Lyre
The lyre is the stringed instrument most often named in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word kinnor occurs about forty times, from the line of Jubal, the father of all who play the lyre and pipe (Genesis 4:21), to the songs of the returned exiles at the dedication of Jerusalem's wall (Nehemiah 12:27). Older English versions usually say harp, and many Bibles in other languages do the same, but ancient pictures and descriptions show that the kinnor was a portable lyre: a wooden sound box with two arms joined by a crossbar, strings stretched between them, held against the body and played with the fingers or a plectrum.
The lyre went wherever Israel went. It sounded at family farewells and feasts, accompanied bands of prophets, was organized by David into the worship of the house of God, and fell silent when judgment came. Young David played it to calm the troubled king Saul (1 Samuel 16:23); the exiles in Babylon hung their lyres on the willows (Psalm 137:2); and in the vision of heaven the elders and the redeemed hold harps of God and sing to the Lamb (Revelation 5:8; 14:2; 15:2).
This article looks at the name of the instrument, its place in the life of Israel, the key passages where it appears, and what it teaches about music offered to God.
1. Etymology and meaning
The word kinnor belongs to the shared vocabulary of the ancient Near East. The same instrument appears as knr in Ugaritic texts, as kinnāru in Akkadian and in Egyptian sources that borrowed the word. Its ultimate origin is uncertain and may not even be Semitic. Some connect it with the name Chinnereth, the Sea of Galilee (Numbers 34:11), saying the lake is shaped like a lyre; this is an attractive explanation, but it remains a hypothesis.
The Greek translation of the Old Testament usually renders kinnor as kithara or kinyra. The New Testament uses kithara (1 Corinthians 14:7; Revelation 5:8) and kitharōdos, the one who plays and sings to the kithara (Revelation 14:2; 18:22). In Daniel the Aramaic qaytros, one of the instruments of Nebuchadnezzar's orchestra, is a loanword from the same Greek term (Daniel 3:5).
The kinnor is often paired with the nebel, which many versions translate harp or psaltery. The nebel seems to have been larger, and the Psalms mention a ten stringed form, the nebel asor (Psalm 33:2). The historian Josephus, writing in the first century, said that the kinnor had ten strings and was played with a plectrum, while the nebel had twelve and was plucked with the fingers (Antiquities 7.12.3). His testimony is late and the details may not apply to every period, so the exact difference between the two instruments is not certain.
2. Historical context and biblical use
The instrument itself
Lyres are among the best documented instruments of the region. A tomb painting at Beni Hasan in Egypt (about 1900 BC) shows Semitic travelers, one of them carrying a lyre; an ivory from Megiddo (around the twelfth century BC) depicts a lyre player before a ruler; and Jewish coins from the Bar Kokhba revolt (second century AD) still bear lyres as a national symbol. The Bible notes that Solomon had lyres and harps made of almug wood brought from Ophir, finer than any seen before (1 Kings 10:12; 2 Chronicles 9:11). The text says David played it with his hand (1 Samuel 16:23).
Home, feasts and daily life
The lyre was an instrument of joy. Laban complains that Jacob fled without letting him send him away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre (Genesis 31:27). It could also serve empty pleasure: Isaiah condemns banquets full of lyre and harp where no one regards the deeds of the LORD (Isaiah 5:12), Job describes the wicked whose children dance to tambourine and lyre (Job 21:12), and the prophet mocks Tyre as a forgotten prostitute who takes her lyre and walks the city (Isaiah 23:16).
Prophets and Levites
After his anointing Saul met a band of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute and lyre, prophesying (1 Samuel 10:5). Later David set apart the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun to prophesy with lyres, harps and cymbals (1 Chronicles 25:1-3). When Elisha needed to seek the word of the LORD he asked for a musician (2 Kings 3:15), although the instrument is not named there.
