Russ Adcox Psalms includes Musical Instruments

My Answer

Posted on June 10, 2007 by

As commenter #13 suggested, now it’s my turn . . . here’s my original, unedited reply to the email (before I knew I would post it on the web for all to see). . .

"You’re correct. Not only does the definition of the word lend itself to that conclusion, but also the “psalms” themselves. When you read the OT book many of the psalms contain references to music and some contain instructions concerning which instrument to use (i.e. with harp, with lyre). I think that certainly allows for music in worship. But does it command it?? I’m not sure. I’m of the opinion that the Bible commands neither instrumental or acappella praise, but simply commands praise. But you’ve given me a new angle to consider! I’ll have to do some pondering.

The instruction to the Chief Musician were NOT part of the original poem.  None were written for and could not be sung musically with or without instrumental accompaniment. David sant TO his harp which means that he struck a single string (perhaps one of three) and then matched his voice to the "singing string." Singing in that part of the world even now is not a musical thing.

Psalm means song and does not include a musical performance.  Singing was CANTILLATION or reading with rhymic prose. The accent marks were added later specificially to PREVENT anyone from changing the meaning of the poem by adding his own words or emphasis.

First, you should understand that it was because of musical idolatry that God "turned the Jews over to worship the starry host." Christ in the prophets denies that God commanded the Civil-Military-complex and calls them robbers and parasites.  Paul would understand psalms as MIZMORS: there were only 50 of these used other than in making war and these do not contain instruments.

Second, none of this had anything to do with the godly people QUARANTINED in their local areas and attended Synagogue or Church of Christ beginning in the wilderness. The were to Rest, Read and Rehearse the Word.They were forbidden to make vocal or instrumental rejoicing sounds included elevated forms of speaking; this would REFUTE the Role of God through the elders down to as few as 10 families.

Third, the word Psalmos or Psalmus means a POEM since tuneful singing was not known.  It NEVER means to play and instrument.  It primarily applies to Plucking the bow string to make it TWANG to send forth a SINGING arrow. There is never an example of Psalmos used to mean SING + PLAY + named instrument.  It is NEVER used to mean PLUCK + A named instrument. It can NEVER EVER apply to anything but a bow string or harp string. It can NEVER be used of plucking with a guitar pick. It has no musical content. It can NEVER be used of a piano, organ, drums, flute or any musical instrument. The sound made by  PLUCKING was not MUSIC: you would have to define a tune which in that time was a series of single tones to which you might match your voice.

There was ALWAYS a compound word meaning to Play + a Harp. or Sing + a Harp. Psallo could neve be matched up with a wind or percussion instrument. Therefore, to grasp at the PSAO (SOP) words as permitting one to deliberately sow massive discord is despising the Word.  When you say that Go something He did not command that is defined as blaspheming the Holy Spirit of Christ.  The Christian churches first insisted that psallo DEMANDED the use of an instrument which would mean that everyone must have their own harps.

The direct command in the NEVER-MUSICAL passages is to SPEAK that which is written for our learning with one mouth and one voice.  Both singing and psallo had a very witchcraft connotation and therefore for those just out of paganism Paul said that they should be IN the Spirit or Heart. Jesus said that worship was not in any PLACE of worship but IN  SPIRIT (a Place) and devoted to The Truth. the word SPEAK is opposite to poetry or music.

Russ Adcox: After pondering, I’m at about the same place. I think the simple God-spoken words in Eph 5:19 and Col 3:16 command us to praise him with all our heart. Its a stretch to say that’s only possible through acappella singing, just as its a stretch to say that’s only possible through instrumental music.

Scripture does not say to PRAISE HIM WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART: it says to Sing and (melody-grace) IN THE HEART because it is directed TO GOD and not to the paying audience. Acappella singing is a STEAL WORD. The word is "a cappella" which means "in the style of the Sistine Chapel." Chapel is from Caper or GOAT. The pope imported castrated Opra singers to the Sistine where he couldn't tolerate the whining falsettos and where no organ could go in the Pope's presence. The style is ORGANUM or in the style of the pipe organ which taught the monks simple harmony. Melody is not harmony and is not related to it.

Russ Adcox: I believe it’s possible through either style if the heart of the worshipper is in the right place. As we learned in our recent study on how to read the Bible, the main question to ask of any passage is “what’s the point?” Usually the point shines through, it’s the details that get fuzzy. The point of Eph 5:19 and Col 3:16 seem simple enough. Praise God through heartfelt song! To argue over issues of style or form seems to miss the point.

