Am Yisrael Sing II: vocal and holistic music

Holistic and vocal music occupied a very important place in the biblical period and it is a matter of emphasis - the lack of a prominent and unique connection to worship specifically. The poetry that was common was secular and it included songs of sand, wine, feasting and debauchery. Here and there there were spontaneous single service following events

Holistic and vocal music occupied a very important place in the biblical period and it is a matter of emphasis - the lack of a prominent and unique connection to worship specifically. The poetry that was widespread was secular and included songs of sand, wine, feasting and debauchery, and whenever there was a certain connection between poetry and religion, it was usually spontaneous solo poetry or songs of praise following a victory or a miraculous rescue, etc. The musical instruments support the above assumption. They were widely used in battles, feasts, revelries and various joyous events accompanied by dancing and dances, and hence their use was widespread among women mainly, and one can also understand why the number of percussion instruments was so numerous in this context.

Songs of lamentation

During the desert, nomadic period, the period of life in nature, the appropriate music, such as "Song of the Well" was evident. The music was accompanied, so was the chanting and shouting. In the early Israeli period, the entry into the land, the building of an agricultural society and the period of occupation gave birth to war songs such as the song of Deborah, or the song of Samson. The war songs also included those who eulogized the death of the fallen like David who mourned the death of Shaul and Jonathan and Abner ben Ner. Usually the sophids and mourners were comrades in arms of the fallen such as David (which we witnessed in the Homeric period, such as in the poetry about the events of the Trojan War). The women, on the other hand, would accompany the lamenting men with cries, tears and brokenness.

With the settlement in Israel (13th/14th centuries BC and at least in light of the archaeological findings such as fortifications from the Middle Bronze Age onwards) we also witness the appearance of songs related to agriculture and agricultural holidays such as the interesting ritual involving the custom of "kidnapping the intended brides".

During the royal period (from 11 BC onwards), music played an important role in the life of the court, as David played in the palace of King Saul. This episode, the royal-court music, will occupy us later in the lecture, with an important emphasis on the lack of music in the Israeli temple, as the music that will take place Important in the Jewish worship of the Second Temple period, the uniqueness of that music is planted here.

Well, this music surrounded the king and his character, as those "ministers" of the "King's House", as those court singers and their tunes (and later we will mention the annals of King Sennacherib).

An interesting case in itself concerns the coronation ceremonies and especially the use of trumpets. For example, in the ceremony of Jehoash's queen, it is said that "...and here the king stands on the pillar as a judgment, and the ministers and the trumpets go to the king, and all the people of the land rejoice and blow the trumpets..." (14 Kings XNUMX:XNUMX). Queen Solomon, for example, was known for blowing the shofar. Although we are not talking about instruments with a musical function, but instruments that are completely integral to the announcement ceremony itself. Their use by the officials in the ceremony or the people, examining a spontaneous expression (or not?!) of popular joy, surrounded the king and his image.

Moreover, even poems that survived in the book of Psalms about the royal period touched on the life of the king's court and further refined the above image, such as the psalms of the ascension to the throne. And also the coronation of the king, which was accompanied, as mentioned, by popular demonstrations, after all, apart from the call "Long live the king", they cheered, played (yes-yes) the flute and blew the shofar. This playing and these cheers were accompanied by chants and chants for the new ruler. And some of the psalms may be connected and sung on the occasion of the solemn event in question. Hymns about the king's marriage and his victories were also known

Local shrines and temples

The music of the above nature spread from court life in the palace to the private homes of the rich and noble. It is about the latter imitating, as expected, the royal house for understandable reasons. Let us mention, for example, the verses imbued with wonderful dramatic painting that stand out with a tone of indignation from the mouth of the social prophet Amos such as: "O you who are complacent in Zion And those who trust in Mount Samaria ... the mendicants for a bad day and the Shabbat of Hams Beds of sheep and goats in their cradles and eating lambs and calves out of the barn. Those who sing according to the harp like David think of them as instruments of song (cynicism), those who drink from wine fountains and oil primroses will be anointed" (Amos 3:1-XNUMX).

