25:1 David and the army officers selected some of the sons of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun to prophesy as they played stringed instruments and cymbals. 3 The following men were assigned this responsibility: 4
25:2 From the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asarelah. The sons of Asaph were supervised by Asaph, who prophesied under the king’s supervision. 5
25:3 From the sons of Jeduthun: 6 Gedaliah, Zeri, 7 Jeshaiah, 8 Hashabiah, and Mattithiah – six in all, 9 under supervision of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied as he played a harp, giving thanks and praise to the Lord.
25:4 From the sons of Heman: 10 Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth. 25:5 All these were the sons of Heman, the king’s prophet. God had promised him these sons in order to make him prestigious. 11 God gave Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
25:6 All of these were under the supervision of their fathers; they were musicians in the Lord’s temple, playing cymbals and stringed instruments as they served in God’s temple. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the supervision of the king.
5:23 Take away from me your 17 noisy songs;
I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments. 18
6:5 They sing 19 to the tune of 20 stringed instruments; 21
like David they invent 22 musical instruments.
1 tn Heb “and with them, Heman and Jeduthun, trumpets and cymbals for sounding, and the instrument of song of God, and the sons of Jeduthun [were] at the gate.”
2 tn Heb “made to [or “for”] praise.”
3 tn Heb “David and the officers of the army set apart for service the sons of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, the ones prophesying by harps, by lyres, and by cymbals.”
4 tn Heb “and their number was, the men of work for their service.”
5 tn Heb “the sons of Asaph [were] upon the hand of Asaph, the one prophesying upon the hands of the king.”
6 tn Heb “belonging to Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun.”
7 tn This name appears as “Izri” in v. 10.
8 tc One Hebrew
9 tc The list includes only five names. Apparently the name “Shimei” (see v. 17), which appears in one medieval Hebrew
10 tn Heb “belonging to Heman, the sons of Heman.”
11 tn Heb “by the words of God to exalt a horn.” An animal’s horn is sometimes used metaphorically as a symbol of strength and honor. See BDB 901-2 s.v. קֶרֶנ.
12 sn The word zither (Aramaic קִיתָרוֹס [qitaros]), and the words for harp (Aramaic פְּסַנְתֵּרִין [pÿsanterin]) and pipes (Aramaic סוּמְפֹּנְיָה [sumponÿyah]), are of Greek derivation. Though much has been made of this in terms of suggesting a date in the Hellenistic period for the writing of the book, it is not surprising that a few Greek cultural terms, all of them the names of musical instruments, should appear in this book. As a number of scholars have pointed out, the bigger surprise (if, in fact, the book is to be dated to the Hellenistic period) may be that there are so few Greek loanwords in Daniel.
13 tn The imperfect Aramaic verbs have here an injunctive nuance.
14 tn Aram “in that hour.”
15 tn Aram “all the peoples.”
16 tc Though not in the Aramaic text of BHS, this word appears in many medieval Hebrew
17 tn In this verse the second person suffixes are singular and not plural like they are in vv. 21-22 and vv. 25-27. Some have suggested that perhaps a specific individual or group within the nation is in view.
18 tn The Hebrew word probably refers to “harps” (NASB, NIV, NRSV) or “lutes” (NEB).
19 tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּרַט (parat), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. Some translate “strum,” “pluck,” or “improvise.”
20 tn Heb “upon the mouth of,” that is, “according to.”
21 sn The stringed instruments mentioned here are probably harps (cf. NIV, NRSV) or lutes (cf. NEB).
22 tn The meaning of the Hebrew phrase חָשְׁבוּ לָהֶם (khoshvu lahem) is uncertain. Various options include: (1) “they think their musical instruments are like David’s”; (2) “they consider themselves musicians like David”; (3) “they esteem musical instruments highly like David”; (4) “they improvise [new songs] for themselves [on] instruments like David”; (5) “they invent musical instruments like David.” However, the most commonly accepted interpretation is that given in the translation (see S. M. Paul, Amos [Hermeneia], 206-7).