Not true: the purpose was to fill up with Spirit or The Will of Christ. Then to TEACH and ADMONISH you speak the word. Speak is the opposite of poetry or music.  The LOGOS to be taught is that which Jesus as the LOGOS or mouth of God commanded to be taught.  There is no musical content in the New Testament other than among the pagans. The "feelings" do not trump truth the teaching of which is the ONLY reason that anyone should seek to be supported.

Russ Adcox: Which brings up an interesting thought. You’re comments forced me to go back and listen to part of my sermon on music style. At one point I said something about the fact that style seems to be a non-issue in the NT and it should be a non-issue for us today.

The implication being that what’s most important is that we simply praise God regardless of whether we choose to do it acappella or otherwise. Of course then I realized that while I preached it as a non-issue, I turned around and made it an issue on the blog! Funny how that works. Sorry for the confusion, but thanks for the comments. Honest discussion of any topic helps us all become better students of God’s Word.

Praise singing has always been a sexual content of religion: music induces endorphins which produces the impulses of Fight, Fight or Sexuality. Carol Wimber who began the Praise Craze intends that the singers produce asexual-like climatic experience with the Spirit.

"In Phoenicia and Syria almost all popular music reflected the worship of Ishtar (Included Tammuz, Ezek 8), the goddess of fertility.

Thus, popular song was usually a prelude to sexual orgies in honor of the goddess, led and organized by her thousands of hierodules (religious prostitutes)." (Interpreter's Dict of the Bible, Music, p. 461). See Lamenting for Tammuz.

"The trained musicians which eventually appear around the time of David and Solomon mark a distinctive change in the history of Jewish music. Before this time much of the music was made by women." (Zondervan Pict., Music p. 313).

"Before the establishment of the kingdom under Saul, it was the women who, as in every young civilization, played a major part in the performance of music. Such figures as Miriam, Deborah, Jephtha's daughter, and the women hailing the young hero David have become almost archetypes of female musicians.

Characteristic of all these cases is the familiar picture of a female chorus, dancing and singing, accompanied by frenzied drum-beating. This is the scene known to the entire Near East,

and not even the severe rule of Islam could wholly suppress this age-old practice." (Int Dict of the Bible, Music, p. 457). Click to see an Islamic defense of what Christian music should be.

"Ephesus was famous for its shrine of Diana, where thousands of sacred prostitutes believed fornication brought believers into contact with deity in much the same way the Gnostics used authentia (new female authority) to bind the flesh and the divine together.

When these women converted to Christianity they had to unlearn these pagan practices. 'Virtually without exception, female teachers among the Greeks were courtesans, such as Aspasia, who numbered Socrates and Pericles among her students. Active in every major school of philosophy, these hetairai made it evident in the course of their lectures that they were available afterwards for a second occupation.

But the Bible teaches that to seduce men in such a manner was indeed to lead them to slaughter and the halls of death (cf. Prov. 2:18; 5:5; 6:27; 9:18). The verb authentein is thus peculiarly apt to describe both the erotic and murderous." (Trombley, Who says Women Cannot teach, p. 177).

Back to Church Controversy

Posted on June 7, 2007 by

Russ Adcox: Someone sent me an email this week I thought was interesting enough to share . . .

Old folks like to quote a phrase something like this, “Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent.” Which got me wondering what the difference was between the words…”psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” Why would God have used three different ways to say “just sing songs.”

Sure, the Spirit OF Christ in the Prophets which repudiate the use of magical musical instruments to alter the minds of people always to FLEECE them.  All historical scholars know the difference: God is God and they are not. Therefore, SPEAK LORD thy searvant heareth.  Humans have NO TALENT to add to the finished work of Jesus Christ.

To the law and to the testimony:
        if they speak not according to this word,
        it is because there is no light in them. Isa 8:20

Psalms, hymns and Spiritual songs are ALL types collected in the BOOK of Psalms: they are poetry and David wrote TEACHING PSALMS or WARRIOR songs.  The warrior PRAISE (halal) song meant "to make self vile" in order to threaten the enemy. The pattern was we will ROB you, we will RAPE you and then we will RAPTURE you. Praise or boast songs were common to the Alpha Male in tribalism.

Christ ordained the Qahal, synagogue, ekklesia or Church of Christ in the wilderness AFTER the Jews fell into musical idolatry for which there was no remedy

Apis the golden calf or calves represented Osiris, Isis and Horus: the pagan trinity of father, mother and son.

