Background knowledge - music and cosmology

In the latest dialogue on the application of Bayes theorem to historical analysis, the idea of background knowledge came up. I would like to come up with a real application of Bayes theorem to certain theses about history but I don't want to apply probabilities to things that are generally known or accepted since the degree of uncertainty does not support applying a probabilistic approach. Yet I am aware that what we seem to know is not really fully known, as if that sort of knowledge was even possible.

The mechanics of ninety-five percent of the matter and energy that we seem to be aware of is actually unknown to us and goes by the name of dark. It has to be there for what we see as stars and galaxies to 'hang together' but we can't say what it is. It is 'dark' to us. What makes us think that in the area of background knowledge we actually know anything?

When it comes to background knowledge in music, (this being the subject of the set of hand-signals embedded in the text of the Aleppo codex and all texts of Tanach copied since then in the world I know about,) I know if I know anything about musical line, or shape, or beauty, or tonality, I know at least three things: sequences of vibrations (notes) that lead to the idea and feeling of rest, sequences that lead to a feeling of incompleteness, and groups of such sequences, musical phrases and structures, that lead to surprise and delight.

Both cosmology and music are based on the concept of wave, or the vibration of particles, strings or voice or pipes. Waves operate within a field. The field of music for a particular performance (roughly speaking) encompasses time and space within audible limits. What happens to us as performer and listener when we take part in this field? Do we become part of the music of the spheres? (Just askin'.)

More seriously, what background knowledge can we assume for ourselves and for our ancestors within the tradition of Biblical Studies? Some few of you will know that I created a survey on survey-monkey - much too expensive a tool - $40 a month to use it for surveys with more than 10 responses. I only did the free bit. My questions were simple - here are the results:

20% of respondents included Musician as a role

More readers of music than I might have thought

This is far too few responses to even guess at a trend. Personally, I expect the musicians in the churches compared to those who concentrate on 'the word' without music (a fearful error) is about 5 in a 100. But there is a significant musical background within the religious world, perhaps even more in other traditions than in the Judeo-Christian circles such as I inhabit.

I know that string vibrations were investigated up to 3000 years ago. It's too big a study for me to summarize, but there is no ignorance of the octave 2/1, or the fifth 3:2, or the fourth 4:3, or the scale divided into roughly 7 or 8 steps, or instruments tuned to play a scale in ancient times that we would recognize today. You can get in as deeply as you like with a search. The musicologists and the mathematicians leave me behind quickly.

In short, I am not surprised that Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura found a 7 note scale for the poetry books in the accents, and a compatible 8 note scale in the prose books. I am also not surprised that she postulates that the pausal accents under the text allow for cadences (the sense of resting) on the fourth note of the scale and on the second note as well in the poetry books. (For more, see my book on the music and the series of posts on this blog under the title, the ladder.)

The general sense of the music found restores the tone of voice in a way that is immediately recognizable by a modern hearer. It changes our attitude to the words and our sense of who was able to design such a coherent and efficient system. The information embedded in the system is as significant for us as it was for them. They were like us, lovers of beauty, recognizing transcendence, and able to design a notation that would stand the test of time.

I can accept this assumption of background knowledge even if I am only 5% sure that I exist in a musical field. Maybe the darkness of the matter and energy that surround me is vital to my soul.

Transliteration app

 There's a new Hebrew transliteration app here from Charles Loder.

A spec for transcribing Unicode to MusicXML

 How easy can I make this?

I will work from output back to input. Here's the required output for the first four notes of Genesis.

This is two transcriptions in one, because we have to get the syllable with the right note(s) - so we have to transcribe the rtl Hebrew to ltr Latin and interpret the vowels as we go. Yes there are melismas, but they are simple - never more than three notes relative to the current reciting note. The original spec for the deciphering key is here (translated from the original French). It is important to have this for examples of her resolution of ornaments when there is some ambiguity as to whether to return to the reciting note or not. (Her spec is unclear and her actual practice is varied). Performers also take liberty with the ornaments and modes since they are 'unspecified', i.e. subject to musical judgment based on the text and the melody - itself determined by the signs under the text. 

[Actually there are multiple transcriptions going on: Hebrew to pronounceable Latin characters that can be read by a singer (not a linguist), words broken up by syllable, and cantilation transcribed to MusicXML.]

