Introduction

It was the spring of 1969 and the Navy Band unit I was attached to as a guitarist had just flown from our home base in Naples, Italy to Greece where we were performing a concert in the ancient city of Thessalonica (modern Salonica). After our performance in this historic seaside town, many of us went off into the countryside to do some exploring before we had to return to base. Renting a small car and driving a few miles outside the city, I stopped alongside a beautiful, picturesque valley clothed in a mantle of green that stretched as far as the eye could see. Turning off the engine and stepping outside the vehicle, the sound that awaited me was almost deafening - there was no sound. No cars, no airplanes, no air conditioners, no radios, no TV's, no people - just silence...
     Today, we are bombarded by a barrage of sound from all sides and the times without the distraction of these sounds are rare. In Biblical times however, things appear to have been much simpler. Sounds were natural and acoustic and a great deal less complicated than the myriad of amplified, synthesized, mechanized and computerized sounds that are part of our everyday lives. Back in the times of the Bible the loudest sounds heard were the peals of thunder rolling through the mountains, the voices of the animals in the field and the occasional earthquake that would rumble its destructive song through their lands. For the most part, it was a quiet time compared with ours.
     The times and events preserved in the Biblical texts can not only provide us with a glimpse into a time period in human history that would shape and mold our lives, our cultures, and our beliefs to this day; but also to the sounds and music they heard and played. Along with these important stories that have been recounted for centuries, there is even a song book in our modern Bibles with about one-hundred and fifty individual compositions. We call this collection of songs the book of Psalms or the book of Praises. This collection of songs, penned by numerous authors and composers, has traditionally only been able to be viewed as literary works with deep spiritual meanings for centuries.
     The words of the Psalm manuscripts provide us with a great insight into the minds of the people who wrote them. Their fears, hopes and beliefs are beautifully recounted in the various texts. But what about the music that they were sung to and the settings in which they were sung and performed? These areas are for the most part not included in our contemporary translations of the Bible. They are however included in the manuscripts from which these translations have been derived.
     Unless you are familiar with the Hebrew texts from which our modern Bibles have been translated, you are probably not aware that there is system of musical notation found within these Hebrew texts referred to as the te'amim. Traditionally thought to be merely guides to intoning the scriptural texts, there is another school of thought that these symbols used in conjunction with the Hebrew words were in fact related to specific pitches. Pitches on which the words of the texts and the lyrics of the Psalms were sung.
     The deciphering of these symbols has long been a topic of discussion and debate for many, many years without much success. What if the methodology to unlock these symbols could be found? A system that would enable these important works to be heard, played, sung and written in modern music notation in our times. A system that would link the Hebrew alephbet and language, specific musical tones, the instruments they played, the symbolic notations of the te'amim, known historical modes and the scriptural texts themselves into one flowing musical system. Utilizing a simple, yet previously unrecognized methodology to decipher these symbols, the Psalm manuscripts yield the treasure of their songs that has been locked away in the pages of the Bible for centuries.
     It was once said, "there is nothing new under the sun." This is especially true in relation to our understanding of one of the most important books of all time, the Bible. For the most part, the things we know about the Bible were set in place many years before any of us were born in the thinking and traditions of the various religious groups that use this book as the primary source material for their respective beliefs. But what if there were new things that could be derived from the Bible? Things in plain view, yet hidden and covered over by layers of traditions applied like coats of paint throughout the centuries.
     If you were to ask most people about the music and instruments of the Bible, you would mostly likely get a response similar to the one I had a few years ago, "Not a whole lot of information in the Bible about music is there?" In one sense this is correct, there are only about twelve instruments mentioned in entire Bible and of course there is the songbook of the Bible, the book of Psalms. What most people do not realize is that during the very thin slice of history during the reign of David, the second king of Israel, there existed a very sophisticated musical system. A system that would create works that would inspire writers, composers and theologians for over three-thousand years. Due to the rich literary and theological nature of the Psalms, these works are probably read more often than any other part of the Bible. We know however from the Biblical texts these works were originally songs, meant to be sung to the accompaniment very specific instruments.
     In addition to unlocking the music found within the pages of the Psalm manuscripts, this system reveals not only an underlying relationship between the Hebrew alephbet and language, the physical properties of music, known historical modes and instruments, well-documented ancient systems of music notation and the scriptural texts themselves, but also that the Sacred Name of 'Yahveh' and 'Yah' was discreetly encrypted within many of the melodies of the Psalm manuscripts as a form of praise. Instituted by the hand of David during his reign as the second king over Israel, the inclusion of sacred musical presentations by select non-priest members of the Levite family in conjunction with the preexisting ritualistic functions of the Levite priests at the Tabernacle and later Temple systems formed the basis for the musical system recorded within the Biblical texts.
     To a person untrained in the musical arts, some of the material in the book will be unquestionably hard to follow. I have however attempted to wherever possible, keep the technical jargon to a minimum. To help the reader through this wealth of information, there are included in the appendices many detailed resources including a lexicon of the material dealt with and a separate concordance dealing the Psalm superscriptions that will help you understand some of the technical information that is covered. As you shortly will see, the problem in discussing this very important and extremely interesting subject is the diverse types of information and sources required to intelligently deal with and discuss the related information. On the one hand we are dealing with the well-established parameters of music and on the other, the most controversial book ever written, the Bible.
     Many years ago when I was a young man in the Navy during the Vietnam era, I was very directly and wisely told to 'read the Bible.' These three simple words proved to be the most important and defining words of my entire life. Without any other direction, I started reading the Bible my grandmother had given me as a child. It had been a gift at some juncture and was one of those standard, black, leather-bound King James Bibles with your name embossed in gold letters on the front and half-moon thumb indexes cut on the side of the gold leafed pages so you could find the individual books more easily. Placing my thumb in the first tab (Gen Exo Lev), I started reading it from cover-to-cover. As I grew throughout the years however, I came to learn that there was not just one Bible, but many versions and formats from which to read; some better, some worse than the particular Bible I was using at that time. So what exactly IS the Bible and what it IS NOT?
     

