lyre

The musical instrument that is most often translated as “lyre” or “lute” in English is translated in the following ways:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016: pangwe (a musical instrument that is made from a hollow tube filled with pellets or small stones to create a rain-like sound) or “five stringed instrument” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “guitar” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “sitar ” (source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Adilabad Gondi: chondka (source: Adilabad Gondi Back-Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde: marimba (source: Nyakyusa-Ngonde back translation)

In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:

Description: The lyre consisted of a sound box out of the ends or sides of which projected two arms. The arms supported a crosspiece. Strings descended from the crosspiece over the sound box. As with the nevel, the number of strings could vary. Their varying thickness and tension gave the instrument a range of notes. The lyre was normally made of wood. The strings were made of animal intestines (perhaps from sheep).

Usage: The strings were normally plucked with the fingers. The kinor in particular is frequently depicted as an instrument that accompanied singing.

Job 21:12: For the stringed instrument (kinor in Hebrew) accompanying the tambourine, French Common Language Version has “guitar” and the French La Bible de Jérusalem has “zither,” which seems to be an instrument used in 1 Samuel 10:5. The first line of this verse may also be rendered “The children sing as people play the tambourine and the lyre.” In some languages these instruments will be a local drum and a stringed instrument; the latter may be a guitar. If no instruments can be found to render any of the instruments in this verse, the translator may have to express the whole verse differently; for example, “The children dance and sing and make joyful sounds/music.”

The identity of the instrument called sabka’ in Aramaic in Daniel (Hebrew) is uncertain. New Revised Standard Version, updated edition renders it “trigon,” which is a small triangular lyre-type instrument with four strings. Probably trigon is technically correct, but it is unknown to the average English reader. Good News Translation has attempted to find a better-known equivalent with “zither,” but the zither has far too many strings (over thirty). Some translations use “lyre” for sabka’ and render the Aramaic word qathros before it as “zither”. Revised English Bible has “triangle,” but most readers will wrongly identify that as a percussion instrument. Common English Version avoids the problem by rendering only the first three instruments in the list and grouping the last three together, including sabka’ as follows: “Trumpets, flutes, harps, and all other kinds of musical instruments.”

Lyre (source: Knowles, revised by Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)

Quoted with permission.

large lyre / harp

The musical instrument that is most often translated as “harp” or “large lyre” in English is translated in the following ways:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016: “two stringed instrument” (source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “instruments which have strings to praise you,” “beautiful to-be-listened-to instruments,” or kudyapi (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Newari: sarəngi (source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Adilabad Gondi: karnaat (source: Adilabad Gondi Back-Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde: zeze (source: Nyakyusa-Ngonde back translation)
  • Mairasi: kecapi (“like a ukulele”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Natügu: “ukulele” (source: Brenda Boerger in Open Theology 2016, p. 179ff. )
  • Cherokee: “musical instrument made of suspended wires” (source: Bender / Belt 2025, p. 16)

In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:

Description: The exact identification of the nevel is very problematic. Some take it to be a kind of harp. The harp consisted of a neck projecting out of a soundbox. Strings were stretched from the extremity of the neck down its length and into the sound box. The body of the harp was made of wood and its strings of animal intestines (perhaps from sheep). The number of strings varied.

Others place the nevel in the category of lyres, where the strings are stretched over top of and parallel to the soundbox. While this is the interpretation preferred here, we will discuss the harp-type of instrument, since the identification is problematic and many translations have preferred “harp” for nevel.

Usage: The strings were plucked either with the fingers or with a thin piece of ivory or metal to give a resonating sound, probably in a lower register than that made by the kinor.

Translation: In several Psalms (33.2; 92.3; 144.9), the nevel is linked to the Hebrew word ‘asor, which could indicate it was “ten-stringed.”

Some degree of cultural adaptation must be made in the translation of these stringed instruments since cultures differ from each other in the shape, the number of strings, and the function of their instruments. Translators will have to select an equivalent instrument in the receptor language. In most passages the most accurate translation for nevel will be “guitar” or some equivalent medium-sized stringed instrument on which the strings are stretched over a sound box and are plucked.

In those passages where nevel and kinor appear together it is recommended that the translator use an instrument that can vary in size and then render the two words as “large and small X,” for example, “large and small guitars.” Alternately, it may be possible to select two stringed instruments that are similar in construction but different in size, for example, “guitar and lute.” It is also possible to say “large and small stringed instruments” or to combine the two, saying “stringed instruments.”