Here's the output for the first few measures of Genesis 1:1 given this input:

בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים

The music is e g# B ^A. The opening e is defaulted since it is not specified. The default applies for each verse if and only if there is no accent above or below the text on the first syllable.

The tifha ֭  always sets the reciting note to the third note of the mode, in this case, g#.

The munah ֣ to the fifth, B. The atnah  ֑ to the fourth, A.

The accents under the text define the current reciting note. This is the missing clue in every other interpretation of the accents - also called te-amim, marks of taste, or cantilation marks, or hand-signals.

First the file definition :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?>

<!DOCTYPE score-partwise PUBLIC "-//Recordare//DTD MusicXML 3.0 Partwise//EN" "http://www.musicxml.org/dtds/partwise.dtd">

<score-partwise version="3.1"><identification><encoding><supports element="accidental" type="no"/></encoding></identification> <defaults> -- see the full file at the link below for the hard coded defaults
- defining the paper size etc.

<credit

page="1"><credit-words default-x="595.238" default-y="1626.98" font-size="16" justify="center" valign="top">Genesis 1</credit-words> -- title is input

</credit><credit page="1">

<credit-words default-x="56.6893" default-y="1559.98" font-size="10" justify="left" valign="top">[Mode 1] -- mode is input

based on the work of Suzanne Haik-Vantoura </credit-words>

</credit>

<credit page="1"> <credit-words default-x="1133.79" default-y="1559.98" font-size="10" justify="right" valign="top">Transcription automated

http://meafar.blogspot.com</credit-words> </credit><credit page="1"><credit-words default-x="595.238" default-y="113.379" justify="center" valign="bottom">

source data www.tanach.us/Tanach.xml. Transcription software (v3.3) by Bob MacDonald via GX-LEAF (www.gx.ca). Victoria BC 2016.01.25

Range: C4 -E5 verses 31 measures 257 words 434 syllables 1025 max recitation 34 </credit-words>

</credit>

<part-list><score-part id="P1"><part-name/><score-instrument id="P1-I3"><instrument-name/></score-instrument></score-part></part-list>

<part id="P1">

The part is defined by measure. For every reciting-note there is a measure - The program must limit the size and extend the measure to two if the recitation is very long. I have found that a maximum of 24 beats in a bar works for all the Bible and in my music program (Musescore). There are only a few recitations of such length.

<measure number="1"> -- calculate measure number as the text is read
<attributes> <divisions>6</divisions> -- hard coded to allow for triplets & duplets

see (e.g.) https://www.w3.org/2021/06/musicxml40/musicxml-reference/elements/divisions/
<key><fifths>0</fifths> -- number of flats or sharps - this is calculated as follows: 

case when l_poetry = '1' and pl_mode = '2' then '4' 

     when pl_mode = '8' then '2' -- locrian - experimental

     when pl_mode = '3' then '4' 

     when l_poetry = '1' then '1' 

     when pl_mode = '5' or pl_mode = '6' then '0' 

     when pl_mode <> '1' then '1' 

     else '0' end 

l_poetry is '1' if the chapter is poetry (Psalms, Proverbs and most of the book of Job except chapters 1, 2, 42, and the narrator's verses), 

pl_mode is the input parameter stating the mode for the chapter. See this post for the mode scales.

<mode>major</mode></key> -- hard coded - irrelevant but probably needed for the XML
<clef><sign>G</sign><line>2</line></clef></attributes> -- all generated music is single line treble clef suitable for voice(s). The pitch is arbitrary and may be transposed for alto or bass. Generally speaking though, the range is limited e to E and the high D and E are rare.

Text - word by word - Hebrew

<direction placement="above">

<direction-type>

<words font-size="12">

1.1 &#1489;&#1468;&#1456;&#1512;&#1461;&#1488;&#1513;&#1473;&#1460;&#1430;&#1497;&#1514; 

</words></direction-type></direction>

Notes - syllable by syllable - for lyric 1 - split by syllabic begin-middle-end (determines hyphenation)

<note><pitch><step>E</step><octave>4</octave>

</pitch><duration>6</duration><voice>1</voice><type>quarter</type> <lyric number="1"><syllabic>begin</syllabic><text>be</text></lyric>

