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MUSIC

be mistaken, has given: Moses,' he says, 'in-, vented a kind of trumpet of silver; in length it was little less than a cubit, and it was somewhat thicker than a pipe; its opening was oblong, so as to permit blowing on it with the mouth; at the lower end it had the form of a bell, like the horn. The tone of this trumpet, or rather the noise made by blowing on it, was very variable, and is distinguished by different terms in Scripture.

4. JOBEL. There has been much speculation concerning the term, and it seems now to be agreed that the word does not denote a separate instrument, but is an epithet applied to the trumpets with which the jubilees were proclaimed, i. e. the jubilee-trumpet;' and as the same trumpets were used for signals and alarms, the alarm trumpet, the alarm-horn.' This name for the sound of music is supposed to be derived from Jubal, the inventor of instruments of music.

Wind instruments of softer sound next require attention. The first and principal of these is the 5. CHALIL, the meaning of which is bored through, denotes a pipe, perforated and furnished with holes. There are but five places where it occurs in the Old Testament (1 Sam. x. 5; 1 Kings i. 40; Isa. v. 12; xxx. 29; Jer. xlviii. 36); but would seem to have come rather late into use among the Hebrews, and probably had a foreign origin. The passages to which we have referred will indicate the use of this instrument or class

253. [Egyptian reed-pipes.]

of instruments; but of the form we can only guess by reference to those of the ancient Egyptians, which are very similar to those still in use in Western Asia. The pipe is, however, rarely introduced in the Egyptian sculptures, and does not seem to have been held in much estimation. The principal are the single and double pipes. The single pipe of the Greeks is allowed to have been introduced from Egypt, from which the Jews probably had theirs. It was a straight tube, without any increase at the mouth, and when played was held with both hands. It was usually of moderate length, about eighteen inches, but occasionally less, and sometimes so exceedingly long, and the holes so low that the player was obliged to extend his arms to the utmost. Some had three holes, others four, and actual specimens made of common reed have been found.

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From the references which have been given it will be seen that the pipe was, among the Jews, chiefly consecrated to joy and pleasure. So much was this the case that in the time of Judas Maccabæus the Jews complained that joy was taken from Jacob, and the pipe with the harp ceased' (1 Macc. iii. 45). It was particularly used to enliven the periodical journeys to Jerusalem to attend the great festivals (Isa. xxx. 29); and this custom of enlivening with music the tedium of travelling is common in the East at this day. Athenæus tells us of a plaintive pipe which was in use among the Phoenicians. This serves to illustrate Matt. ix. 23, where our Saviour, finding the flute-players with the dead daughter of the ruler, orders them away, because the damsel was not dead; and in this we also recognise the regulation of the Jews, that every one, however poor he might be, should have at least two pipes at the death of his wife.

6. The word MISHROKITHA occurs four times in Daniel (ch. iii. 5, 7, 10, 15), but nowhere else, and appears to be the Chaldæan name for the flute with two reeds, of which we have already spoken.

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7. UGAB is the word rendered organ' in our version. This and the kinnor are the instruments whose invention is ascribed to Jubal (Gen. iv. 21), and higher antiquity cannot therefore be claimed for any instrument. There are only three other places in which it is mentioned in the Old Testament; two in the book of Job (xxi. 12; xxx. 31), and one in the Psalms (cl. 4). The name is taken from the term organon, employed by the Septuagint, which simply denotes a double or manifold pipe; and hence in particular the Pandæan or shepherd's pipe, which is at this day called a mouth-organ' among ourselves. Formerly it was called simply 'organ,' and 'mouth' has been added to distinguish it from the comparatively modern instrument which has usurped the more simple designation of organ.' The Pandaan pipe is an instrument of such antiquity that the profane writers do not know to whom to ascribe it. This antiquity corresponds with the Scriptural intimation concerning the ugab, and justifies us in seeking for the syrinx among the more ancient instruments of the Orientals, especially as it is still common in Western Asia. Niebuhr saw it in the hands of a peasant at Cairo; and Russell says that the syring or Pan's pipe is still a festival instrument in Syria; it is known also in the city, but very few performers can sound it tolerably well. The higher notes are clear and pleasing, but the longer reeds are apt, like the dervise flute, to make a hissing sound, though blown by a good player. The number of reeds of which the syrinx is composed varies in different instruments from five to twenty-three.' The classical syrinx is usually said to have had seven reeds, but we find some in the monuments with a greater number, and the shepherd of Theocritus had one of nine reeds.

