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( êéèÜñá , also êéèáñßæåéí , ‘to harp,’ and êéèáñῳäüò [ êéèáñ + ἀïéäüò ] ‘a harper’)
The word and its two derivatives occur only in 1 Corinthians and Revelation. In 1Co_14:7 : ‘Even things without life, giving a voice, whether pipe or harp, if they give not a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?’ St. Paul by this musical illustration criticizes a prevalent and unedifying speaking with tongues, though, in the light of the phrase eandem cantilenam recinere, his figure of ‘harping’ has come in colloquial use to represent rather monotonous persistency. In Rev_5:8 the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders who abased themselves before the Lamb have each of them a harp; and the voice which was heard, as the Lamb and the hundred and forty and four thousand stood on Mount Zion, is described as that of ‘harpers harping with their harps’ (Rev_14:2). The victors over the beast, his image, and his mark, who stand by ‘the glassy sea mingled with fire’ and sing the the song of Moses, have ‘harps of God’ to sing His praise (Rev_15:2). In Rev_18:22 the angel who doomed the great city of Babylon declared that it would hear no more the voice of harpers (cf. Isa_23:16).
When we attempt to describe exactly the design and manipulation of musical instruments in use throughout the Apostolic Age, we are met with almost insuperable difficulties. The apocalyptic character of the book, which, as we have seen, contains, with but one exception, the references to harps, turns one to Jewish music; but, though there is much relevant information in Chronicles and other OT writings, it is lacking in precision. It is easier to describe the instruments of ancient Egypt and Assyria, for we are helped by sculptures and pictures, the like of which have not been found in Palestine. We must rely, therefore, on analogy guided by our inexact OT descriptions.
‘To accompany singing, or at all events sacred singing, stringed instruments only were used, and never wind instruments’ (Appendix to Wellhausen’s ‘Psalms’ [Haupt’s PB [Note: B Polychrome Bible.] , 1898]). It may be too much to say that they were the only accompanying instruments, but they were certainly the principal. In the OT there is mention of only two stringed instruments (if we except the curious list which appears in Daniel), and these are the ëִּðּåֹø and ðֶáֶì . The former is the older, and tradition points to Jubal as its inventor (Gen_4:21); while the second does not appear before 1Sa_10:5. These are translated in the English Version as ‘harp’ and ‘psaltery’ respectively. From 1Ki_10:12 we learn that their framework was made of almug or algum; from 2Ch_20:28 that both were portable, and from many OT passages that they were much used at religious and festive gatherings. It is difficult to determine with exactness the difference between these stringed instruments; but, although later tradition confused them, they were certainly not identical, nor were their names used indifferently to denote the same instrument. There are several reasons, however, for the belief that the ëִּðּåֹø resembled a lyre, and that the ðֶáֶì was a form of harp (the question is discussed in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) iii. 458f.). Amongst these are (1) the fact that in the Septuagint êéèÜñá , or its equivalent êéíýñá , is the almost invariable translation of ëִּðּåֹø ; (2) the evidence of Jewish coins pointing to a decided similarity of ëִּðּåֹø and êéèÜñá (see F. W. Madden, Coins of the Jews2, 1885, pp. 231, 243); and (3) the distinction emphasized by early Christian writers between instruments which had a resonance-frame beneath the strings and those which had it above (see St. Augustine on Psalms 42). Josephus, who has a description of the frame-work and strings of these instruments is Ant. viii. iii. 8, distinguished the êéíýñá as ten-stringed and struck with a plectrum from the íÜâëá as twelve-stringed and played with the hand.* [Note: See S. R. Driver, Joel and Amos (Cambridge Bible, 1898), p. 234 ff.]
The êéèÜñá was the traditional instrument of psalmody, and the êéèáñῳäüò , along with the áὐëçôÞò , performed at the festive seasons of Hebrew life (cf. H. B. Swete, The Apocalypse of St. John2, 1907, pp. 80, 239). Being lighter in weight than the ðֶáֶì , the lyre was much played in processions, and, as we learn from Psa_137:2, it could be hung on the poplar trees of Babylon when the Hebrew exiles were in no mood for songs of rejoicing. The êéèÜñá was of Asiatic origin, and was probably introduced into Egypt by Semites. The earliest representation of a stringed instrument is that excavated at Telloh in South Babylonia, which in size resembles a harp but is shaped like a lyre, i.e. it has a resonance-body on which are set two almost perpendicular posts between which are the strings, upright and fastened to a cross-bar. A picture which better illustrates the ordinary lyre is that of three Semitic captives guarded by an Assyrian warrior while they played; but perhaps the best illustration is that on the Jewish coins mentioned above.
Archibald Main.