Horus was the posthumous son and heir of the god Osiris, the primordial king and giver of life. He was invited by his uncle, Seth, to spend a day. Seth’s real motive was not to show him hospitality but to disqualify him from inheriting his father’s royal power. To this end, while Horus slept Seth committed an act of sodomy upon him. Since sodomy was inflicted as a punishment on a defeated enemy and was a symbol of domination, Seth could then claim that he had conquered Horus and demand the kingship in his place.

 Historically, the rape of males was more widely recognized in ancient times. Several of the legends in Greek mythology involved abductions and sexual assaults of males by other males or gods. The rape of a defeated male enemy was considered the special right of the victorious soldier in some societies and was a signal of the totality of the defeat. There was a widespread belief that a male who was sexually penetrated, even if it was by forced sexual assault, thus "lost his manhood," and could no longer be a warrior or ruler. Gang rape of a male was considered an ultimate form of punishment and, as such, was known to the Romans as punishment for adultery and the Persians and Iranians as punishment for violation of the sanctity of the harem (Donaldson, 1990). Donaldson, Donald. (1990). "Rape of Males," in Dynes, Wayne, ed. Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. New York: Garland Publications.

(Parkes, Henry Bamford, Gods and Men The Origins of Western Culture, p. 106, Knopf) The development both of religion and of the arts can be traced back in a continuous line to the hunting era. The group ritual of the primeval tribesmen were the origin not only of all religious ceremonial, but also of the drama and of poetry and music, while magic gave birth to the visual arts." (Parkes, Henry Bamford, On Gods and Men, p. 30).
   "Awed by the mysteries of his own spirit no less than by those of nature, primitive man was likely to attribute to divine influence any abnormal emotional state, whether above or below the usual level. Medicine men customarily went into states of trance in which they were believed to be in communication with the gods, and many tribes supposed lunatics and sexual deviants to be divinely possessed.
   Besides enabling men to express, and thereby to allay, ANGER and ANXIETY, such ceremonies also promoted tribal UNITY and strengthened the loyalty of the individual to TRIBAL TRADITION, for the emotional excitement they aroused had the effect of breaking down the barriers between individuals and thus fusing all tribesmen into a collective whole. Meanwhile, whole systems of magical devices were gradually elaborated." (Parkes, p. 29)

This continued in Jerusalem and in Samaria. Therefore, Christ spoke through the Prophets and warned about the lying pen of the Scribes. The Law regulated the civil lives of the people and protected the godly people FROM the civil-military-Clergy complex. The Testamony is Christ speaking in the prophets.

Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

To the law and to the testimony:
        if they speak not according to this word,
        it is because there is no light in them. Isa 8:20

Letter LV. or Book II-VII. of Replies to Questions of Januarius. (a.d. 400.)

while the play-actors may interfere with our mentioning the harp in the book of Psalms.

Let them therefore say, if they please, that, because similitudes for the exhibition of the mysteries of God's word are taken from the things which I have named,

we are chargeable either with consulting the omens given by the flight of birds, or with concocting the poisons of the charmer, or with taking pleasure in the excesses of the theatre,-a statement which would be the clime of absurdity.

XVIII: 34. I am surprised at your expressing a desire that I should write anything in regard to those ceremonies which are found different in different countries, because there is no necessity for my doing this; and, moreover,

"one most excellent rule must be observed in regard to these customs,

> "when they do not in any way oppose either true doctrine or sound morality,
>  contain some incentives to the better life,
[But once they have been introduced they become the rule and to try to return to true doctrine is to sow discord] viz., that wherever we see them observed, or know them to be established,
we should not only refrain from finding fault with them, but even recommend them by our approval and imitation,
        unless restrained by fear of doing greater harm than good.
        "In such a case we ought by all means to adopt it,
> especially if it be something in defense of which Scripture can be alleged: as in the singing of hymns and psalms,
> for which we have on record both the example and the precepts of the Lord and of His apostles. 
This, dear Campbell critic, means Command, Example or Precept!

The Council wishing to do away with the irreligious phrases of the Arians, and to use instead the acknowledged words of the Scriptures, Athanasius in 346 and his flight in 356, De Decretis or Defence of the Nicene Definition In this religious exercise, so useful for inducing a devotional frame of mind and inflaming the strength of love to God, there is diversity of usage,

and in Africa the members of the Church are rather too indifferent in regard to it; on which account the Donstists reproach us with our grave chanting of the divine songs of the prophets in our churches,

while they inflame their passions in their revels by the singing of psalms of human composition, which rouse them like the stirring notes of the trumpet on the battle-field.