III. INSTRUMENTS OF PERCUSSION,-or such

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as give forth their sounds on being struck or shaken.

1. The word ТоPH seems to have denoted primarily the tambourine, and generally all instruments of the drum kind which were in use among the Israelites. There is not the slightest doubt about this instrument. All the translations and lexicons agree in this one point; and we have, besides, the actual evidence of existing instruments of this kind among the Arabians, bearing the same name in the forms of doff and adufe. The toph was known to the Jews before they quitted Syria (Gen. xxxi. 27); it is also mentioned by Job (xxi. 12), and it is the first instrument named after the exode, being that with which Miriam led the dances with which the daughters of Israel celebrated the overthrow of Pharaoh (Exod. xv. 20). It was employed by David in all the festivities of religion (2 Sam. vi. 5). Isaiah adduces it as the instrument of voluptuaries, but left in silence amid wars and desolations (Isa. xxiv. 8). The occasions on which it was used were mostly joyful, and those who played upon it were generally females (Ps. Ixviii. 25), as was the case among most ancient nations, and is so at the present day in the East. It is nowhere mentioned in connection with battles or warlike transactions.

MUSIC

or two feet and a half in length, and was beaten with the hand. The case was of wood or copper, covered at both ends with parchment or leather, and braced with cords extended diagonally over the exterior of the cylinder. It was used chiefly in war. There was another larger drum, less unlike our own; it was about two feet and a half long by about two feet broad, and was shaped much like a sugar-cask (No. 257, fig. 3). It was formed of copper, and covered at the ends with red leather, braced by catgut springs passing through small holes in its broad margin. This kind of drum was beaten with sticks (fig. 5) It does not appear on the monuments, but an actual specimen was found in the excavations made by D'Athanasi, in 1823, and is now in the museum at Paris.

Another species of drum is represented in the Egyptian paintings, and is of the same kind which is still in use in Egypt and Arabia, under the name of the darabooka drum. It is made of parchment stretched over the top of a funnelshaped case of metal, wood, or pottery (No. 257, figs. 1, 2, 4). It is beaten with the hand, and when relaxed, the parchment is braced by exposing it for a few moments to the sun, or the warmth of a fire. This kind of drum claims

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255. [Tambourines. 1, angular; 2, circular.] Whether the Israelites had drums or not does clearly appear, and in the absence of evidence of con it is useless to speculate on the subject. they had, they must be included under the eral name of toph. The ancient Egyptians d a long drum, very similar to the tom-toms of

257. [Drums. 1, 2, 4, modern oriental; 3, ancient Egyptian; 5, sticks to 3.]

particular attention from its being supposed to be represented on one of the coins ascribed to Simon Maccabæus.

2. The word PHAAMON denotes the small golden appendages to the robe of the high-priest (Exod. xxviii. 33; xxxix. 25), which all versions agree in rendering bells,' or little bells.'

3. The words TZELTZELIM, METZILLOTH, and METZILTHAIM, are translated cymbals in most versions, except in Zech. xiv. 20, where they are rendered bells'-the bells of the horses. If the words, however, denote cymbals in other

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256. [Ancient Egyptian drums.]

258. [Cymbals-Egyptian.]

places, they cannot well denote a different thing there. There is an important passage (Ps. cl. 5), Praise him with the clear cymbal, praise him with the resounding cymbal,' which clearly points to two instruments under the same name, and leaves us to conclude that the Hebrews had both

India (No. 256, figs. 1, 3). It was about two feet | hand-cymbals and finger-cymbals (or castagnets),

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to sixteen or eighteen inches in length, and entirely of bronze or brass. It was sometimes inlaid with silver, gilt, or otherwise ornamented, and being held upright was shaken, the rings moving to and fro upon the bars. The last were frequently made to imitate snakes, or simply bent at each end to secure them from slipping through the holes. Several actual specimens of these instruments have been found, and are deposited in the British, Berlin, and other museums. They are mostly furnished with sacred symbols, and were chiefly used by the priests and priestesses in the ceremonies of religion, particularly in those connected with the worship of Isis.

