Music In Israelite Communities

In Israelite life music was central to all that the people did. It is found not only in their worship, but also in their work, in their personal recreation, and in their military activities. Genesis 4:21 mentions Jubal as the protomusician. The distance, both stylistic and chronological, between him and the later music making of the Jewish community can only be a matter of speculation. The real importance of Jubal is in the attention given to music making this far back in sacred history, and further, that such attention is focused on its natural appearance along with other human and cultural activities. Jubal's brother, Jabal, was a cattle breeder; his half-brother Tubal-Cain, the first smith. This is important, for music is first described in a functionally neutral sense. Jubal is the "father of all who play the harp and flute. " His music making is not religiously caused or primarily associated with worship, nor is it necessarily an activity that, by contrast, bears only the associ…