Why then, when they have invented on their part unscriptural phrases,
          for the purposes of irreligion,
          do they accuse those who are religious in their use of them 
For irreligiousness is utterly forbidden,
        though it be attempted to disguise it with artful expressions and plausible sophisms;
        but religiousness is confessed by all to be lawful,
        even though presented in strange phrases ,
        provided only they are used with a religious view,
        and a wish to make them the expression of religious thoughts.

Now the aforesaid grovelling phrases of Christ's enemies have been shewn in these remarks to be both formerly and now replete with irreligion

There is no command, example or remote inference of JUST SING SONGS.



David Adcox:  So I looked up the word “psalms,” and since that time, the only problem I’ve had with music in the worship service is “forbidding it” or “never having it.” I often wonder if they ever looked up the definition to “psalms.” If they had, I wonder how anyone can take the position of “no music in the worship service, it is forbidden.”

I find in Abingdon’s Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible the following Greek definitions for a couple of ways the word “psalms” is used in the New Testament.

There is no document which DEFINES the word Psallo or Psalm. They show how words were used in the literature of the time. The men who translated the Septuagent into Greek used the PSAO rooted words because they understood that the Psalms were warrior taunt songs. You will remember that David was King and the Levites were under the KING and commanders of the army. They made great crashing sounds when going into battle or at animal sacrifices. This was to warn the godly people that if they came near any holy place inside the gates they would be EXECUTED.

You can read a song, recite a song, sing a song but you CANNOT play an instrument to a psalm unless that instrument is named. The Psao (SOP) word simply means to pluck or smite a string with your fingers and NEVER with a plectrum. Psallo or Psalm can never by definition be accompanied with a guitar pick, drums, piano, drums or trumpet.

Psallô , fut.
II. mostly of the strings of musical instruments, play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and not with the plectron, psęlai kai krouein tôi plęktrôi

David Adcox:  #5578 in the Greek section:
(as used in Col 3:16, from #5567)
a set piece of music, i.e., a sacred ode (accompanied with the voice, harp, or other instrument, a “psalm”).

#5567 in the Greek section:
to twitch or twang, i.e., to play on a stringed instrument (celebrate the divine worship with music and accompanying odes)–make melody, sing (psalms).

Am I wrong? Don’t the simple God-spoken words allow, even instruct, us to use musical instruments? Do you have any thoughts on this?

Before I share my answer, I’d love to hear yours…

Psalmos also appears in the LXX as equivalent to the Hebrew word neginah. This Hebrew term is used to describe a wide variety of songs. Neginah is translated by psalmos in Lam 3:14 (song), in Lam 5:14 (music) and in Ps 69:12 (song). It is striking to observe that in the LXX translation of Lam 3:14 and Ps 69:12, psalmos, or its verbal form, is used for songs that are not only uninspired but are in fact the product of the wicked, even drunkards, who mocked God and His word. The Hebrew term neginah is used elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures of: the songs of the wicked, Job 30:9 (song); the inspired praise of God, Psalm 61 title (Neginah-a song performed on a stringed instrument); and the uninspired praise of the Lord composed by King Hezekiah, Is 38:20 (my songs).
Psalmos , ho, twitching or twanging with the fingers, psalmoi toxôn E.Ion173 (lyr.); toxęrei psalmôi [toxeusas] Id.HF1064 (lyr.).
Psalmus , i, m., = psalmos, i. q. psalma,
I. a psalm (eccl. Lat.; cf.: carmen, hymnus), Vulg. Isa. 38, 20.--Esp., the Psalms of David

TWISTING PSALLO INTO AUTHORITY TO SOW MASSIVE DISCORD DESPISES OR BLASPHEME THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST CLAIMING THAT HE AND PAUL WERE IGNORANT.

It takes TWO words to define PLAYING and an INSTRUMENT. If you want to sing TO or match the voice to the single plucked string it takes THREE words.  Or, Paul understood that anyone who wanted to define Playing An Instrument had a compound word for EACH instrument.
Anti-psallô , A.play a stringed instrument in accompaniment of song, a. elegois phorminga Ar.Av.218 .

