User:MatthewVanitas/Kinnor

Kinnor (כִּנּוֹר) is the Hebrew name for an ancient Israelite musical instrument, the exact identification of which is unclear, but in the modern day is generally translated as "harp" or "lyre",  and associated with a type of lyre depicted in Israelite imagery, particular the Bar Kochba coins. Modern luthiers have created reproduction lyres of the "kinnor" based on this imagery.

Identification
The kinnor is generally agreed to be a stringed instrument, and thus the stringed instrument most commonly mentioned in the Old Testament. The kinnor is also the first string instrument to be mentioned in the Bible, appearing in Genesis 4:21.

The Mishna states that the minimum number of kinnor to be played in the Temple is nine, with no maximum limit.

The kinnor is mentioned 42 times in the Old Testament, in relation to "divine worship... prophecy... secular festivals... and prostitution."

The kinnor is sometimes mentioned in conjuction with the nevel, which is also presumed to be a lyre but larger and louder than the kinnor.

Details
Josephus describes the kinnor as having 10 strings, made from a sheep's small intestine,  and played with a plectrum (pick),  though the Book of Samuel notes that David played the kinoor "with his hand". The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia also notes that the early church fathers agreed the cithara (kinnor) had its resonator in the lower parts of its body. Like the nevel, the kinnor likely consisted of a soundboard with two arms extending parallel to the body, with the arms crossed by a yoke from which the strings extend down to the body.

History
A symbolic representation of the kinnor appears on ancient Hebrew coins. Jubal, the son of Lamech and Adah, is described by the first book of Moshe, Genesis 4:21 as the father of all such as handle the kinnor [harp] and ugav [pipe]. The identification of the instrument is uncertain, but a few historians of musical instruments say it is similar to the Ancient Greekcithara, which was in use among the Semitic peoples.

The kinnor has been called the national instrument of Israel. A collection of Hebrew poems entitled Kinnor Dawid was published at Wilna (Vilnius) in 1863 by David Moses Mitzkun.