MUSTARD TREE. The Sinapi of the Greek Testament, rendered mustard tree' in the Authorized Version, has engaged the attention of many commentators, great difficulty having been experienced in finding a plant with the requisite

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characteristics, notwithstanding the several attempts which have been made. The subject was investigated by Dr. Royle in a paper read before

260. [Salvadora Persica.]

the Royal Asiatic Society, on the 16th March, 1844. Having referred to the passages of the New Testament in which the word occurs (Matt. xiii. 31; xvii. 20; Mark iv. 31; Luke xiii. 19; xvii. 6), he first showed how unsuitable were the plants which had been adduced to the circumstances of the sacred narrative, and mentioned that his own attention had been turned to the subject in consequence of the present Bishop of Lichfield having informed him that Mr. Amueny, a Syrian student of King's College, was well acquainted with the tree. Mr. A. stated that this tree was found near Jerusalem, but most abundantly on the banks of the Jordan and round the sea of Tiberias; that its seed was employed as a substitute for mustard, and that it was called khardal, which, indeed, is the common Arabic name for mustard. Dr. Royle knew a tree of N. W. India, which was there called kharjal, and which appeared possessed of the requisite properties, but he could not find it mentioned in any systematic work, or local Flora, as a native of Palestine. The plant is Salvadora Persica, a large shrub, or tree of moderate size, a native of the hot and dry parts of India, of Persia, and of Arabia. Dr. Roxburgh describes the berries as much smaller than a grain of black pepper, having a strong aromatic smell, and a taste much like that of garden cresses. Irby and Mangles, in their travels, mention a tree which they suppose to be the mustard tree of Scripture. They met with it while advancing towards Kerak, from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. It bore its fruit in bunches resembling the currant; and the seeds had a pleasant, though strongly aromatic taste, nearly resembling mustard. They say, 'We think it possible that this is the tree our Saviour alluded to in the parable of the mustard seed, and not the mustard plant which we have in the north, and which, even when growing large, can never be called a tree, whereas the other is really such, and birds might easily, and actually do, take shelter under its shadow.' On further inquiry, Dr. Royle learned that a specimen of the tree had been brought home by Mr. W. Barker, and that it had been ascertained by Messrs. Don and

604

MYRRH

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Lambert to be the Salvadora Persica of bota-cently p-blished Travels in Abyssinia (1. 249),

nists.

The paper above referred to concludes by stating it as an important fact, that the writer had come to the same conclusion as Irby and Mangles, by an independent mode of investigation, even when he could not ascertain that the plant existed in Palestine; which is, at all events, interesting, as proving that the name kharjal is applied, even in so remote a country as the northwest of India, to the same plant which, in Syria, is called khardal, and which no doubt is the ahardal of the Talmudists, one of whom describes it as a tree of which the wood was sufficient to cover a potter's shed, and another says that he was wont to climb into it, as men climb into a fig-tree. Hence there can be little doubt but that Salvadora Persica is the mustard tree of Scripture. The plant has a small seed, which produces a large tree with numerous branches, in which the birds of the air may take shelter. The seed is possessed of the same properties, and is used for the same purposes, as mustard, and has a name, khardal, of which sinapi is the true translation, and which, moreover, grows abundantly on the very shores of the sea of Galilee, where our Saviour addressed to the multitude the parable of the mustard seed.

MY'RA, one of the chief towns of Lycia, in Asia Minor. It lay about a league from the sea (in N. lat. 36° 18'; E. long. 30°), upon a rising ground, at the foot of which flowed a navigable river with an excellent harbour at its mouth. The town now lies desolate. When Paul was on his voyage from Cæsarea to Rome, he and the other prisoners were landed here, and were reembarked in a ship of Alexandria bound to Rome (Acts xxvii. 5).