--This always attaches to Apollo or Abaddon or Apollyon
Barbitos , m. (f. in the spurious epistle of Sappho, Ov. H. 15, 8;  barbiton -os), a lyre, a lute  Latinum, Barbite, carmen, 
--psalmōd-ia , A. singing to the harp, Aristid.2.310J.
--psalmōd-os , o(, A. psalmist, LXX Si.47.9 cod.Sin., 50.18.
--psal-ma , atos, to/, A. tune played on a stringed instrument, AP11.34 (Phld.), Max.Tyr.37.4
--psal-mizō , A. sing psalms, and psal-mistēs , ou, o(, psalmist, Gloss.
--Psal-tikos A. of or for harp playing, ps. organon a stringed instrument, (of the magadis); andra psaltikęn agathon a good harpist, Ael. ap. Ar.Byz.Epit.84.8.
--psaltes , ae, m., = psaltēs, I. a player on the cithara, a musician, minstrel, Quint. 1, 10, 18; Mart. Cap. 9, § 924; Sid. Ep. 8, 9; Inscr. Grut. 331, 2; Vulg. 2 Reg. 23, 1.
--psaltrĭa , ae, f., = psaltria, I. a female player on the cithara, a lutist,
--psal-tos , ē, on, A. sung to the harp, sung of, LXX Ps.118(119).54.
--psal-tria , h(, A. female harper, Pl.Prt. 347d, Ion Trag.22, Arist.Ath.50.2, Men.319.4, Plu.Caes.10, al.
--psaltōd-eō , A. sing to the harp, LXX 2 Ch.5.13.
--Phallikos , ę, on, of or for the phallos: to ph. (sc. melos) the phallic song, Ar.Ach.261, Arist.Po.1449a11; restd. in IG12.187.33; also a dance, Poll.4.100.
--Epi-psallô, A. play the lyre, S.Fr.60, Poll.4.58(Pass.);
        b.  melesi kai rhuthmois Plu.2.713b; measured motion, time, rhythm
        c.  sing, tous humnous LXX 2 Ma.1.30 - Then the priests sang the hymns.

Connected to the ORGIA or secret worship, of the rites of Bacchus, Ekthusia, breaking out. Meaning the WRATH Paul put down by silencing the women and where no decent male would be outed by singing and playing instruments.

Musical melody is Melody is:
Kalli-phthongos or Melos and never Psallo.

More on Music

Posted on May 31, 2007 by

David Adcox: Follow up to my previous post . . . although I disagree that the NT is completely silent about instrumental praise, it is silent about its use in the worship assembly.
        Both the pro-instrument and anti-instrument side like to quote Eph 5:19 and Col 3:16,
        but when read in context, neither passage really addresses the issue.

That's not a fact. There is no reason that those waged as preachers should know how to read black text onr brown paper. Paul warned about strong delusions which lead to lying wonders meaning religious services claiming that performances brought god into their presence.

1Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
        and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

This is not speaking as in the command to SPEAK one to another to teach and comfort. Sounding brass and tinkling cymbals here are identifying marks of people who have NO LOVE. Even if they COULD speak all of the languages in the world there would be no love. The command is to SPEAK or LOGOS the Word of Christ which is the opposite of rhetoric, singing or playing instruments. Speaking in the tongues of angels was IN FACT making music in tongues.

La^l-eō ,Mark of the Locusts
II.  chatter, Opposite. articulate speech, as of locusts, chirp, Theoc.5.34; mesēmbrias lalein tettix (sc. eimi), a very grasshopper to chirp at midday, 
III.  of musical sounds, “aulō [flute] laleō” Theoc.20.29; of trees, v.supr.1.2; “di'aulou [flute] ē salpiggos l.”[trumpet] Arist. Aud.801a29; of Echo,  magadin lalein sound the magadis,  [double flute]
-kat-auleô , A. charm by flute-playing, metaphor I will flute to you on a ghastly flute, E.HF871 (troch.):--Pass., of persons, methuôn kai katauloumenos drinking wine to the strains of the flute, Pl.R.561c; k. pros chelônidos psophon to be played to on the flute with lyre accompaniment,
II. in Pass., [ton monochordon kanona] parechein tais aisthęsesi . . katauloumenon subdued by a flute accompaniment, to be piped down, ridiculed, gelômenoi  
2.  make a place sound with flute-playing, resound with flute-playing, nęsos katęuleito Plu.Ant.56

katapsallô A.play stringed instruments to, [sumposion]katauleinkai k. Plu.2.713e :--usu. in Pass., have music played to one, enjoy music, ib.785e; of places, resound with music, Id.Ant.56. 2. Pass., to be buried to the sound of music,  3. metaph., katapsalletai . . hodęmiourgos is drummed out

hupauleô , play on the flute in accompaniment, melo. lusiôidos 1 one who played women's characters in male attire, 

