Usage of Musical Terms in Hebrew

An attempt to correctly decipher correctly decipher the music of the Psalm manuscripts must first deal with the Hebrew texts handling of dome musical terms.

There are subtle differentiations in Hebrew, when describing things related to the vocal and instrumental aspects of the music.

Vocal Aspects

: The Hebrew word sher (basically: song) is the root for words relating to the vocal aspects of music.

Figure: Words related to the root ``song''. For more information see: http://www.musicofthebible.com/ssmm.htm

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Instrumental Aspects

: Words relating to the instrumental aspects of music like ``melody'', ``playing'' etc. are derived from the Hebrew roots zmr, basically meaning melody and the root ngn meaning string player, to play specifically a string instrument.

Figure: Words derived from the root ``zmr''. For more information see: http://www.musicofthebible.com/zmr.htm

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This terminology may explain various translations regarding the music making activities cited in the Bible.