PSALMS, HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS DEFINED

PSALMS, HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS DEFINED

           Let's take a look at exactly what psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are.  First is the word psalms (psalmos 5568)  is the term for a Jewish cantillation for voice and instruments.  It is the Greek word for the psalms of the Old Testament (see Music of the Bible Chapter VI Music in the Book of Psalms).  Second is the word hymns (humnos 5215).  This word is derived from the Greek word hudeo which is not used in New Testament Scripture.  Hudeo means to celebrate, so it is considered a song of praise.   Kittle gives this explanation of the word humnos "Christ's word lives in the Church's songs to God, which extol from the heart his saving work (Col. 3:16).  In Ephesians 5:19 praise is addressed to the Lord with God's saving work again as the theme."

          Delling explains that the exact meaning of the word hymns is quite uncertain when he states: “Attempts have been made to distinguish Christian hymns in the New Testament, but these are hypothetical in the absence of clearly discernible laws.  The Magnificat and Benedictus are Jewish in style.  Ephesians 5:14 and I Timothy 3:16 are in fixed form but are not necessarily fragments of songs.  Philippians 2:6ff seems to be a pre-Pauline song, and Colossians 1:15ff may be a hymn that the author has taken over and augmented.  Elements of songs are perhaps worked over in I Peter 2:21ff, and the song-like portions of Revelation (11:17-18; 15:3-4) show what form Christian hymns might take.  Yet the mere presence of lofty speech or integrated structure does not have to denote a hymn."