The Mark of the Locusts: Abaddon's Muses (dirty adulteresses) performing as sorcerers.
Tettix  This noise is freq. used as a simile for sweet sounds, Il.3.151, Hes.Op.582, Sc.393, Simon.173, 174, etc.; and Plato calls them hoi Mousōn prophētai, Phdr.262d; but they also became a proverb. for garrulity, “lalein tettix” Aristopho10.7: “t. polloi ginomenoi nosōdes to etos sēmainous
 Mousa ,Muse,
A. “Olumpiades M., Dios aigiokhoio thugateres” Il.2.491, cf. Hes.Th.25, etc.; nine in number, first in Od.24.60; named in Hes.Th.75 sqq.
II. mousa, as Appellat., music, song, “m. stugera” A.Eu.308 (anap.); “euphamos” Id.Supp.695 (lyr.); “kanakhan . . theias antiluron mousas” S.Tr.643 (lyr.); “Aiakō moisan pherein” Pi.N.3.28; tis hēde mousa; what strain is this ?
2. hautē hē Sōkratous m. that was Socrates's way

Prophēt-euō A.  to be a prophētēs or interpreter of the gods, “manteueo, Moisa, prophateusō d' egō” Pi. l.c.; tis prophēteuei theou; who is his interpreter

Aggelos ,  of a loquacious person 2.  generally, one that announces or tells, e.g. of birds of augury, Il.24.292,296; Mousōn aggelos, of a poet, Females as stand over preachers.

Paul will define a prophet as Teaching the Word of God with Speaking: Logos or opposite poetry or music. These are the Locusts or music Apollo unleashed and John calls Sorcerers in Revelation 18 working for the Babylon Mother of Harlots.
1Corinthians 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
Salp-igx , iggos, hē, A. war-trumpet hupai salpiggos by sound of trumpet, S.El.711, cf. Ar.Ach.1001; also apo s. X.Eq.Mag.3.12, Plb.4.13.1.

The trumpet was for sending signals: if someone makes music it might getyou killed:
1Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
        and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
khalkos II. in Poets freq. for anything made of metal, esp. of arms (hence Pi. calls it polios, the proper epith. of iron, P.3.48); of offensive arms, oxei khalkō, nēlei kh., of a spear, a sword, Il.4.540, 3.292, al.; of a knife, 1.236, al.; of an axe, 13.180, Od.5.244, al.; of a fish-hook, Il.16.408;
“sidēros de kai kh. polemōn organa”
Polemon warfare II. personified, War, Battle, “Alala Polemou thugater” 2. metaph. of womankind, “polutelēs p.

Organon , to, (ergon, erdō)  A. instrument, implement, tool, for making or doing a thing,
3. musical instrument,Simon.31, f.l. in A.Fr.57.1 ; ho men di' organōn ekēlei anthrōpous, of Marsyas, Pl.Smp.215c ; aneu organōn psilois logois ibid., cf. Plt.268b ; “o. polukhorda” Id.R.399c, al.; “met' ōdēs kai tinōn organōn” Phld.Mus.p.98K.; of the pipe

kumba^lon , to, (kumbos) cymbal
1 Samuel 18.6 It happened as they came, when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music.

David Adcox:  The bottom line is that the NT neither authorizes nor condemns the use of instrumental praise. That’s why every debate over music goes in circles.
        One argues that they don’t want to allow something that God has never authorized.
        The other argues that they don’t want to forbid something that God has never condemned.

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;
        and some, pastors and teachers;
Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
        for the edifying [educating] of the body of Christ:
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith,
        and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
        unto a perfect man,
        unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children,
        tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
        by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Wind of Doctrine
Venio A. In gen.: “vides, quo progrediente oratione venturum me puto,” Cic. Rep. 1, 40, 62.
B. fin. and the passages there cited: “oratorum laus ita ducta ab humili venit ad summum, ut, etc.,”
“prava [crooked] ex falsis opinionibus veniunt,” Quint. 5, 10, 34:

Latin săpĭo
ops voice, whether in speaking, shouting, lamenting or in singing, “Kirkēs . . aeidousēs opi kalē” Od.10.221, cf. 5.61; “aeidon   also of cicadae, “opa leirioessan hieisi” Il.3.152;
  Leir-ioeis of the cicadae, opa leirioessan their delicate voice, 3.152; of the Muses' voice, Hes.Th.41; “Hesperides” Q.S.2.418

-Panourg-ęma  A. knavish trick, villainy, S.El.1387 (lyr.), LXX Si.1.6 (v.l.); sophistry, Gal.5.251; cf. panourgeuma.

