Music: Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments
(Genesis 4:21) The Hebrews
were much given to the cultivation of music. Their whole history and
literature afford abundant evidence of this. After the Deluge, the
first mention of music is in the account of Laban's interview with
Jacob
(Genesis 31:27) After their triumphal passage of the Red Sea, Moses
and the children of Israel sang their song of deliverance
(Exodus 15:1)ff
But the period of Samuel, David, and Solomon was the golden age
of Hebrew music, as it was of Hebrew poetry. Music was now for the
first time systematically cultivated. It was an essential part of
training in the schools of the prophets
(1 Samuel 10:5; 19:19-24; 2 Kings 3:15)
(1 Chronicles 25:6) There now arose also a class of professional singers
(2 Samuel 19:35; Ecclesiastes 2:8) The temple, however, was the great school of
music. In the conducting of its services large bands of trained
singers and players on instruments were constantly employed
(2 Samuel 6:5)
(1 Chronicles 15:1-16:43, 23:1-32, 5:1-26; 1 Chronicles 25:1-6) In private life also
music seems to have held an important place among the Hebrews
(Ecclesiastes 2:8; Amos 6:4-6; Isaiah 5:11,12; 24:8,9; Psalms 137:1; Jeremiah 48:33; Luke 15:25)