MYRRH is the exudation of a little-known tree found in Arabia, but much more extensively in Abyssinia. It formed an article of the earliest commerce, was highly esteemed by the Egyptians and Jews, as well as by the Greeks and Romans, as it still is both in the East and in Europe. The earliest notice of it occurs in Exod. xxx. 23, "Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh (morderor) 500 shekels.' It is afterwards mentioned in Esther ii. 12, as employed in the purification of women; in Ps. xlv. 8, as a perfume,All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia; also in several passages of the Song of Solomon (iv. 6; v. 5). We find it mentioned in Matt. ii. 11, among the gifts presented by the wise men of the East to the infant Jesus

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gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.' It may be remarked as worthy of notice, that myrrh and frankincense are frequently mentioned together. In Mark xv 23, we learn that the Roman soldiers 'gave him (Jesus) to drink wine mingled with myrrh; but he received it not.' The Apostle John (xix. 39) says, Then came also Nicodemus, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight,' for the purpose of embalming the body of our Saviour.

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Though myrrh seems to have been known from the earliest times, and must consequently have been one of the most ancient articles of commerce, the country producing it long remained unknown. Some is undoubtedly procured in Arabia, but the largest quantity has always been obtained from Africa. Mr. Johnson, in his re

mentions that Myrrh and mimosa trees abounded in this place' (Koranhedudah in Adal). The former he describes as being a low, thorny, ragged-looking tree, with bright-green trifoliate leaves; the gum exudes from cracks in the bark of the trunk near the root, and flows freely upon

261. [Balsamodendron Myrrha.]

the stones immediately underneath. Artificially it is obtained by bruises made with stones. The natives collect it principally in the hot months of July and August, but it is to be found, though in very small quantities, at other times of the year.

Several kinds of myrrh were known to the ancients; and in modern commerce we have Turkish and East Indian myrrh, and different names used to be, and are still applied to it, as red and fatty myrrh, myrrh in tears, in sorts, and myrrh in grains. In the Bible also several kinds of myrrh are enumerated, respecting which va rions opinions have been entertained.

Myrrh, it is well known, was celebrated in the most ancient times as a perfume, and a fumigator, as well as for its uses in medicine. Myrrh was burned in the temples, and employed in embalming the bodies of the dead. It was offered in presents, as natural products commonly were in those days, because such as were procured from distant countries were very rare. The ancients prepared a wine of myrrh, and also an oil of myrrh, and it formed an ingredient in many of the most celebrated compound medicines, as the Theriaca, the Mithridata, Manus Dei, &c. Even in Europe it continued to recent times to enjoy the highest medicinal reputation, as it does in the East in the present day. From the sensible properties of this drug, and from the virtues which were ascribed to it, we may satisfactorily account for the mention of it in the several passages of Scripture which have been quoted.

MYRTLE occurs in several passages of the Old Testament, as in Isa. xli. 19; lv. 13; Neh. viii. 15; Zech. i. 8, 10, 11.

The myrtle has from the earnest periods been

MYSTERY

highly esteemed in all the countries of the south of Europe. By the Greeks and Romans it was dedicated to Venus, and employed in making wreaths to crown lovers, but among the Jews it was the emblem of justice. The note of the Chaldee Targum on the name Esther, according to Dr. Harris, is, they call her Hadassah because she was just, and those that are just are compared to myrtles.'

The repute which the myrtle enjoyed in ancient times it still retains, notwithstanding the great accession of ornamental shrubs and flowers which has been made to the gardens and greenhouses of Europe. This is justly due to the rich colouring of its dark green and shining leaves, contrasted with the white starlike clusters of its flowers, affording in hot countries a pleasant shade under its branches, and diffusing an agreeable odour from its flowers or bruised leaves. It is, however, most agreeable in appearance when in the state of a shrub, for when it grows into a tree, as it does in hot counties, the traveller looks under instead of over its leaves, and a multitude of small branches are seen deprived of their leaves by the crowding of the upper ones. This shrub is common in the southern provinces of Spain and France, as well as in Italy and Greece; and also on the northern coast of Africa, and in Syria. The poetical celebrity of this plant had, no doubt, some influence upon its employment in medicine, and numerous properties are ascribed to it by Dioscorides (1.127). It is aromatic and astringent, and hence, like many other such plants, forms a stimulant tonic, and is useful in a variety of complaints connected with debility. Its berries were formerly employed in Italy, and still are so in Tuscany, as a substitute for spices, now imported so plentifully from the far East. A wine was also prepared from them, which was called myrtidanum, and their essential oil is possessed of excitant properties. In many parts of Greece and Italy the leaves are employed in tanning leather. The myrtle, possessing so many remarkable qualities, was not likely to have escaped the notice of the sacred writers, as it is a well-known inhabitant of Judæa.