Psalms 33:2: “Praise the LORD with the lyre” (New Revised Standard Version, updated edition) contains two major translation problems. The first problem is that in many languages, the phrase “with the lyre” must be changed into a verb phrase or clause; for example, the whole line may be rendered “Praise the LORD by playing music on the lyre” or “Make music with the lyre, and praise the LORD.” The second problem, which applies also to the second line of this verse, is the terms to be used for the musical instruments here. In languages in which there are several stringed instruments, translators may use one of the smaller ones for kinor (“lyre”) and a larger one for nevel (“harp” in New Revised Standard Version, updated edition). In languages where there is little or no choice, they should use the known local stringed instrument for the kinor, and a more generic expression for the nevel. Where there are no known stringed instruments, it will often be necessary to say “small instruments with strings” for kinor and “large instruments with strings” for nevel.

Harp (source: Knowles, revised by Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)

Quoted with permission.

complete verse (Psalm 81:2)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Psalm 81:2:

  • Chichewa Contempary Chichewa translation, 2002/2016:
    “Start a song, sing a tambourine
    sing well sounding lyre and harp.” (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation)
  • Newari:
    “Sing hymns. Beat the drum.
    Play well on the bina and the sarəngi.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon:
    “[You (plur.)] begin to-sing;
    cause- the tambourine -to-make-sound,
    and play the beautiful to-be-listened-to instruments which have strings.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • Laarim:
    “You start the song, and shake jingles,
    pluck the harps to be sweet.” (Source: Laarim Back Translation)
  • Nyakyusa-Ngonde (back-translation into Swahili):
    “Anzisheni wimbo, pigeni ngoma,
    pigeni malimba vizuri, na vinubi.” (Source: Nyakyusa Back Translation)
  • English:
    “Start playing the music, and beat the tambourines,
    and play nice music on the harps and lyres/ other stringed Instruments.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

hand drum / frame drum

The musical instrument that is most often translated as “tambourine,” “timbrel,” or “drum” in English is translated in the following ways:

In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:

Description: The drum consisted of a membrane, usually of animal skin, which was stretched over a shallow circular, triangular, or square frame.

Usage: The drum was struck sharply with one or two hands, depending on where it was situated. It could be held in the left hand, under the left arm, or against the chest and struck with the right hand, or it could be held on the knees or the ground and struck with one or two hands. The fingers of the left hand could be used to tighten or loosen the tension on the membrane as it was struck with the palm of the right hand.

Translation: The use of the Hebrew word tof is usually associated with singing, processions, and festivals. Archaeological evidence indicates that drums with metal circlets on the frame (“tambourines” or “timbrels”) were not known in biblical times. As a general rule, the best translation for this word will be “hand drum” or simply “drum.”

Lyre (source: Knowles, revised by Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)

Quoted with permission.

Translation commentary on Psalm 81:1 - 81:3

The psalm opens with a command to the people to Sing aloud and shout for joy to God; the two verbs are used synonymously (see 20.5 and comments on “shout”). Our strength means “our defender” or “our protector”; for God of Jacob see 20.1 and comments. The two noun phrases, God our strength and God of Jacob may have to be recast in some languages as verb phrases; for example, “to God who defends us from our enemies” and “to God whom the descendants of Jacob worship” or “to God whom the people of Israel worship.”

The music (verse 2) is both vocal and instrumental. Raise a song may be vocal music (see Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “Sing to the sound of the tambourine”), but the Hebrew verb may mean to start the instrumental music that accompanied the singing. New International Version has “Begin the music.” According to some, “tambourines” (Good News Translation; Revised Standard Version timbrel; see 68.25 and comment) were not allowed to be played inside the Temple; if this is so, the music was played as the people approached the Temple. For lyre and harp see comments on 33.2. Revised Standard Version the sweet lyre is an odd phrase in English; it is the music that has the sweet quality. Something like “melodious” or “tuneful” would be better, or else Good News Translation‘s restructuring is useful.

For trumpet see 47.5 and comments. It should be noted that here the trumpet is not being used to play a tune, but to give the signal for the festival to begin. Blow the trumpet … on our feast day (Good News Translation “Blow the trumpet for the festival”) means to blow the trumpet to begin the festival, and in many languages the expression will have to be rendered in some such manner.

The new moon and the full moon probably indicate the first and the fifteenth days of the lunar month. The Festival of Shelters (also known as Sukkoth) began on the 15th of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar; in later times there was a blowing of trumpets on the first day of this month (see Num 29.1). Most commentators believe that the Festival of Shelters (our feast day) is the one referred to here; some believe it was Passover. Many Hebrew manuscripts (also Syriac and Targum) have the plural “our festivals.”

Many commentators take verse 1 to be directed to the people, verse 2 to the Levites, and verse 3 to the priests (see a similar scheme in 150.3-5).

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on the Book of Psalms. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1991. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .