Stringed Instruments (Biblical)

Several sorts of stringed instruments are mentioned in the Bible. The harp and the lyre, especially, were prominent in the music of the sanctuary. Ancient stringed instruments were plucked, not bowed like the instruments of the violin family that are the mainstays of the classic orchestra in Western culture (the translation "viol" is inaccurate). The superscriptions of the Psalms, in the instructions for performance, refer to stringed instruments under the general term nginot (Pss. 4; 5455; 61; 67; 76); the noun is derived from the verb nagan, to "pluck" or "play. " Another general term for strings is minnim (Pss. 45:8; 150:4). Two principal kinds were used in worship: the harp and the lyre. The Harp An important instrument in Israelite worship was the nevel, evidently a type of harp. Several psalms refer to its use in the orchestra of the sanctuary (Pss. 57:8; 81:2; 92:3; 150:3). The strings of the harp are strung across a curved neck, like an archer's bow, or across a frame con…