Tehillim 33:2

2 Hodu l’Hashem with kinnor (harp); make music unto Him with the ten stringed nevel (lyre).

Tehillim 33:2 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 33:2

Praise the Lord with harp
An instrument David was well skilled in the use of, the inventor of which was Jubal, ( Genesis 4:21 ) ;

sing unto, him with the psaltery;
the name of this instrument is in the Hebrew language "nebel": the account which Josephus ^F23 gives of this, and of the former, is,

``the harp is extended with ten strings, and is plucked with a quill; the "nabla", or psaltery, has twelve sounds, and is played upon with the fingers;''

some make this and the next to be the same:

[and] an instrument of ten strings;
and read them together thus, "with the psaltery of ten strings": and so the Targum, Septuagint, and other versions ^F24: but it seems from Josephus that it was not a stringed instrument, but had holes, and those twelve; and besides it is distinguished from the instrument of ten strings, ( Psalms 92:3 ) ; it was in the form of a bottle, from whence it had its name.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Antiqu. l. 7. c. 12. s. 3.
F24 Vid. Jarchium in loc. & R. Mosem in Aben Ezra in loc.

Tehillim 33:2 In-Context

1 3 Sing with joy in Hashem, O ye tzaddikim; for tehillah is fitting for the yesharim (upright ones).

2 Hodu l’Hashem with kinnor (harp); make music unto Him with the ten stringed nevel (lyre).

3 Sing unto Him a shir chadash (new song); play skillfully with a teru’ah (shout of joy).

4 For the Devar Hashem is yashar; and kol ma’aseihu (all His deeds) are done in emunah (faithfulness).

5 He loveth Tzedakah and Mishpat; ha’aretz is full of the chesed Hashem.