-Panourg-os A. ready to do anything, wicked, knavish, b. panourgôs kataskeuazesthai to be adulterated, 3. of animals, as the fox,  E.Alc.766, {wine, music, funeral} Sophos, Hypokritikos

Cunning craftiness has the same meaning as SOPHOS:
1Cor. 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you
        seemeth to be wise [sophos] in this world,
        let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
1Cor. 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.
        For it is written,
        He taketh the wise  sophia
        in their own craftiness. pa^nourg-ia
1Cor. 3:20 And again,
        The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, sophōn
        that they are vain. matai-os 
  
-Sophia A. cleverness or skill in handicraft and art, as in carpentry, tektonos, hos rha te pasēs eu eidē s. Il.15.412; of the Telchines, Pi.O.7.53; hē entekhnos s., of Hephaestus and Athena, Pl.Prt.32 1d; of Daedalus and Palamedes, X.Mem.4.2.33, cf. 1.4.2; in music and singing, tekhnē kai s. h.Merc.483, cf. 511; in poetry, Sol.13.52, Pi.O.1.117
2 Pet 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Proverbs 21.[11] When the mocker is punished, the simple gains wisdom; When the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.

Sophos , ē, on, A.  skilled in any handicraft or art, clever mostly of poets and musicians, pi.P.5.115  Pi.O.1.9, P.1.42, 3.113; en kithara s. E.IT1238 (lyr.), cf. Ar.Ra.896 (lyr.)

SEE 2 PETER 2 AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC MARKS CORRUPTION

David Adcox: So what does God want? We don’t know. He was silent. Does that mean He only wants acappella praise or are instruments permitted? We don’t know. He was silent. When will we figure out that silence is silence and stop making commands where God made none? It’s difficult, if not impossible, to establish any doctrinal position based on something God has not said. So why do we keep trying?

There is no command, example or remote inference that godly people were ever called out on their rest day except to Rest, Read and Rehearse the Word.  On the other hands, Christ in the prophets MARKS music as the defacto proof that people have no intention of obeying God.  The definition of Qahal, synagogue, ekklesia or church EXCLUDES anything you can invent or compose.  God is God and HE teaches: we are disciples and WE shut up and listen to the Word.  Jesus defined the Great commission as including TEACHING disciples what He commanded to be taught. The Praise word always meant that by boasting or performing people could ASSIST or AIDE God so that he did not fail them.

In Romans 14 Paul outlawed doubtful disputations or private opinions which did not edify or EDUCATE.
In Romans 15 Paul outlawed SELF-PLEASURE as did Christ in Isaiah 58

Aresko (g700) ar-es'-ko; prob. from 142 (through the idea of exciting emotion); to be agreeable (or by impl. to seek to be so): - please.

Areskos A. pleasing, mostly in bad sense, obsequious, cringing, the STAFF borne by pornoboskoi [brothel keeper] on the stage

Airo (g142) to lift; by implication to take up or away; figuratively to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind); specifically to sail away (that is, weigh anchor); by Hebraism (compare [ H5375 ]) to expiate sin:--away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).

Anaireô, anęiręka (v. haireô): --take up, anelontes apo chthonos having raised the victim from the ground, so as to CUT its THROAT II. make away with, destroy, of men, kill,

Exairô -lift up, lift off the earth 2. raise in dignity, exalt, magnify, exaggerate it. Rhetoric, treat in elevated style, of music
3. arouse, stir up excites thy wish to die, pervert, make away with, get rid of, to be excited, agitated. Includes: Choreia [choreuô] a dance, esp. the choral or round dance with its music. 

The word HAEIRO has the same meaning as aeiro. Heresy is invading and making war to LIFT YOU UP with musical excitement.