</note>

<note><pitch><step>E</step><octave>4</octave>

</pitch><duration>6</duration><voice>1</voice><type>quarter</type> <lyric

number="1"><syllabic>middle</syllabic><text>rei</text></lyric>

</note>

<barline

location="right">

<bar-style>dotted</bar-style>

</barline>

</measure>

<measure number="2">

<note><pitch><step>G</step><alter>1</alter><octave>4</octave>

</pitch><duration>6</duration><voice>1</voice><type>quarter</type>

<lyric number="1"><syllabic>end</syllabic><text>shit</text></lyric>

</note>

<direction

placement="above"><direction-type>

<words font-size="12"> &#1489;&#1468;&#1464;&#1512;&#1464;&#1443;&#1488; </words></direction-type></direction>

<note><pitch><step>G</step><alter>1</alter><octave>4</octave>

</pitch><duration>6</duration><voice>1</voice><type>quarter</type>

<lyric

number="1"><syllabic>begin</syllabic><text>ba</text></lyric>

</note>

<barline

location="right">

<bar-style>dotted</bar-style>

</barline>

</measure>

<measure number="3">

<note><pitch><step>B</step><octave>4</octave>

</pitch><duration>6</duration><voice>1</voice><type>quarter</type>

<lyric

number="1"><syllabic>end</syllabic><text>ra</text></lyric>

</note>

<direction

placement="above"><direction-type>

<words font-size="12"> &#1488;&#1457;&#1500;&#1465;&#1492;&#1460;&#1425;&#1497;&#1501; </words></direction-type></direction>

<note><pitch><step>B</step><octave>4</octave>

</pitch><duration>6</duration><voice>1</voice><type>quarter</type>

<lyric

number="1"><syllabic>begin</syllabic><text>e</text></lyric>

</note>

<note><pitch><step>B</step><octave>4</octave>

</pitch><duration>6</duration><voice>1</voice><type>quarter</type>

<lyric

number="1"><syllabic>middle</syllabic><text>lo</text></lyric>

</note>

<barline

location="right">

<bar-style>dotted</bar-style>

</barline>

</measure>

<measure number="4">

<note><pitch><step>A</step><octave>4</octave>

</pitch><duration>6</duration><voice>1</voice><type>quarter</type> <notations><articulations><caesura

default-x="31" default-y="-10"/></articulations></notations>

<lyric number="1"><syllabic>end</syllabic><text>him</text></lyric>

</note>

<barline location="right">

<bar-style>dotted</bar-style>

</barline>

</measure>

Then keep going till the end of the section you are producing (verse or group of verses, or chapter etc).

Full score for Genesis 1 is here in MusicXML. (Indentation varies - whim of the programmer!)

This is the overall shape, though we have stopped in the middle of a verse at the cadence on the atnah.  And there are no ornaments in this verse. The measure may continue after the caesura and a rest <note><rest/><duration>6</duration><voice>1</voice>

<type>quarter</type>

</note>

 if there is no change in the reciting note.

After every verse is done:

<!--C4 -E5 verse 31 measures 257 words 434 syllables 1025 max recit 34-->

</part></score-partwise>

ends the score

And the result is this:

The music for the XML above

Two directions for the new semester

A two week break - almost. Not that there was much free time anyway. Now I will leave reading Delitzsch for a while longer. The next few weeks I will concentrate on two things: Bayes theorem and the formation of plausible hypotheses - the background knowledge and how it impacts perception. And the spec for translating the te'amim from Unicode to MusicXML - that is for a potential new app that could be online - without my having to put my whole system online! 

Blessings to all listeners and readers. Get with the music.

Also Please fill in my very simple anonymous Survey - thanks to the survey monkey site. I am curious to know how many students of the Bible are musicians and what their level of musical skill is. Two quickly answered questions which I will eventually put into a database for correlation analysis.

Bayes theorem and the interpretation of the te'amim

I watched several lectures on Bayes theorem - too bad it wasn't this much fun to study when I was in school 56 years ago and taking probability theory.

I wonder if probabilities even apply, but the idea is that one makes a hypothesis and asks what is the probability it is true given some new evidence.

On the subject of the te'amim, there have been several hypotheses. That the te'amim are: 

1. Punctuation.
2. Hierarchic and recursively dividing the phrases in two.
3. Musical signs whose form and meaning have been lost.
4. Musical signs that have a deciphering key that is decidable based on the evidence arising from the results of using it.

Which hypothesis is most likely to be true?

The evidence. 

