{"id":84084,"date":"2020-11-25T15:53:18","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T13:53:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=84084"},"modified":"2020-11-25T15:53:18","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T13:53:18","slug":"with-tambourines-and-timbrels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/with-tambourines-and-timbrels\/","title":{"rendered":"With Tambourines And Timbrels"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In our introduction to Psalms and in comments to several earlier chapters, we noted the presence in many superscriptions of words such as Selah, Neginot, Gittit, Almut, etc., which are understood as instructions by the psalmists to those who were going to accompany their libretto with music or song. Selah, for instance, is derived from the verbal root S-L-L, to lift up, and assigned the meaning of an ascending tune, and Gittit is identified as a musical instrument from the Philistine city of Gat (despite the ostensible irony in associating music with Philistines!).<\/span><\/p>\n

The superscription to our psalm contains two such words: <\/span>machalat<\/span><\/em> and <\/span>maskil<\/span><\/em>. The JPS translation declines to identify them, leaving them in transliteration. This practice follows in a long tradition\u2014going back to the King James Bible\u2014that is broken by only a few modern translations, such as the New King James Version, which leaves <\/span>machalat<\/span><\/em> as is but renders <\/span>maskil<\/span><\/em> as \u201ca contemplation.\u201d (See the similar usage in v.3.)<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Jewish tradition, the venerable Aramaic Targum saw <\/span>machalat<\/span><\/em> as a derivative of the verb Ch-L-L, to desecrate, and translated the verse as, \u201cFor praise; on the punishment of the wicked who profane the name of the Lord; good teaching composed by David.\u201d Rashi, reflecting some of the ambivalence we have already noted, defined it as \u201ca musical instrument,\u201d but hastened to add an alternative interpretation deriving it from Ch-L-H, to take ill, referring it to Israel\u2019s suffering at the time of the destruction of the Temple.<\/span><\/p>\n

Se`adyah Gaon (882-942), whose introduction to Psalms we have credited on previous occasions, translated Psalms into Arabic and wrote a full commentary on it. His rendition of our verse, in keeping with the tradition of musical notation, is: \u201cSpoken by David, a word to the wise, to be recited in praise by those who regularly play the drums in the Sanctuary.\u201d Se`adyah, then, treated <\/span>machalat<\/span><\/em> as he did the nearly identical form <\/span>m\u2019cholot<\/span><\/em>, best-known, perhaps, from its appearance in Exodus 15:20: <\/span>\u201c<\/span>Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron\u2019s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her in dance (<\/span>bim\u2019cholot<\/span><\/em>) with timbrels (<\/span>b\u2019tupim<\/span><\/em>),\u201d treating <\/span>m\u2019cholot<\/span><\/em> as a derivative of Ch-O-L, to whirl or dance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Se`adyah, however, rejected the dancing and rendered that phrase \u201cwith tambourines and timbrels,\u201d apparently deriving it from Ch-L-L, to be hollow, a feature shared by all percussion instruments. This derivation has the added advantage of clarifying an otherwise opaque Mishnah. Describing the pilgrims\u2019 progress to Jerusalem, it states that \u201cThe <\/span>chalil<\/span><\/em> was beating (<\/span>makeh<\/span><\/em>) before them\u201d (Bikkurim 3:3-4). It is easier to associate a drum with being beaten than a reed flute.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cover art by Bracha Lavee, courtesy of the artist (https:\/\/bracha-lavee.com)<\/p>\n","image":{"ID":41814,"id":41814,"title":"Ex15-BLavee","filename":"Ex15-BLavee.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ex15-BLavee.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/grab-your-timbrel\/ex15-blavee\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"ex15-blavee","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":71313,"date":"2018-10-10 13:27:13","modified":"2022-05-04 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