An interesting case in itself is the relationship between music and prophecy and between music and worship (an issue addressed to me courtesy of Prof. Dreyer). First, we will touch on the parsha of the "Bamoth", that is, the Canaanite temples or those that the Israelites built in their image. These places of worship were not condemned in the first place by the clergy. The Israelites would visit these temples until the end of the royal days. These existed until the religious-ritual reform of King Josiah of Judah, and even then quite a few loopholes in the reform arose on his behalf. Against those quasi-pagan phenomena, the prophets came out in a flood of foam, when before their eyes the same image of the sins of worshiping Baal and Asherah appeared.

Plurals of these served as an expression of musical flourishes - a very common phenomenon in the ancient Middle Eastern world. Thus, for example, Samuel sent Saul to the "Hill of God" and informed him that he would meet on his way "a host of prophets" who "come down from the stage and before them harp and drum and flute and violin, and how they prophesy" (5 Samuel 6:XNUMX). Then the Spirit of God will come upon him "and you will be prophesied with them and will become another man" (ibid. XNUMX). Before us is a phenomenon that was accepted in the ancient world, i.e. the elevating of the soul to the point of prophetic inspiration in the way of ecstasy - an exaggeration, as if experiencing a sacred, heavenly experience almost like taking drugs, and this with the help of musical instruments, among which, by the way, a very interesting overall harmony prevailed. And by the way, similar phenomena occur to this very day among young men and women who get carried away to the sounds of "bouncing" music such as the types of trance rhythms.

We will emphasize an interesting point here and it is - the very wording of Shmuel's instruction to Shaul and the connection between it and the music opens up a window for us to assume that Shmuel was aware of the use of music on the stage as an ecstatic lever and the very instruction of Shmuel to Shaul indicates a practice prevalent among Israeli prophecies, since it is inconceivable that Shmuel , as God's prophet, will send Saul to prophesy among the prophets of Baal or Ashra. However, even though this is the case, there is reason to believe that this custom originates from the influence of pagan customs that penetrated Israeli society over time.

Another interesting case arises from the events of the war against the king of Moab. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, asked, on his way to the battlefield, to call a prophet of God for his help, and this meant Elisha, Elijah's distinguished disciple. Elisha turns to face the king and clarifies - "Now, take me a musician, and be like a musician who plays, and the hand of the Lord be upon him" (15 Kings XNUMX:XNUMX). Before us is therefore an interesting testimony about the place of music in the ancient ecstatic prophecy. And if perhaps we connect with the modern era to the encouraging crowd One or another sports team is loud, and as a result, adrenalizes it as a non-occupationist

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The biblical prophetic ecstasy does not have an orgiastic element like in the Dionysian cult for example and it does not have a mantic meaning like the Apollonian ecstasy. However, even so, Elisha saw the need to prepare for God's word by playing music, and there is no doubt that there are echoes of the mental prophecy that music was needed as a sacred means of preparation, first and foremost

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And let's not forget that, as mentioned, foreign foreign influences were absorbed into the Israeli reality through those "stages", where music occupied a dominant place as an integral part of the prophecy processes.

Moreover, the social atmosphere and the social organization of the sons of the prophets that were created in the days of Elisha also contributed to this matter. The sons of the prophets settled in permanent places in Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal and on the banks of the Jordan. Their way of life was conducted together - they dined together and lived in common places. Their strength is evident in their social cohesion. All of this may have contributed to the certain "musical atmosphere" expressed in the aforementioned sources.

Except for the "stages", local temples were found in Israel during the patriarchal period. The first of them was in Nablus. During the period of the judges, the temple of Shiloh overshadowed the one in Nablus, where an organized, permanent and orderly temple with a staff of apricots was built and operated. The biblical story makes the "Jehovah's Festival" celebrated in Shiloh "from day to day" (Judges 19:21) a miracle, and in this context the custom of the daughters of Shiloh "to go to the sand" in the "vineyards" (ibid. XNUMX) is recalled, which the Benjaminites took advantage of to win This dance of the Shiloh girls, the virgins, was certainly accompanied by singing and playing (as recorded in the Sage literature), probably rhythmically. performed by women in some ritual intimacy.  

Another religious-ritual center was in Mitzvah. In connection with this, the Bible directs our attention to the victory of Jephthah over the Ammonites, when he returned from the campaign - "And Jephthah came to his house, and behold his daughter went out to meet him with drums and dances" (Judges 34:XNUMX). Before us, seemingly, a spontaneous expression of the daughter following her father's victory in the difficult battle. However, the mention of the place, Mitzpe, which was one of the ritual centers in the country, may paint us the same picture as in the context of Shiloh, that is, the connection between the music, the ritual center and the military.

