An Bible Alone error to consider

[Daniel_Marsh]

IS INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PERMITTED IN JEWISH WORSHIP?
Are musical instruments permitted in Jewish worship, especially on Shabbat and Yom Tov?

Let’s begin by looking at two biblical texts, one from the Torah and the other from the Psalms:

“And on your joyous occasions, your fixed festivals and your new moon days, you shall sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well being.” (Numbers 10:10). In case we are not sure of exactly what joyous occasions, fixed festivals and new moon days refers to, the Sifri, the oldest Rabbinic commentary on the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy, informs us that joyous occasions refer to Shabbat; fixed festivals to Yom Tov; and new moon days to Rosh Hodesh.

“A psalm, a song for the Shabbat day: lt is good to praise the Lord, to sing hymns to your name, O most High; to proclaim your steadfast love at daybreak, your faithfulness each night with a ten-string harp, with voice and lyre together.” (Psalms 92:1-4).

Up until the destruction of the Second Temple (70 C.E.), instrumental music was part of every Jewish worship service. As a sign of mourning for the destruction of the Temple, both vocal and instrumental were prohibited. The ban on vocal music was ignored from the beginning. As a result, instrumental music lay dormant for many centuries and our ancestors assumed it was forbidden by Jewish law.

jewishperspectives.com/music.asp

Sacred music first receives an important role with the biblical narration of King David’s life. Music as a part of the regular worship is not mentioned in the Bible before David. Earlier description of the divine worship mention only the blowing of the shofar and trumpets over the sacrifices, but these were nonmusical, priestly functions. The story relating the transfer of the holy ark to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6, 1 Chron. 6:16-17), however, describes music for the first time as an integral part of the worship. Some discrepancy exists between the two versions of the story, yet both suggest the use of string, wind, and percussion instruments along with singing and dancing. …

The Book of Psalms contains many obscure terms, either in the psalm titles or in the psalms themselves. Of these, some may refer to instruments or to instrumental music. Thus, for instance, the term asor (Ps. 92:4), or nevel asor (Pss. 33:3 and 144:2) may mean a ten-string harp or kithara, whereas the term sheminit (Pss. 6:1 and 12: 1) may again mean an eight-string instrument of the same family; but we are unable now to describe the instrument or its musical qualities. …

Sacred music was also used outside of the Temple, in coronation ceremonies and in wars. Thus Jehoshaphat is reported using Levite singers in his war against the Ammonites (2 Chr. 20). The singers lead the army into battle and head up a victory procession into Jerusalem with the regular Temple instruments. Temple music, similar to that of Jerusalem, may have existed in other centers of worship such as Beth El and Dan, or even in less important “high places.” …

One hundred twenty-eight Levite singers, “the sons of Asaph,” are said to have returned from the Babylonian exile (Ezra 12:41). Moreover, during the inauguration of the rebuilt Temple, the priests blew the trumpets and the Levites played the cymbals and sang King David’s Psalms (Ezra 3:10-13). Nehemiah (12:27-43) describes in detail the inauguration of the wall of Jerusalem with a grand processional of two groups of priests and Levites who marched in opposite directions on the wide wall, blowing the trumpets, singing and playing the cymbals, and plucking their nevels and kinnors. …

**The instrumental music at the Second Temple seems to have been richer than that of the First Temple. **The orchestra consisted of two to six nevels (probably kitharas), nine or more kinnors (lyres; the maximum number was limitless), two to twelve chains (pipes, perhaps shawms of the aulos type), and one cymbal. The priests blew the shofar and at least two trumpets. They also sounded the magrefah (the rake used for clearing the ashes of the altar) by throwing it forcefully on the ground in order to signal the beginning of the Temple Worship. [12]
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**The best time to hear the music of the Temple was probably during the celebrations of the water libation at the festival of Sukkot. **The festivities took place at night and included singing and dancing of all assembled (the only occasion when dancing in the Temple is mentioned in the sources), as well as acrobatic feats performed with torches. The Levites formed a huge choir and orchestra “with innumerable musical instruments” that stood on the fifteen steps that led from the men’s section to the women’s. They sang psalms of praise, perhaps the fifteen Psalms of Ascent, Psalms 121-135 (M. Suk. 5:4).

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