Genesis 31:27

31:27 Why did you run away secretly ¹  and deceive me? ²  Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps? ³ 

Job 21:12

21:12 They sing ⁴  to the accompaniment of tambourine and harp,

and make merry to the sound of the flute.

Isaiah 5:12

5:12 They have stringed instruments, ⁵  tambourines, flutes,

and wine at their parties.

So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,

they do not perceive what he is bringing about. ⁶ 

Amos 6:5

6:5 They sing ⁷  to the tune of ⁸  stringed instruments; ⁹ 

like David they invent ¹⁰  musical instruments.

[31:27]  ¹ tn Heb “Why did you hide in order to flee?” The verb “hide” and the infinitive “to flee” form a hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the main verb and the other the adverb: “flee secretly.”

[31:27]  ² tn Heb “and steal me.”

[31:27]  ³ tn Heb “And [why did] you not tell me so I could send you off with joy and with songs, with a tambourine and with a harp?”

[21:12]  ⁴ tn The verb is simply “they take up [or lift up],” but the understood object is “their voices,” and so it means “they sing.”

[5:12]  ⁵ tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).

[5:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “the work of the Lord they do not look at, and the work of his hands they do not see.” God’s “work” can sometimes be his creative deeds, but in this context it is the judgment that he is planning to bring upon his people (cf. vv. 19, 26; 10:12; 28:21).

[6:5]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “upon the mouth of,” that is, “according to.”

[6:5]  ⁹ sn The stringed instruments mentioned here are probably harps (cf. NIV, NRSV) or lutes (cf. NEB).

[6:5]  ¹⁰ 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).