• For 1. Ask Victor Borge. There are too many symbols (24+) for them to be punctuation. 
• For 2, there are theories over the last 1000 years of writing culminating in Wickes's law of continuous dichotomy - they are all without exception as obscure as the Ptolemaic universe and as full of contradictions. They are counter-intuitive as part of a sequential text. This so-called 'law' should be utterly forgotten. It is crippling.
• For 3. This is undoubtedly partly true. The variety and lack of consistent usage of the signs in Synagogues is evident. 

I vote for 4 since the deciphering key of Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura has considerable supporting evidence in my view. 

1. It is clearly defined in a few pages.
2. It is consistently interpreted in sequence, suitable for sight reading of the music, and supports a predictable musical line.
3. Beauty and expressivity are the result.
4. The theory is an efficient use of the evidence in the signs themselves - agreeing with the principle of Ockham's razor.
5. A musician can develop and arrange a piece based on the derived melodies.
6. It is a different tonality than music of the past 500 years.
7. The music allows variety of modality and is suitable for ancient and modern instrumental accompaniment.
8. It complements and interprets the text, and reveals the tone of voice.

The above are evidentiary support for the theory of SHV's key. Challenge - apply Bayes theorem.

As the application of isospin to the particle zoo revealed the theory of quarks, so the application of statistical and musical inference to the zoo of signs over and under the text in the Tanach reveals the music embedded in them. The system effectively divides the problem space and shows us how to explain the 16,689 distinct sequences of accents. (See my series on 'the ladder'.)

The frequency of syllables per reciting note for the 3 poetry books
plotted for lengths of 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 syllables.
(The low c only appears in the prose chapters of Job.)

The frequency of syllables per reciting note for the 21 prose books
plotted for lengths of 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 syllables.

• What is the likelihood that there were musicians in the ancient world like us - designers, singers, aware of tonality, physicists experimenting with string tension and length? (Yes - there were.) 
• What is the reliability of aural transmission of melodies? (It's quite low.) 
• What is the likelihood that the Masoretes would invent a notation? (Not likely.)

Challenge - develop the social statements, theses, and probabilities that would allow the application of Bayes theorem?

For an introduction to the music, see my book, The Song in the Night. See the examples of the music  on this blog here and here.

Psalms 1 again

A few minutes out of my spring break to look at how Forbes translation compares to the English translation of Delitzsch from the original German. I have left in a few notes, my syllable counts and on the left, the Hebrew and SimHebrew - On the right, Delitzsch are the odd lines and Forbes the even.

