.  Remember that part of the reason that women were not used in Temple music was because of the type of music they sang and played and the association of women's music with harlotry.  However, the ancient customs of Israel concerning women did not allow for them to be used as Temple musicians.  It is safe to conclude from the research that there is no evidence given in the Bible to cause us to exclude women from church music today.

Thought for the Day

The most important issue of church music today is not who we use in our musicing unto God, but rather how we use music in our musicing unto God.