• The Bible IS a varied collection of individual documents by numerous writers that were at some juncture written down, copied, translated and compiled into one physical book.

• The Bible IS the root and primary source of all information from which the contemporary religions of Judaism and Christianity have evolved.

• The Bible IS NOT, a single book that is consistent in form, content or interpretation from religious community to religious community.

     Today, there are literally hundred of versions, interpretations and translations of the Bible that are available. You will quickly find that if you compare them side-to-side, they are all quite different. It is estimated that there are over five-hundred English language versions of the Bible available today. Even the most common religious communities have varied versions of the Scriptures that are unique to each of them. This not only includes the content (which manuscripts were and were not included), the order in which these individual manuscripts were compiled ) within that particular version (i.e., the canon), but also the individual chapter and verse numbering. As most people do not read their version of the Bible in original languages like Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, they are reliant on translations from these languages into their own language by a third party.
     All translations by nature are interpretations in one way or another. Theoretically, the role of a translator is to take a word, phrase, or idea expressed in one language and somehow convey that same thought into another sometimes very different language, thought process, culture and time period. Not an easy task by any means. Unless a word is kept in its original form and is understood in the target language, some measure of interpretation must be employed. This is especially true in relation to the technical terms and phrases associated with music that are contained in the Bible.
     Even a simple word like shofar that is easily understood in the English language as a type of signaling device made from the horn of a ram, was translated from the Hebrew by many of the early translators into English as trumpet, a word which may impart to some as a type of musical instrument, an understanding clearly not intended by the original writers.
     Another problem that occurs when approaching the study of the Bible is that we do not have a single document penned by the original writer to work from, we have copies - of copies - of copies. Unlike today, where we can go to our local bookstore and be relatively assured that the book we purchase in New York City is the exact same book that can be purchased in San Francisco, or London, we cannot with absolute certainty assume that a particular manuscript that has survived is error-free and exactly letter-for-letter, word-for-word, thought-for-thought matching the original.
     As with any copying procedure we are at the mercy of the copyist, whether it be music or one of the documents contained in a particular version of a Bible. I recall a particular copy of one of the more beautiful classical guitar compositions known as Spanish Ballad. In this particular version, published in a collection of classical guitar compositions by a well-known music publisher, the composer of the composition was typeset by the copyist as A. Nony Mous. The reality was that the author was unknown and the music copyist for whatever reason looked at the word anonymous and turned it into a name.
     In order to find a common ground from which to discuss the texts of the Bible and in turn the music and instruments spoken of within these texts, I have elected to primarily use the Hebrew Masoretic texts for the Hebrew texts and the associated canon of thirty-nine books (see Appendix for the Thirty-nine Books of the Hebrew Canon) as the primary source material for our look into the music and instruments of the Bible. I have personally have found the Masorite texts to be the most widely accepted and consistent source of data from which to work from and reference. In addition to the Masorite texts, traditional English translations of the Bible like the King James Version (ca. 1611 C.E.) and the Jewish Publication Society translation of the Hebrew Scripture (ca . 1917 C.E.) are incorporated.
     Along with the Hebrew texts of the Masorites, there are many other sources that have been utilized in the preparation of this book (see Bibliography for complete listing). These included the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew texts, the Leningrad and Aleppo Codices, numerous versions and translations of the Bible, and Antiquities of the Jews written by first Century historian Josephus Flavius. The later, although questioned by many authorities as not being completely accurate, provides some very interesting details not found anywhere else.