Psalms 1 Biblischer Commentar über die Psalmen von Franz Delitzsch

אַ֥שְֽׁרֵי הָאִ֗ישׁ‬ אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ לֹ֥א הָלַךְ֮ בַּעֲצַ֪ת רְשָׁ֫עִ֥ים וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד וּבְמוֹשַׁ֥ב לֵ֝צִ֗ים לֹ֣א יָשָֽׁב		1 ♪f BLESSED is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, And standeth not in the way of sinners, And sitteth not in the company of scorners,
a awri haiw awr la hlç byxt rwyim ubdrç k'taim la ymd ubmowb lxim la iwb	15 9 8	Blessed is the man That hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stood in the way of sinners, Nor sat in the seat of the scorners:
Note the continuing present tense (walks, stands, sits) in D and the past tense (walked, stood, sat) in F. Both translators use the traditional blessed and archaic English to be expected from the 19th century. awri - Dr.D's selig is more connected to happy - more like a shout of joy. D has a tri-colon observing the ole-veyored and atnach, F observes the separator, a sign the music ignores. To have a four colon verse requires the promotion of some accents, most often revia. But this mordent is not always pausal. D prefers ungodly (Gottlosen) to the Scots wicked. There is some advantage to the explicit plural. Neither translator reflects the Hebrew word order in the second and third colon. The changes in word order are unnecessary in this case and disturb the thought process. D in the German keeps the Hebrew word order - bravo. This is poetry - not explanation! My rendering is: Happy the person who does not walk in the advice of the wicked, and in the way of sinners does not stand, and in the seat of the scornful does not sit. (Psalm is here. Performance here.)
כִּ֤י אִ֥ם בְּתוֹרַ֥ת יְהוָ֗ה חֶ֫פְצ֥וֹ וּֽבְתוֹרָת֥וֹ יֶהְגֶּ֗ה יוֹמָ֥ם וָלָֽיְלָה		2 ♪C But his delight is in the Law of Jahve And in His Law doth he meditate day and night —
b ci am btort ihvh kpxo ubtorto ihgh iomm vlilh	9 11	But in the law of Jehovah is his delight; And in His law doth he meditate day and night.
D.'s English translator has done badly. D. retains Hebrew word order and the translator muffles it with piety. The psalms are not pious. Sondern an Jahve's Gesetze hat er seine Lust (Google gets it wrong for poetic translation also). ci am is a strong adversative. Used only here in the Psalms - though otherwise common.
וְֽהָיָ֗ה כְּעֵץ֮ שָׁת֪וּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵ֫י־מָ֥יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר פִּרְי֨וֹ ׀ יִתֵּ֬ן בְּעִתּ֗וֹ וְעָלֵ֥הוּ לֹֽא־יִבּ֑וֹל וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂ֣ה יַצְלִֽיחַ		3 And he is like a tree planted by the water-courses, Which bringeth forth its fruit in its season, And its leaf withereth not, And whatsoever he doeth, he carrieth through.
g vhih cyx wtul yl-plgi-mim awr priio iitn byito vylhu la-iibol vcol awr-iywh ixlik	11 15 10	And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season: Whose leaf also shall not wither; And in all that he doeth he shall prosper.
Again note the difference in tense in English. D allows the present. F. mixes them. I'm not good with tenses, but I think poetry is free to use what fits the present as much as possible since the present is all 'David' had and all we his readers have. His present is present to us through his words. Both make verse 3 a 4-colon verse.
לֹא־כֵ֥ן הָרְשָׁעִ֑ים כִּ֥י אִם־כַּ֝מֹּ֗ץ אֲ‍ֽשֶׁר־תִּדְּפֶ֥נּוּ רֽוּחַ		4 Not thus are the ungodly, But they are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
d la-cn hrwyim ci am-cmox awr-tidpnu ruk	5 11	Not so are the wicked: But they are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
עַל־כֵּ֤ן ׀ לֹא־יָקֻ֣מוּ רְ֭שָׁעִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּ֑ט וְ֝חַטָּאִ֗ים בַּעֲדַ֥ת צַדִּיקִֽים		5 Therefore the ungodly cannot stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous,
h yl-cn la-iqumu rwyim bmwp't vk'taim bydt xdiqim	11 10	Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Both translators are overly free with la-iqumu and repeat the English stand ymd D has a different word for verses 1 and 5 - see above. His translator has failed him again, probably using a standard English rendering of the time.
כִּֽי־יוֹדֵ֣עַ יְ֭הוָה דֶּ֣רֶךְ צַדִּיקִ֑ים וְדֶ֖רֶךְ רְשָׁעִ֣ים תֹּאבֵֽד		6 For Jahve knoweth the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly perisheth.
v ci-iody ihvh drç xdiqim vdrç rwyim tabd	10 8	For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous: But the way of the wicked shall perish.
Each uses a different rendering of the name ihvh. D again prefers the present. I prefer that though I have not always rendered it so.

Psalms 8:2-3 - comparing Delitzsch with Eusebius

 I am thinking that my conversation with Dr. D is nearing a pause. I found my initial impression of Ps. 1 in his commentary would require a lot of work to decode his thought pattern. I think I have found several attempts to make the book more accessible to the general public, so I expect my attempts would not add much at the moment. So maybe it is time to make this the 'end of the current semester' in my studies. I think I will go back to music for a while.

Given that Dr. D is sparing in his praise and excessively critical of Eusebius: "for the interpretation is superficial, and capriciously allegorical and forced", perhaps I can find a little to compare, to see what we think.

Eusebius begins his commentary (available here) with this on Psalm 8

He uses the title “for the end” here in reference to things prophesied about the consummation of the ages, and “concerning the winepresses” on account of the Churches that are existing in the whole earth, which are being referred to as “winepresses” by the law of allegory.

We see immediately that a. he is reading the Greek (lmnxk for the leader is rendered εἰς τὸ τέλος) and b. Delitzsch's accusation may be true: Eusebius of Caesarea speaks of a 'law' of allegory.

And immediately, again reading the LXX, he runs to literary figures around wine-presses and altars:

At that time there was one people, and this was Israel, to whom belonged the temple that they referred to as “tower,” and the “winepress” as the altar before the temple, according to the expression of Isaiah (Isa 5.2). The plural here of “winepresses” indicates the many altars which are divided together according to the portion of the churches. Wherefore also in the 83rd Psalm [84] which bears the same superscription, many “altars,” “dwellings” and “courts” are predicted...

