1 Chronicles 15:21
in 1 Chronicles 15And Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead the music with lyres according to Sheminith.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and Mattithiah, and Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps set to the Sheminith, to lead.
KJV
And Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed–edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith to excel.
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This verse in 1 Chronicles 15
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obededom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah,.... These six were appointed to sound: with harps on the Sheminith to excel; which Sheminith some take to be an harp with eight strings, or the beginning of a song, or a musical tone, the bass; see the title of Psa 6:1.
This site's exposition
with psalteries on Alamoth
on 1 Chronicles 15:20-21
Two more groups of singers are assigned two technical terms, Alamoth and Sheminith, whose precise meaning had already passed out of use by the time the commentators wrote. Proposed readings include a pitch register, a known tune, or women's voices for Alamoth, and an eighth or an octave below it for Sheminith. Neither term is explained in the text and no reading commands certainty; the roster simply preserves that David organized the choir into parts distinct enough to need names, whatever those names once meant.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
To excel - Which word may be added to note the excellency of that instrument, or part of musick; or that there was a greater extension or elevation of the voice than in the former.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Harps on the Sheminith - “Sheminith” properly means “the eighth,” and has been compared with the modern musical term “octave.” Further, “Sheminith” and “Alamoth” are regarded as contrasted, and the harps of Mattithiah and his companions are supposed to have been pitched an octave below the psalteries of Zechariah and his brethren. The word translated “to excel,” is taken as meaning “to lead,” and Mattithiah, etc., as leaders of the singers.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint . . . the singers with instruments--These eminent Levites were instructed to train the musicians and singers who were under them, for the solemn procession. The performers were ranged in three choirs or bands, and the names of the principal leaders are given (1Ch 15:17, 18, 21), with the instruments respectively used by each.
On the Sheminith - According to the Targum, this signifies an instrument that sounded an octave, or, according to others, an instrument with eight strings. The Syriac and Arabic have it, instruments to sing with daily, at the third, sixth, and ninth hour; the Vulgate, an octave, for a song of victory: some think the eighth band of the musicians is intended, who had the strongest and most sonorous voices; and that it is in this sense that shelomith and lenatstseach should be understood.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּמַתִּתְיָ֣הוּ | umatityahu | and Mattithiah | H4993 → | 8 times |
| וֶאֱלִֽיפְלֵ֗הוּ | veelifelehu | and Eliphelehu | H466 → | |
| וּמִקְנֵיָ֙הוּ֙ | umikneyahu | and Mikneiah | H4737 → | |
| וְעֹבֵ֣ד | veoved | and Obed- | H5654 → | 40 times |
| אֱדֹ֔ם | ʾedom | Edom | H5654 → | 40 times |
| וִֽיעִיאֵ֖ל | viiel | and Jeiel | H3273 → | 14 times |
| וַעֲזַזְיָ֑הוּ | vaazazyahu | and Azaziah | H5812 → | |
| בְּכִנֹּר֥וֹת | bekhinorot | with harps | H3658 → | 42 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַשְּׁמִינִ֖ית | hasheminit | the sheminith | H8067 → | |
| לְנַצֵּֽחַ׃ | lenatzeach | to act as overseers | H5329 → |
וּמַתִּתְיָ֣הוּand Mattithiah
umatityahuH4993 →8 times
וֶאֱלִֽיפְלֵ֗הוּand Eliphelehu
veelifelehuH466 →
וּמִקְנֵיָ֙הוּ֙and Mikneiah
umikneyahuH4737 →
וְעֹבֵ֣דand Obed-
veovedH5654 →40 times
אֱדֹ֔םEdom
ʾedomH5654 →40 times
וִֽיעִיאֵ֖לand Jeiel
viielH3273 →14 times
וַעֲזַזְיָ֑הוּand Azaziah
vaazazyahuH5812 →
בְּכִנֹּר֥וֹתwith harps
bekhinorotH3658 →42 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַשְּׁמִינִ֖יתthe sheminith
hasheminitH8067 →
לְנַצֵּֽחַ׃to act as overseers
lenatzeachH5329 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 92:3with the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre.
it leads to
- Psalms 33:2
Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to Him with ten strings.
- 2 Chronicles 23:5
a third shall be at the royal palace, and a third at the Foundation Gate, while all the others are in the courtyards of the house of the LORD.
- Nehemiah 12:27
At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from all their homes and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps,…
- Psalms 68:25
The singers lead the way, the musicians follow after, among the maidens playing tambourines.
- 1 Chronicles 13:8
David and all the Israelites were celebrating before God with all their might, with songs and on harps and lyres, with tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets.
- Psalms 33:2
Through
1 Chronicles 15:18and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel.
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 26:4
And Obed-edom also had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,
- 1 Chronicles 16:38
along with Obed-edom and his sixty-eight relatives. Obed-edom son of Jeduthun, and also Hosah, were to be gatekeepers.
- 1 Chronicles 26:15
The lot for the South Gate fell to Obed-edom, and the lot for the storehouses to his sons.
- 1 Chronicles 26:4
About 1 Chronicles
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.