Let's mention another point, when the Spirit of Jehovah departed from the people of King Saul and the evil spirit possessed him, they brought before him "a man of knowledge, who plays the violin" (16 Samuel XNUMX:XNUMX), it was David son of Jesse, and from this he played on the strings of the instrument, the king calmed down and his spirit returned. deterioration.

Music therefore had a mental goal - to strengthen the spirit of the listener and seer and to calm his soul and bring him to long-awaited inspiration. Unlike as mentioned from the stories about Shiloh and Mitzvah.

Let's not forget, in a slightly different context, Saul's prophecy together with the stage prophets in a special musical ceremony, when the Spirit of God overcame him there. And Saul, as we know, was associated with Shmuel, the religious/spiritual leader they sent to prophesy in the same musical ceremony with the stage prophets. Moreover, Shaul who lived in Givat Binyamin, near religious-ritual centers such as Rama, Givon and Mitzvah, was similarly influenced by the ritual atmosphere that characterized these centers and embodied the ecstasy in music.

A final image, which may also be related to the aforementioned sources in the context of religious centers, emerges with the successful conclusion of the campaign against the Philistines. When the victors returned from the campaign to Saul's place of residence in Givat Binyamin, "And the women from all the cities of Israel went out to the bull (Cal - "to sing ") and the dances for King Saul with drums, with joy and with tridents. And the dancing women were interested and said (so in the text) - Saul beat with his thousand And David in his arms" (7 Samuel 6:XNUMX). This picture is reminiscent of the dance of Bat Yiftah, and it is possible that these women were used in the nearby ritual centers, in the Mitzvah, and joined the warm and enthusiastic welcome they gave to the conductors. They danced and sang while being accompanied with accepted rhythmic instruments such as Scofas and thirds, when they are answered by other women in the chorus, in antiphonal singing (perhaps similar to to the demonstration held by Miriam after the crossing of the Red Sea, and perhaps acting out, while dancing, the drama of the battle that took place in the campaign against the Philistines.

Was there a boom during the time of David and Solomon?

Quite a few researchers such as Kreiling, Sachs, Lever and others attribute the flourishing of Jewish music to the reign of David and Solomon and see the temple as the center of that music, basing their claim mainly on an interesting verse from the Bible that describes the carrying of the Ark of God from the house of Aminadav which is on the hill, "And David and the whole house of Israel play (probably sing and play, dance and act) before Jehovah in all the cypress trees (a symbol of victory in battle) and with violins and harps and drums and cymbals and cymbals" (5 Samuel 15:14). And further on it is said - "David blares with all his might (ecstatically) before Jehovah, and David girds a cloth vest (attachment to holiness). And David and all the house of Israel raise the ark Yahweh with rejoicing and with the sound of a trumpet" (ibid., XNUMX-XNUMX).

In my opinion, this is not a connection between organized and regulated, sacred worship, and the music, but rather a popular, mass, almost spontaneous expression of joy, perhaps primary to the aforementioned connection in terms of a first step between the temple and the music.

From the time of David onwards, musical instruments did not have a place in the royal coronation ceremonies. Although it is very doubtful if they had any musical significance in these events beyond being an expression of the public, loud announcement and perhaps in a musical rhythm of cheering?

Even the presence of "ministers" and "ministers" in King David's court is not related to the Temple in general and to worship in particular, and the Book of Kings attests to King Solomon - "And the king made the coral trees a table for the house of Jehovah and the king's house, and violins and harps for the ministers..." (Kings 12 XNUMX:XNUMX), does not know how to emphasize whether it is "ministers" in the "King's House" or "Yahweh's House".

Even the descriptions of Solomon's temple do not entitle us, even by implication, to any knowledge about music (instruments, accessories or instruments), and this in contrast to extra-biblical sources that are influenced by testimonies of poets' offices and musical instruments and all these in the temple.