HERESY is creating the spiritual anxiety with any of the performing or hypocritic arts and crafts which God cannot use.

aeirō , Ep., Ion., and poet.; airō (once in Hom., v. infr.), Att. and Trag. (exc. A. Th.759, Pers.660, both lyr.); Aeol. aerrō , Alc.78: impf. ēeiron （sun-) Il.10.499, Hdt.2.125, Ep.
II. raise up, exalt, “apo smikrou d' an areias megan” A.Ch.262, cf. 791; olbon
2. raise by words, hence, praise, extol, E.Heracl.322, etc.; ai. logō to exaggerate, D.21.71.
2. ogkon arasthai to be puffed up, S.Aj. 129; “thaumaston ogkon aramenoi tou muthou” Pl.Plt.277b.

airō epic and poet. aeirō q.v. dis III.=to raise up, exalt, Aesch.:—of passion, to exalt, excite, hupsou airein thumon to grow excited, Soph.; airein tharsos to pluck up courage, Eur., etc.: Pass., ouk ērthē noun es atasthaliēn Simon.
2. [select] to raise by words, to extol, exaggerate, Eur., Dem.

5.4.2 Behind the anthropological predilections against the victim's perspective, there is a very practical, quasi-historical reason: namely, the victim is shunned and often killed  In the ancient world,
..........the role of music during ritual sacrifice was often
..........to drown out any cries from the victim.
 It is crucial that the victim not be heard.
The practical mechanics of making victims
means that it is unusual for the victim's perspective to survive.
In the world of ancient ritual it was probably impossible.
.........The Greek verb musteron means to close the mouth or shut the eyes. 
..........Myth means to close ourselves to the victim
..........and tell the tale according to the perpetrator's perspective;
..........mystery cults are based on the silence of the victims;

45. The Greek verb myo means to close the mouth or shut the eyes. There is debate about whether myo plays a crucial role in the etymology of other significant words such as myth, mystery, and even music. These etymologies make sense within the Girardian hypotheses. Myth means to close ourselves to the victim and tell the tale according to the perpetrator's perspective; mystery cults are based on the silence of the victims; music derives from drowning out the voice of the victim.

NO DOUBT THAT THE USE OF RHETORIC OR MUSIC INTENDS TO SILENCE THE WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST.

He commanded that we "use one mind and one mouth to teach that which is written for our learning." That is the ONLY praise concept

Romans 15:3 For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written,
        The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.
Romans 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,
        that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Romans 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded
        one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
Romans 15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

The only concept in the synagogue was READING the Word of God: that is the only worship concept taught for the spiritual people.  Silence is the sincerest form of WORSHIP.  David wanted to AWAKEN his lyre so he could awaken the dawn: after all,, they had been abandoned to worship the starry hosts.

Habakkuk 2:19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone,
        Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver,
        and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
Habakkuk 2:20 But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.

David Adcox: I’m confident there’s a better way. We can stop arguing about the things that are unclear and simply start doing the things that are (i.e. stop debating his silence and start obeying his word). The Bible tells us to “sing with grace in your hearts to God” and “sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord.” At Maury Hills we’ve chosen to do that acappella. That doesn’t mean we’re right and everyone else is wrong. It simply means that we’ve made a choice. And I’m convinced that whether or not its the right one depends more on the direction of our hearts than the style of our singing.

That, of course, is passing judgment upon those who have never in recorded history--even back to Eve--ever engaged in group singing with instrumental accompaniment.

That is affirming and endorsing those who do not know the meaning of the Ekklesia or Church of Christ as a SAFE HOUSE quarantined from the  always musical and pagan use of instruments as "machines for doing hard work" mostly in making war or in creating the shock and awe (laded burden) to create spiritual anxiety to seduce the people to return and put something in the pot also not authorized by Jesus who paid it all.

That ignores the totality of recorded history which connects instrumental machines to sorcery or witchcraft.

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1

Wherefore do ye spend (shaqal) money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Isaiah 55: 2

Isaiah 55: The Hebrew word 'shaqal' is used twenty-one times in the Old Testament. Fifteen times it is used in relation to money including the thirty pieces of silver prophecy shown above, in Isaiah 33:18 and in Isaiah 55:2.

In Isaiah 55:2 God asks why persons are weighing/receiving money for that which is free. Whether or not this applies directly to the thirty pieces of silver issue, it would apply to anyone who does any calculated form of giving that is directed toward God. God wonders aloud as to why anyone is weighing money. He has not set a price on service toward Himself.

History knows that when instruments were introduced in post-civil war the churches built from carpet-bags found out that people would not support them without some entertainment. Music as entertainment value ONLY.

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