Temple worship
When the ark was brought to Jerusalem, David appointed Levites to play harps and lyres (1 Chronicles 15:16, 21; 16:5). At the dedication of Solomon's temple the Levitical singers stood with cymbals, harps and lyres, and the glory of the LORD filled the house (2 Chronicles 5:12-14). Hezekiah restored this order according to the command of David and the prophets (2 Chronicles 29:25), and after the exile the lyre sounded again at the dedication of the wall (Nehemiah 12:27).
3. Key passages
1 Samuel 16:14-23 is the best known. The Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit tormented him. David, a young shepherd skilled in playing, was brought to court; whenever he took the lyre and played, Saul was refreshed and the spirit left him. The scene shows the real power of music, but also its limit: the king received relief, not a new heart, and later he hurled a spear at David while David was playing (1 Samuel 18:10-11; 19:9-10).
The Psalms turn the lyre into a voice of praise. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre, sing to him a new song (Psalm 33:2-3). Awake, O harp and lyre, I will awake the dawn (Psalm 57:8; 108:2). I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God (Psalm 43:4). The Psalter ends by calling for praise with harp and lyre and with everything that has breath (Psalm 150:3, 6).
Psalm 137:1-4 is the other side. By the rivers of Babylon the captives wept and hung their lyres on the willows, for how could they sing the LORD's song in a foreign land? The silent lyre also appears in the oracles of judgment: the mirth of the lyre is stilled (Isaiah 24:8), the sound of Tyre's lyres will be heard no more (Ezekiel 26:13), and Job laments that his lyre is turned to mourning (Job 30:31).
In Revelation the instrument returns in heaven. The four living creatures and the twenty four elders fall before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls of incense, the prayers of the saints, and they sing a new song because he was slain and ransomed people for God (Revelation 5:8-9). John hears a sound like harpists playing on their harps (Revelation 14:2), and the victors stand beside the sea of glass with harps of God, singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb (Revelation 15:2-3). By contrast, the sound of harpists will never again be heard in fallen Babylon (Revelation 18:22).
4. Theological significance
The first mention of the lyre sits in the line of Cain (Genesis 4:21). Music is part of human culture from the beginning, a gift of the Creator that can be used for good or for vanity. Scripture does not despise the instrument; it asks for what purpose it is played. The same lyre that accompanies drunken feasts in Isaiah is called to awaken the dawn in praise of God in the Psalms.
The story of David and Saul teaches that music has real effects on the soul, yet it cannot replace repentance or the presence of the Spirit. Worship in Israel was not a technique for producing feelings but a response to the word and works of God, ordered by the command of the LORD through his prophets (2 Chronicles 29:25). Paul applies the same principle when he says that even lifeless instruments must give distinct notes to be understood (1 Corinthians 14:7-8): worship must build up with understanding.
The silence of the lyre is a sign of judgment and exile, and its return is a sign of restoration. The canon ends with harps in heaven and a new song centered on the Lamb who was slain. The final reason for music is not the skill of the musician but the redemption accomplished by Christ.
5. Legacy and canonical references
With the destruction of the temple in AD 70 the Levitical music ended, but the Psalms remained the hymnbook of Israel and of the church. The Greek verb psallō, originally to pluck the strings, gave the word psalm, and Paul uses it when he tells believers to sing and make melody to the Lord with their hearts (Ephesians 5:19; compare Colossians 3:16). Besides the texts already cited, the lyre appears in 2 Samuel 6:5, Psalm 49:4, Psalm 71:22, Psalm 81:2, Psalm 92:3, Psalm 98:5, Psalm 147:7 and Psalm 149:3.
6. Application for today
The lyre reminds us that our gifts, including artistic ones, belong to God. Whatever we play or sing can serve vanity, like the feasts condemned by Isaiah, or can become an offering of thanks. It is worth asking not only whether our music is beautiful, but whom it exalts.
David's music soothed Saul but did not change him. Songs can comfort, yet only the Spirit of God renews the heart. And like the exiles by the rivers of Babylon, there are seasons when believers can only hang their lyres and weep; Scripture gives room for honest lament. Even then, the last page of the Bible promises that the harps will be taken up again, and that the redeemed will sing forever the new song of the Lamb who ransomed them with his blood.