God’s Word for You
1 Chronicles 15:19-24 Getting the music ready…
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, January 8, 2024
Verses 17 and 18 give the names of some of the musicians that the Levites appointed to accompany the ark. We have skipped over those verses since all of the men named are given again in these verses, according to what instrument they played, or if they sang.
19 The musicians Heman, Asaph and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals. 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were to play lyres according to alamoth. 21 Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah were to play harps, directing according to sheminith. 22 Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was a music teacher. 23 Berekiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark. 24 The priests Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer were to blow trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also doorkeepers for the ark.
Heman, Asaph and Ethan were already described in detail in chapter 6. Heman was also a prophet (seer) of King David (1 Chronicles 25:4-6). Asaph was the author of a dozen Psalms in the Bible and was assigned to minister before the ark in Jerusalem for David (1 Chronicles 16:37). Ethan wrote Psalm 89, and Heman wrote Psalm 88. These three men led the way for the ark and kept the beat of the music by sounding bronze cymbals. Modern cymbals are usually brass, which has almost the same alloy ratios as bronze. They probably sounded very much like the cymbals we hear in our orchestras and school bands.
Two musical terms show up here that might help us to understand them better in the Psalms. “Alamoth” (verse 20; see Psalm 46:1) is similar to the word for “virgin,” and is usually understood to mean a high-pitched or falsetto voice. Here the lyres were to be tuned for this. Since the lyre was a larger stringed instrument, it would not naturally be played in the higher range.
“Sheminith” (verse 21; see Psalm 6:1 and 12:1) is a manner of tuning the harp, perhaps to a lower octave. The word is related to the Hebrew word for “eight.” The “son of eight days” (ben sheminat, Genesis 21:4) was a boy who was eight days old and should be circumcised. Whether sheminith was about a lower octave or some other music term, we can’t be certain.
The other musical instrument mentioned here is the trumpet. This was not the ram’s horn, but the metal straight trumpet, which ended in a small bell like modern trumpets and cornets. In practice, it was quite similar to the bugle, which is simply a straight horn looped around to be easier to hold. Both are played without valves and are capable of a five-note scale. The B-flat bugle scale is: Middle C, G, high C, E, and G. The oldest operational straight trumpets are a pair found among King Tut’s treasures (1330s BC). One is brass and the other is silver.
Kenaniah is called “the music teacher,” a Hebrew participle. Many translations give this word as “he had understanding/skill.” But in the hifil (causative) stem, the word seems to mean that “he gave understanding” or “he caused others to have skill” (as in Psalm 119:130), and therefore I have interpreted this to mean that he was a music teacher, just the sort of qualified man who should lead the singing. The same word occurs again in 1 Chronicles 27:32, 28:9 and 2 Chronicles 34:12. We might have more to say later in the Chronicles passages.
The doorkeepers for the ark were not merely ceremonial posts. Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu had died because of unauthorized incense and fire (Leviticus 10:1-2). The tent David pitched for the ark was no more secure than any other fabric tent, so the presence of watchmen who were also Levites (who understood God’s will) surrounding the ark was a necessary precaution. It was also a position of honor, since they were also able to live their faith in a unique way. “Show proper respect to everyone. Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king” (1 Peter 2:17).
David was preparing to bring the ark, the visible sign of the invisible God, into the city. Then, one day, it would reside… where? Was David already considering the construction of a temple in the city? We will return to this line of thinking soon, in chapter 17. But for now, David was simply planning on bringing the ark into his city, behind its walls, where it would be safe from enemies, at least. All of the preparations and planning we see here could be compared with the planning that goes into a church service today. Except this was more than an average church service. It was even more than a special holiday service. This wasn’t a once in a year occasion, it was once in a lifetime. So David planned everything as carefully as he could: They wouldn’t just wheel the ark into town, they would carry it, singing, making music, rejoicing… and even dancing. Let the word of Christ lift up your voice in song, as well.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.