1 Chronicles 23:5

23:5 4,000 are to be gatekeepers; and 4,000 are to praise the Lord with the instruments I supplied for worship.” ¹ 

Psalms 87:7

87:7 As for the singers, as well as the pipers –

all of them sing within your walls. ² 

Psalms 150:3-5

150:3 Praise him with the blast of the horn!

Praise him with the lyre and the harp!

150:4 Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing!

Praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!

150:5 Praise him with loud cymbals!

Praise him with clanging cymbals!

Isaiah 38:20

38:20 The Lord is about to deliver me, ³ 

and we will celebrate with music ⁴ 

for the rest of our lives in the Lord’s temple.” ⁵ 

Amos 6:5

6:5 They sing ⁶  to the tune of ⁷  stringed instruments; ⁸ 

like David they invent ⁹  musical instruments.

[23:5]  ¹ tn Heb “made to [or “for”] praise.”

[87:7]  ² tc Heb “and singers, like pipers, all my springs [are] in you.” The participial form חֹלְלִים (kholÿlim) appears to be from a denominative verb meaning “play the pipe,” though some derive the form from חוּל (khul, “dance”). In this case the duplicated lamed (ל) requires an emendation to מְחֹלְלִים (mÿkholÿlim, “a Polel form). The words are addressed to Zion. As it stands, the Hebrew text makes little, if any, sense. “Springs” are often taken here as a symbol of divine blessing and life”), but this reading does not relate to the preceding line in any apparent way. The present translation assumes an emendation of כָּל־מַעְיָנַי (kol-ma’yanay, “all my springs”) to כֻּלָּם עָנוּ (kullam ’anu, “all of them sing,” with the form עָנוּ being derived from עָנָה, ’anah, “sing”).

[38:20]  ³ tn The infinitive construct is used here to indicate that an action is imminent. See GKC 348-49 §114.i, and IBHS 610 §36.2.3g.

[38:20]  ⁴ tn Heb “and music [or perhaps, “stringed instruments”] we will play.”

[38:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.”

[6:5]  ⁶ tn The meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּרַט (parat), which occurs only here in the OT, is unclear. Some translate “strum,” “pluck,” or “improvise.”

[6:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “upon the mouth of,” that is, “according to.”

[6:5]  ⁸ sn The stringed instruments mentioned here are probably harps (cf. NIV, NRSV) or lutes (cf. NEB).

[6:5]  ⁹ 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).