So what does Eusebius do with these verses?

2. O Lord, our Lord, how marvelous is your name in all the earth! For Your magnificence is exalted high above the heavens. 3. From the mouth of infants and nurslings you have prepared praise for the sake of your enemies, to put down the enemy and avenger. (vv. 2-3)

The marvel in all the earth did not happen of old, but rather after the appearing of the Savior, when indeed “a congregation of peoples” [συναγωγὴ λαῶν] surrounded him (Ps 7.8), which is in harmony with what was said here, From the mouth of babes, etc. For he teaches that after his ascension on high the fresh and new congregation is made to consist of souls that are babes because of the regeneration, which [congregation] in Christ consists of the whole inhabited world after his ascension.  

 I love the allusion to Psalms 7:8 - but yes - he is allowing himself free association. And every time I work with the psalms, I get more from them.

To say that Delitzsch goes to the other extreme would be an understatement. His explanations are only for the few scholars of his time that understood fluently Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and more. I frankly don't believe everything he says for a number of reasons:

• There are lots of writers who have argued over the translation and sense of verse 2 and 3. 
• I can't follow his arguments and I am not sure why they seem so important to him.
• The arguments interrupt my reading.
• Dr. D is a magnificent grammarian who is also a human, and therefore prone to error and misleading information, even though in preponderance, my sense is to trust his opinion.
• But his approach loses me. It may even be disorganized as far as presentation is concerned.
• The copy I am working from is seriously decrepit, missing even English words. I have seen others, but I prefer to work from an original. It forces me to read. It is clear that there is better OCR, at least one search mechanism for PDF and for Google able to interpret Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic. 
• Some day if I ever can read it, I may take note with benefit.

I have to assume he is giving us his own translation (translated from the German) - but his comments indicate a stronger sense for wbt than indicated in the translation.

2. JAHVE, our Lord,
How excellent is Thy name in all the earth,
Who hast covered the heavens with Thy glory!
3. Out of the mouth of children and sucklings hast Thou founded a power,
Because of Thine adversaries,
To still the enemy and the revengeful.

 Opening paragraph is important and focuses on this psalm directing its thought to verse 5.

The omission of any reference to the sun in ver. 4 shews that Ps. viii. is a hymn of this kind composed in the night, or at least one in which the writer transfers himself in thought to the night season. The poet has the starry heavens before him, he begins with the glorious revelation of Jahve's power on earth and in the heavens, and then pauses at man, comparatively puny man, to whom Jahve condescends in love and whom He has made lord over His creation.

No wine-press here:

According to which it is a Philistine cithern, just as there was (according to Athenaeus and Pollux) a peculiar Phoenician and Carian flute played at the festivals of Adonis, called γίγγρας, and also an Egyptian flute and a Doric lyre. All the Psalms bearing the inscription אַל־הַגִּתִּית (viii. lxxxi. lxxxiv.) are of a laudatory character. The gittith was, therefore, an instrument giving forth a joyous sound, or (what better accords with its occurring exclusively in the inscriptions of the Psalms), a joyous melody, perhaps a march of the Gittite guard, 2 Sam xv 18 (Hitzig).

But Delitzsch does agree with Eusebius that "the subject speaking in the Psalm is not one individual, but a number of persons; and who should they be but the church of Jahve ..."

So what did I do with these verses?

I was inconsistent on the inscription - taking yl-hgitit as musing (hgh) = muttering, meditating, in both this psalm and 81. But in 84, I used at the gittith settlement. I must reconsider this.

Verses 2-3:

2. Yahweh our Lord how majestic your name in all the earth,
whose splendour is chanted above the heavens.
3. From the mouths of babies and nurslings, you have founded strength,
for the sake of your adversaries,
that you might cease enemy and vengeance.

I agree on the sense of put down / still / cease for לְהַשְׁבִּ֥ית Dr. D. writes: to restrain (lhwbit to cause any one to sit or lie down, rest, to put him to silence). My glosses for this word seek its variations without appealing to cognate languages, but simply to see the force of the verb wbt. I would rather accept Sabbath without force. It is strange that this word takes the sense of both rest and destroy in its semantic range.

Music of the accents in the Hebrew Text

Performance here.

Perhaps I will continue with this psalm...