TIMBREL, TABRET [smith]
(Heb.
toph). In old English tabor was used for any drum. Tabouret and tambourine are diminutives of tabor, and denote the instrument now known as the tambourine. Tabret is a contraction of tabouret. The Hebrew
toph is undoubtedly the instrument described by travellers as the
duff or
diff of the Arabs. It was played principally by women, (
Exodus 15:20;
Judges 11:34;
1Â Samuel 18:6;
Psalms 68:25) as an accompaniment to the song and dance. The
diff of the Arabs is described by Russell as "a hoop (sometimes with pieces of brass fixed in it to make a jingling) over which a piece of parchment is stretched. It is beaten with the fingers, and is the true tympanum of the ancients." In Barbary it is called
tar .