MYS'IA, a province occupying the north-west angle of Asia Minor, and separated from Europe only by the Propontis and Hellespont: on the south it joined Eolis, and was separated on the east from Bithynia by the river Esopus. Latterly olis was included in Mysia, which was then separated from Lydia and Ionia by the river Hermus, now Sarabad or Djedis. In ancient times the province of Mysia was celebrated for its fertility in corn and wine, and although now but poorly tilled, it is still one of the finest tracts in Asia Minor. Paul passed through this province and embarked at its chief port, Troas, on his first voyage to Europe (Acts xvi. 7, 8).

MYSTERY. A most unscriptural and dangerous sense is but too often put upon this word, as if it meant something absolutely unintelligible and incomprehensible; whereas, in every instance in which it occurs in the Sept. or New Testament, it is applied to something which is revealed, declared, explained, spoken, or which may be known or understood. This fact will appear from the following elucidation of the passages in which it is found. First, it is sometimes used to denote the meaning of a symbolical represent

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ation, whether addressed to the mind by a parable, allegory, &c., or to the eye, by a vision, &c. (Matt. xiii. 10; Mark iv. 11). Again, the mystery or symbolical vision of the seven stars and of the seven golden candlesticks' (Rev. i. 12, 16), is explained to mean the angels of the seven churches of Asia, and the seven churches themselves' (ver. 20). Again, the mystery' or symbolical representation of the woman upon a scarlet-coloured beast' (Rev. xvii. 3-6) is also explained: I will tell thee the mystery of the woman,' &c. (xvii. 7). When St. Paul, speaking of marriage, says, this is a great mystery' (Eph. v. 32), he evidently treats the original institution of marriage as affording a figurative representation of the union betwixt Christ and the church. The word is also used to denote anything whatever which is hidden or concealed, till it is explained. Thus it is employed in the New Testament to denote those doctrines of Christianity, general or particular, which the Jews and the world at large did not understand, till they were revealed by Christ and his apostles, Great is the mystery of godliness,' i. e. the Christian religion (1 Tim. iii. 16), the chief parts of which the apostle instantly proceeds to adduce,—' God was manifest in the flesh, justified by the Spirit, seen of angels,' &c.-facts which had not entered into the heart of man (1 Cor. ii. 9) until God visibly accomplished them, and revealed them to the apostles by inspiration (ver. 10). Thus also the Gospel in general is called the mystery of the faith' (1 Tim. iii. 9), and the mystery which from the beginning of the world had been hid with God, but which was now made known through means of the church' (Eph. iii. 9). The same word is used respecting certain particular doctrines of the Gospel, as, for instance, the partial and temporary blindness of Israel,' of which mystery the Apostle would not have Christians' ignorant (Rom. xi. 25), and which he explains (ver. 25-32). He styles the calling of the Gentiles a mystery which, in other ages, was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit' (Eph. iii. 4-6; comp. i. 9, 10, &c.). To this class we refer the well-known phrase, Behold I show you a mystery (1 Cor. xv. 51), we shall all be changed; and then follows an explanation of the change (ver. 51-55). And in the prophetic portion of his writings concerning the mystery of iniquity' (2 Thess. ii. 7), he speaks of it as being ultimately vealed' (ver. 8); and to complete the proof that the word mystery' is used in the sense of knowable secrets, we add the words Though I understand all mysteries' (1 Cor. xiii. 2).

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1. NA'AMAH (pleasant), daughter of Lamech and Zillah, and sister of Tubal-cain (Gen. iv. 22). 2. NAAMAH, an Ammonitess, one of the wives of Solomon, and mother of Rehoboam (1 Kings xiv. 21).

NA'AMAN (pleasantness), commander of the armies of Damascene Syria, in the time of Joram, king of Israel. Through his valour and abilities Naaman held a high place in the esteem of his

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