Jubal was the inventor of musical instruments (Gen. 4:21). The Hebrews were much
given to the cultivation of music. Their whole history and literature afford
abundant evidence of this. After the Deluge, the first mention of music is in
the account of Laban's interview with Jacob (Gen. 31:27). After their triumphal
passage of the Red Sea, Moses and the children of Israel sang their song of
deliverance (Ex. 15). But the period of Samuel, David, and Solomon was the
golden age of Hebrew music, as it was of Hebrew poetry. Music was now for the
first time systematically cultivated. It was an essential part of training in
the schools of the prophets (1 Sam. 10:5; 19:19-24; 2 Kings 3:15; 1 Chr. 25:6).
There now arose also a class of professional singers (2 Sam. 19:35; Eccl. 2:8).
The temple, however, was the great school of music. In the conducting of its
services large bands of trained singers and players on instruments were
constantly employed (2 Sam. 6:5; 1 Chr. 15; 16; 23;5; 25:1-6). In private life
also music seems to have held an important place among the Hebrews (Eccl. 2:8;
Amos 6:4-6; Isa. 5:11, 12; 24:8, 9; Ps. 137; Jer. 48:33; Luke 15:25).