Moreover, the Book of 785 Kings unfolds before us, with emphasis, an instructive picture from the time of Jehoash the King, King of Israel, from about 15 BCE, as someone who sought to renovate the House of God and for this purpose a great deal of money was collected and given to its builders. The Bible emphasizes that "but The house of Jehovah shall not make silver couches, chanters, fountains, trumpets, all gold and silver vessels from the money brought into the house of Jehovah, because they will give it to those who do the work. and strengthen the house of Jehovah in it" (14 Kings XNUMX:XNUMX-XNUMX).

From this testimony we learn that the silver trumpets, which we first heard about in the days of Moses (in Deuteronomy 1:XNUMX ff.), were in fact an examination of decoration, an ornamental accessory used in the temple, with a sacred traditional meaning, a kind of souvenir of the things that Yahweh commanded Moses, which appears next to couches, fountains, etc. This is not a musical instrument, what's more, silver trumpets are not mentioned during the monarchy in Israel in general and in their musical function in particular. It can be assumed that these trumpets, as a sacred decoration, as a fancy accessory, were assimilated among the other silver and gold vessels that were often mentioned by their general name in the temple. In this case we will later touch on the connection to the pair of trumpets stamped on Judean coins.

The royal court singers and their musicians were known for their professional fame until King Sennacherib of Assyria saw fit to point out that they brought them to the city of Nineveh as booty taken from King Hezekiah. Had Sennacherib been talking about the singers of the temple and his musicians, Sennacherib would have bothered to emphasize this, repeat and emphasize, because in the end, in light of the ancient belief, the victory of the king of Assyria was considered a victory of the gods of Assyria over the God of Israel (and in this regard it is interesting to compare the trumpeter priests who appear, on the other hand, on On top of the famous relief of the Gate of Titus in Rome which indicates the multitude of accessories of the temple and its people after the fall of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 CE). And we will also note, as we have shown above, that the encouragement of music by the royal houses served as a focus for imitation among the noble class and the people.

The difference between the First Temple and the Second Temple period in the role of music

Also, the careful examiner of biblical events, while making a careful and detailed comparison between the book of Samuel and the books of Chronicles and between the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and extra-biblical sources (that is, the Jewish external literature of the Second Temple period), will discover an interesting phenomenon that repeats itself in all cases and indicates that that before us is a new phenomenon, considering the history of the period after the destruction of the First Temple, we were the period of the Second Temple (from the middle of the century The sixth century BCE) is the result of special circumstances, both religious and historical. It refers to the phenomenon of Jewish music in the Temple and is strongly associated with worship and sacrifice, and is performed by a special, trained and skilled group that belongs to the Temple and refers to the group of Levites-the poets and trumpeter priests, considering a phenomenon Primary, innovative, unparalleled in the biblical period.

The special problem relating to the psalms in the question of their relation to music will be noted in the passages next to the discussed section.

The question dealing with the dating of the writing of the psalms serves as a bone of contention among scholars. Although this topic will be elaborated in the following chapters, it is worth noting right now that we are starting from the point of departure that some of the psalms were written by David and Solomon, or at least from the period that lasted from the beginning of the monarchy until the destruction of the First Temple, after all the Bible itself does not clearly imply that there were singers In any way these psalms are melodious, what's more we know that the majority of the titles to the psalms were written during the Second Temple period, and even if we assume that they sang or mellowed some or most of the psalms (although as mentioned there is no conclusive evidence of this), then there is no certainty that they did so at home the temple And on the other hand, the non-biblical sources are filled with evidence that in the Second Temple some of the psalms were sung by Levite-poets.

Also, with the exception of a few mentions, most of which are obscure and vague (in relation to Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot), we will in vain seek to find the connection between Jewish music and holidays and festivals as a connection that is spreading from the days of Ezra and Nehemiah onward, and especially in relation to the three habits, Shabbat and to the public interests involved in the life of the temple, and it is the one that embroiders the connection between the Jewish public and the temple and the work in it by the magical medium folded in music with all its symbols and characteristics. And this to the point of an interesting and special innovation that utilizes music as an integral part of the work in the temple as background music and accompaniment to all the important ceremonies held in the temple, and this is a phenomenon that also determined its technical and professional aspects.

