Job 21:12

12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe.

Job 21:12 in Other Translations

KJV
12 They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
ESV
12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe.
NLT
12 They sing with tambourine and harp. They celebrate to the sound of the flute.
MSG
12 They make music with fiddles and flutes, have good times singing and dancing.
CSB
12 singing to the tambourine and lyre and rejoicing at the sound of the flute.

Job 21:12 Meaning and Commentary

Job 21:12

They take the timbrel and harp
Not the children, but the parents of them; these took these instruments of music into their hands, and played upon them while their children danced; thus merrily they spent their time: or, as Jarchi and Aben Ezra, they lift up the voice with the tabret and harp; that is, while they played on these with their hands, they sung songs with their mouths; they used both vocal and instrumental music together, to make the greater harmony, and give the greater pleasure, like those in ( Amos 6:5 Amos 6:6 ) ;

and rejoice at the sound of the organ;
a musical instrument, very pleasant and entertaining, from whence it has its name in the Hebrew tongue; but of what form it was cannot be with certainty said; that which we now so call is of later invention, and unknown in those times: probably Job may have respect to Jubal, the inventor of this sort of music, and others of the posterity of Cain before the flood, who practised it, and were delighted in it; in which they were imitated and followed by wicked men after it, and in Job's time, ( Genesis 4:21 ) .

Job 21:12 In-Context

10 Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
11 They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about.
12 They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe.
13 They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace.
14 Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Psalms 33:2
  • 2. S Genesis 4:21; S 1 Chronicles 15:16; Psalms 71:22; Psalms 81:2; Psalms 108:2; Isaiah 5:12; Matthew 11:17
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