Instruments of Music in the Worship.
persons have claimed it was so used in the New Testament, just as “baptize” has come to mean to pour or sprinkle water upon people. Sophocles, a native of Greece, and long professor of Greek at Harvard University, published a lexicon, the title-page of which is: “A Greek Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine Periods (from B.C. 146 to A.D. 1100.) It embraces the period of Jesus and his apostles.” He enumerates the Greek writers embraced in, and bearing on, the period. In making a lexicon for that period he consulted all the writers of nearly two thousand years, embracing the New Testament and the Septuagint edition of the Old Testament. During this period he did not find a single example of “psallo” being used to mean anything else, save to chant, to sing. He defines “psallo” and its derivatives: “‘Psallo’—to chant, to sing; ‘psalmos ’-—psalm; ‘psalmodia’—psalm singing; ‘psalmodas’—psalmist; ‘psaltarion’—psalter, or collection of songs; ’psaltes’—a chanter, church singer; ‘psaltria’—chantress; ‘psaltos‘—played upon the psaltery, sung; ‘psaltodeo’—to sing to the harp.” Only “psaltos” carries the idea of playing on the instrument, “Psaltodeo” is composed of two words-—the “psalm” and the “ode.” The ode refers to lyric poetry, or poetry to be sung with the lyre. Hence the two words combined mean to sing to a harp or instrument. This shows “psallo”’ alone cannot refer to both the yoice and the instrument. Had he found “psallo” used in a different sense during this period by an accredited writer, he would have been dishonest not to give this additional meaning. I do not believe an example of a different use of it can be found in the Greek literature of any age of the world.
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.
If the laws of the Old Testament, sealed by the typical blood of animals, could not be changed, much more is it true that the laws of the New Testament, sealed by the blood of Christ, cannot be changed. To change an appointment of the New Testament is to turn from the blood
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