Miscellaneous coins from the bar Kochba revolt

     In addition to the aforementioned resources, we do have an original source from which we can visually see some of the instruments we will be speaking about. During the course of research for this book, I providentially stumbled upon numerous coins that were struck during the bar Kochba revolt of 132 C.E. On these coins were various symbols of the ancient Hebrew heritage. Struck over existing Roman coinage, many of these very detailed images were specifically related to the musical instruments of the Levites. The coins of bar Kochba are like pictures from the past, forged and locked in time. They have not only been a key source to the reconstruction of these instruments, but have also been the key to unlocking many of the secrets of the musical system of the Levites and its relationship to the Bible.
     One of the more delicate areas which is approached in this book is the handling of the Sacred Name, Yahveh and Yah. For a variety of reasons held by various groups and religious communities, the Sacred Name Yahveh (found over 5,000 times in the original Hebrew texts) and represented by the four letters YHVH (i.e., the Tetragrammaton) and YH (Yäh) were systematically replaced in most modern English translations by 'the LORD,' 'Adonai,' 'God,' etc.

     As we will see throughout this book the Name of God, Yahveh and Yah, are not only the focal point of the entire Bible, but are also at the very heart of the musical system of the Levites and their music. Along with obscuring some of the inner workings of the music found within the Bible and their direct relationship to the Sacred Name, this single change within contemporary renderings of the Hebrew may deflect the reader away from a single, defined personage to a generic and ambiguous third-party deity.
     On the other hand, if you were to ask the majority of the Christian community who the "the LORD" was referring to in their English translations of the Hebrew texts, they would most likely say Jesus and not Yahveh. In order to maintain the integrity of the original texts contextually, lyrically, and melodically, it is with the utmost respect that the Name of God as found in the Hebrew texts will be written in English as Yahveh and Yah and transliterated into English as Yäh-vah' and Yäh where appropriate and applicable within this book.
     As many types of programs (i.e., word processing, music engraving, art programs, web development programs, etc.) were used in the development of this book, it was out of necessity essential to create a simple method by which a basic pronunciation of the various Hebrew texts referenced could be standardized and presented. This simple, yet non-traditional system of transliteration, was compatible with all types of programs utilized and provides a reasonable vocalization of the Hebrew texts into the English language without the necessity to learn the Hebrew script and language.

Transliteration Conventions
 
     ' - accented syllable
     - hyphen separates syllables
 
     a - pay, may, say
     ä - father
 
     e - bee, fee, me, knee
     ë - bet, let, net, pet
 
     i - I, pie, lie, tie
     ï - it, sit, knit
 
     o - go, no, so
 
     u - use, abuse, food, mood
 
     ch - Bach

The above is also included in the Appendices for easy reference: Transliteration Conventions

     In conclusion, I have attempted to use all the resources that were available in as non-biased and non-prejudiced manner as I was able. This book however, is my take and my opinion on a very narrow, sensitive and controversial subject - music and its relationship to the Bible and to God. The material in this book presents some very new and possibly controversial thoughts that in many ways are a radical and unconventional approach to some very old and traditionally taught ideas. It is up to you the reader, to take or discard any of what I have written as false or improper, putting your own interpretation of what is stated herein. All I ask is that you approach not only this subject, but anything on which you pin your beliefs with the utmost seriousness, devoting time in your busy life to building your house on a well-founded foundation of information.
     What we are about to embark now is one of the most exciting journeys I have ever been privileged to undertake. It is a journey of exploration, discovery and insight that will stretch your mind and hopefully open up new avenues of understanding to you. Information that will not only enhance your view of music, the Bible, and but also of the world around you. Let us start our journey together into the music and instruments of the Bible and the musical system of the Levites by first familiarizing ourselves with the instruments that are mentioned in the Scriptures.

Instruments of the Hebrew Scriptures