Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comFausset Bible Dictionary: Jeduthun
Subjects in this Topic:
JEDITTHUN; ("who gives praises".) ; Psalm 39, 62, 77, titles, implying that these psalms were to be sung by Jeduthun's choir; . Jeduthun presided over a choir under David. "The sons of Jeduthun" had the office to "prophesy with the harp, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord" (; ). He wasa Merarite Levite, along with the Kohathite Heman and the Gershonite Asaph directing the music of the sanctuary; 4,000 in all, divided into courses, "praising the Lord with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith" (-6). Identical with Ethan the Merarite (; ; ); for as there was one Kohathite and one Gershonite, head of musicians, so there would be only one Merarite head. (See ETHAN.)
That Jeduthun was a Merarite appears from Hosah his son (; ) being a Merarite (). Compare also ; with -42; ; ; ; , where he is called the "king's seer," i.e. being under the Spirit's influence. He sounded the cymbals of brass, marking time, while those under him played the harp (). The trumpets were peculiar to the priests. Asaph and his brethren ministered before the ark at Jerusalem, Jeduthun and Heman "before the tabernacle of Jehovah in the high place at Gibeon." His sons were six of them prophesiers with the harp, and two of them, Obed Edom and Hosah, gatekeepers.
Jeduthun's singers with Asaph's and Heman's (namely, their sons and brethren), arrayed in white linen, officiated at the E. end of the altar, having cymbals, psalteries, and harps, at the dedication of Solomon's temple; and it was "when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord," with trumpets, cymbals, and instruments accompanying the voices praising the Lord "for He is good, for His mercy endureth for ever," that the house of the Lord was filled with the cloud of glory (-14; compare -22). Praise is a most effective way of obtaining God's help. In Hezekiah's reign (-14), again in Josiah's (), lastly under Nehemiah (), Jeduthun's choir or descendants officiated in the sanctuary music.