Types of instruments - string wind and percussion

As for the biblical musical instruments, I will mention that we will touch on this subject later in the period and will limit ourselves here to a few comments and clarifications:

A wind instrument - such as a flute that was made of a reed and was single-reeded, and perhaps with great difficulty, even double-reeded. It was used in various circumstances such as in coronation ceremonies, mourning ceremonies or during feasts. A trumpet that was made of metal and was used as a general way to give signs. If in battle, in worship and in the queen's ceremonies. A trumpet that was made of animal horn and was also used to give signs and signals in battle, in coronation ceremonies and even as a signal for redemption. Organ - in light of the evidence it is difficult to know whether it is a wind instrument or a string instrument. It appears in connection with mourning customs and on the other hand in happy events.

A stringed instrument such as a violin that belonged to the "lyre" family. The violin was composed of a resonating body and two arms connected to it by means of a yoke. This tool appears mainly in connection with feasts and events of popular joy. harp. The biblical harp is of the "harp" type. That is, it consists of a resonating body with a rounded or angular arm. From the arm the strings are drawn to the resonating body. The harp appears in many cases alongside the violin and is played in connection with religious and sand singing.

The percussion instrument such as the drum drum was used as a typical percussion instrument and was used by men and women, and especially among women, in religious and secular circumstances in connection with happy events. shaking These are mentioned once in the Bible. Those were the rattles. ringing bells These were bronze percussion plates and similar to shakers, these were associated with happy events. Shlishit - these were also metal percussion instruments for joyous and/or folk events in general. It is possible that these were of the "Systrom" type.

It should be noted that additional musical instruments may have been found such as "maidens", "species", "disease", "dance" and more. However, since there is a dispute regarding them in their relation to musical instruments, I refrained from referring to them accordingly.

In comparison to the Second Temple period, we note the following changes that took place then compared to the biblical era: first - multiple percussion instruments disappeared such as "thirds"; Second - there has been a change in certain tools such as "rings". During the royal period their appearance is numerous, at the beginning of the second verse they change to a pair, that is to cymbals; Thirdly - the function of certain instruments such as the drum, the bell, the violin and the harp, the shofar and the trumpet have changed; Fourth - the appearance of different species and types in the elementary family of instruments, such as the trumpet and the shofar, alongside interesting technological innovations and improvements, such as the specification in the violin; Fifth - compared to the abundance of loud percussion and wind instruments in the biblical period, later there are more uses of string instruments and frets. The music in general went through a process of refinement and a clear connection to the temple activity.

As for the nature of biblical poetry, the main point of its Zionism is embodied in its symmetrical nature created due to the couple division, following which the conceptual verse is divided into two parts that are parallel in their content. Except for the cross section, the poetry is asymmetrical and odd in its nature and features - the number of syllables is different in the two parts of the verse and in most cases it is even odd. Poetry was therefore composed of a complex of contrasts - form which is content, poetry which is prose and a relationship which is asymmetrical.

It is the literal nature of this poetry that also led to the practices of its performance. The main feature of the practices of the performance derives here also from the fact of crossing the verse, following which the performance is also intended to be divided between the two groups. This division gave rise to the form of antiphonal poetry. This means an exchange song between two singing choirs. Such poetry already appears in the "Song of the Sea" - "And Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, will take the drum in her hand and all the women will go out after her with drums and dances." And Miriam answered them: Sing to Jehovah because he is proud. A horse and its rider level in the sea" (Exodus 21:20-XNUMX).

A similar case in examining antiphonal singing while playing and dancing arises from the women of Israel who parallel the face of David who returned "beating the Philistine". They went out to meet King Saul "with drums, with joy, and with tridents. And the dancing women (who dance and perhaps illustrate the events of the battle) and they said: Saul beat with his harps and David with his harps" (7 Samuel 6:XNUMX-XNUMX). The women are divided into two groups, with one opening with the verse "He hit Saul with his arms", and the other and the other answering in return: "And David in his multitude". However, as mentioned, it should be emphasized that we are not dealing here with temple music, such as would be prevalent in the second temple, both in its antiphonal and responsorial form.

In conclusion, it was said that music in the biblical period occupied an important place in the life of the people and in the royal court. Because of this, it was steeped in folk elements on the one hand and ceremonial elements on the other. Although there was a certain connection between music and religion and worship, however, it would be difficult to designate it as ritual music. Ritual music, organized, systematic, institutionalized and concentrated in the Temple, folded around a limited and clear musical circle - the layer of Levites and priests, as it would develop in the days of the Second Temple.