Music holds a significant place in the biblical narrative, serving as a means of worship, celebration, and expression of emotion. Throughout the Scriptures, music is depicted in various forms, from vocal praise to instrumental accompaniment, reflecting the diverse ways in which God's people have used music to honor Him.

Old Testament References

1. Genesis 4:21 · Jubal is noted as "the father of all who play the harp and flute," indicating the early presence and development of musical instruments in human culture.

2. Exodus 15:20-21 · After the crossing of the Red Sea, Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them: "Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea."

3. 1 Samuel 16:23 · "And whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him." This passage highlights the soothing and therapeutic power of music.

4. 2 Chronicles 5:13-14 · During the dedication of Solomon's Temple, "the trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the LORD with one voice. They lifted up their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, in praise to the LORD: 'For He is good; His loving devotion endures forever.' Then the house—the house of the LORD—was filled with a cloud."

5. Psalm 150:3-5 · "Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the harp and lyre. Praise Him with tambourine and dancing; praise Him with strings and flute. Praise Him with clashing cymbals; praise Him with resounding cymbals." This psalm is a call to worship God with a variety of musical instruments.

New Testament References

1. Matthew 26:30 · "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." This verse records Jesus and His disciples singing a hymn after the Last Supper, indicating the use of music in worship and fellowship.

2. Acts 16:25 · "About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them." Despite their imprisonment, Paul and Silas used music as a form of worship and witness.

3. 1 Corinthians 14:15 · "So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind." Paul emphasizes the importance of both spiritual and intellectual engagement in musical worship.

4. Ephesians 5:19 · "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord." This passage encourages believers to use music as a means of mutual edification and personal devotion.

5. Colossians 3:16 · "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." Music is presented as a vehicle for teaching, admonishing, and expressing gratitude.

General Observations

Music in the Bible is often associated with worship, celebration, and the presence of God. It serves as a powerful tool for expressing joy, lament, and thanksgiving. The biblical narrative demonstrates that music is a gift from God, intended to be used for His glory and the edification of His people. Whether through the jubilant sounds of instruments or the heartfelt singing of hymns, music remains a vital aspect of the spiritual life of believers.Genesis 31:27
Why did you flee away secretly, and steal away from me; and did not tell me, that I might have sent you away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?
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Exodus 15:1,20,21
Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to the LORD, and spoke, saying, I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider has he thrown into the sea.
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Exodus 21:17-20
And he that curses his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.
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Judges 5:1-3
Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying,
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Judges 11:34
And Jephthah came to Mizpeh to his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
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1 Samuel 18:6,7
And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music.
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2 Samuel 19:35
I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why then should your servant be yet a burden to my lord the king?
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1 Kings 1:40
And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.
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1 Chronicles 6:31,32
And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after that the ark had rest.
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1 Chronicles 15:16-22,24,27,28
And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brothers to be the singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy.
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1 Chronicles 16:4-39,41,42
And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, and to record, and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:
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1 Chronicles 22:3,5,6,27,30
And David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the joinings; and brass in abundance without weight;
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1 Chronicles 25:1,5,6,7,8
Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:
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2 Chronicles 5:12,13
Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brothers, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:)
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2 Chronicles 20:19,21,22,28
And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
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2 Chronicles 23:13,18
And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.
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2 Chronicles 29:25-28
And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.
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2 Chronicles 31:2
And Hezekiah appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites after their courses, every man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, and to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the tents of the LORD.
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2 Chronicles 35:15,25
And the singers the sons of Asaph were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king's seer; and the porters waited at every gate; they might not depart from their service; for their brothers the Levites prepared for them.
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Ezra 2:64
The whole congregation together was forty and two thousand three hundred and three score,
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Ezra 3:10,11
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.
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Nehemiah 12:24,27-31
And the chief of the Levites: Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua the son of Kadmiel, with their brothers over against them, to praise and to give thanks, according to the commandment of David the man of God, ward over against ward.
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Job 21:12
They take the tambourine and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
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Job 30:31
My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
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Psalm 33:1-4
Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
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Psalm 68:4,25,26,32-35
Sing to God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rides on the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.
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Psalm 81:1-3
Sing aloud to God our strength: make a joyful noise to the God of Jacob.
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Psalm 87:7
As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs are in you.
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Psalm 92:1-3
IT IS A GOOD THING TO GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD, AND TO SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME, O MOST HIGH:
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Psalm 95:1,2
O come, let us sing to the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
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Psalm 98:1-8
O sing to the LORD a new song; for he has done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, has gotten him the victory.
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Psalm 104:33
I will sing to the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
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Psalm 105:2
Sing to him, sing psalms to him: talk you of all his wondrous works.
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Psalm 135:1,2,3
Praise you the LORD. Praise you the name of the LORD; praise him, O you servants of the LORD.
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Psalm 137:1-6
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yes, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
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Psalm 144:9
I will sing a new song to you, O God: on a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises to you.
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Psalm 149:1-3,6
Praise you the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.
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Psalm 150:1-6
Praise you the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
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Proverbs 25:20
As he that takes away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar on nitre, so is he that singes songs to an heavy heart.
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Ecclesiastes 2:8
I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I got me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.
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Isaiah 5:12
And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands.
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Isaiah 14:11
Your pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of your viols: the worm is spread under you, and the worms cover you.
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Isaiah 16:10
And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.
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Isaiah 23:16
Take an harp, go about the city, you harlot that have been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered.
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Isaiah 24:8,9
The mirth of tabrets ceases, the noise of them that rejoice ends, the joy of the harp ceases.
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Isaiah 30:29,32
You shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
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Jeremiah 31:4
Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel: you shall again be adorned with your tabrets, and shall go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
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Ezekiel 26:13
And I will cause the noise of your songs to cease; and the sound of your harps shall be no more heard.
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Ezekiel 33:32
And, see, you are to them as a very lovely song of one that has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear your words, but they do them not.
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Daniel 3:4,6,7
Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
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Amos 6:5
That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David;
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Amos 8:10
And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth on all loins, and baldness on every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
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Matthew 9:23
And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,
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Matthew 11:17
And saying, We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have mourned to you, and you have not lamented.
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Mark 14:26
And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
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1 Corinthians 14:15
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
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Ephesians 5:19
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
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Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
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Hebrews 2:12
Saying, I will declare your name to my brothers, in the middle of the church will I sing praise to you.
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Revelation 14:2,3
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
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Revelation 18:22
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in you; and no craftsman, of whatever craft he be, shall be found any more in you; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in you;
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