On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
there is no authority for supposing that tlj bXotaj among the Greeks , ( or psallo among the Latins , ) was ever employed in reference to singing , exclusively of instrumental music , before or during the apostolic age * $ and , on the other hand ,
we have thoroughly good reason to believe , that this word as used by heathen writers , is exclusively appropriated to the employment of instrumental music . Eus . achius [ in II . p £ . p . 1378 , 52 , ) as quoted by Wet stein , ( on Eph . v . 19 . ) is very express . " In these things /'
he says , we iire to remember , that there does not appear to be any difference between gcSeiv and f ^ eXirsi v ; bur ^ ocXXsiv diffe rs from
* Hesychius ^ see Schleusner , ) in explaining - ^ olWsw only gives gcSeiv
a cfchCLTOL , to sing songs , TiXXeiy and ytivsiy . He has therefore no reference whatever , to what indisputably was the meaning of the word , in and before the apostolic age , when used in connexion "with music . This is rather a remarkable circumstance , but I think it is to be accounted for , by the period in which
rlesychius lived . He is placed by some in the 6 th century , and not earlier than the end of the 4 th , By the use of ^ cxWuj in connexion vrith singing psalms , even if unaccompanie-d with instrumental music , it appears gradually to have lost , among the early Christians , the original appropriation of it to playing or singing
with instruments : and this was greatly aided by the dislike which v as commonly entertained to the use ot instrumental music , during the third and sx > me following centuries , owing , in part , to its having been employed in the temple service among the Jews , and to other circumstances which will be . hereafter
noticed . Hence it is not imp obabie that in the time of Hesychius ^ ctAAa ; , as commonly used , had ceased to have any reference > o instrumental mua . c ; and as his authorities are lost , ve
arcleft to suppose that he rrust , in this cane at least , have employed only such as would not ad us in our pregent inquiry , which docs not respect the use of the word in the later writers , but at the time of the apostles .
Untitled Article
both , as he manifests , by saying , * at supper the harlots ccSovcri koli 4 / aAAoixr ** , ami one of them leads off , and the rest sing together , ' The ode is a composition arranged for singing . But fyaKXeiv is by means of musical instruments ,
and particularly what is peculiarly termed the psaltery / ' Anlus Gelliusf ( Att . Nocu xix . 9 , ) says , qui canerent voce , et <| ui psulle - rent , those who sing with the voice and those who play . C > riil {( sec Schleusnor ) speaks of ^ M ^» as
a musical composition , when it is played melodiously upon a musical instrument , suitably to harmonious words . Psallerc , says Cre-L lius , ( Eth . Christ , lib . iii . c . 9 . ) Ci is to sing with the voice , and at the same time to strike some
musical instrument . ! " H . Stephens ( Thesaurus L . Gr . torn . iv . p « 694 (|) explains the word , a *
• It should be noticed , that this is the very combination of wordsemployed by
the apostle in Eph v . JO . The circumstance is important The opinion of Eustathius , in reference to a case in which theological opinion was out of the question , must appear to most , absolutely decisive . He flourished at the end of
the 12 th century . The early part ot his life , he spent at Constantinople , the place of his bi » th ; and he was afterwards Archbishop of Thessalonica . His commentaries on Homer •¦< are very voluminous , and frequently illustrate the text ; but 1 hey are principally valued }» y gra . marians , for the great assistance they afford in understanding the Creek language "
+ A learned grammarian who flourished in the middle of the second century . I Bishop of Alexandria at the beginning of the fifth centiiy . tj I shall h . tvt- occasion , hereafter , to rite the v \ boie of the e-. cell nt passage from which t best words are tbken :
exce ) l ^ ut , though , in some re pects , decideciiy against those views whjch theso papei . s are designed to state || Stephens introduces his remarks thus , — " Metaphor . Paul in Epist . ad
Untitled Article
On the Use of Vocal and Instrumental Music in Public Worship . 45
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1813, page 45, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2424/page/45/
-