Begg, Appendix V.
James Dodson
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No. V.
THE WESTMINSTER DIVINES AND THE NEW TESTAMENT GREEK OBJECTIONS TO THE FOREGOING ARGUMENT.
IT is worth while to state that, whilst the main scope of this treatise was never answered, an anonymous writer, supposed to be the notorious Mr Fleming of Neilston, urged several objections to some of its statements, which were conclusively answered by Dr Porteous of Glasgow and his allies. For example, it was alleged that, notwithstanding the letter of our Commissioners at Westminster about “taking down the organs at Peter’s and Paul’s,” the real opinions of the divines there assembled on the subject of instrumental music in worship remained uncertain. In addition to other answers to this, the following extract was given from the “History of Music” by Dr Burney (vol. iii., p. 433), “When the liturgy had been declared, by an ordinance passed in the House of Lords, Jan. 4, 1644, a superstitious ritual, the Directory published by the As-
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sembly of Divines at Westminster, to whom the Parliament referred all matters concerning religion, established a new form of Divine worship, in which no music was allowed but psalm singing, for which the following rules were enjoined.” He quotes the last chapter of our Directory, and adds (p. 434) “In the opinion of those that were then in power, it was thought necessary for the promotion of true religion that no organ should be suffered to remain in the churches.” He quotes, also, from Baillie’s letters, “Already we have passed the draught of all the prayers, reading of Scripture, and singing of psalms on the Sabbath day, nemine contradicente.” Again, “We have passed, but after a world of debate, all the Directory which concerns ordinary prayers, reading of the word, singing of psalms, and preaching. Our toil is exceeding great.”
It is curious that the same anonymous writer took exception to our translation of the Bible, affirming, as some have done recently, that ψαλλω radically signifies “playing on a stringed musical instrument.”* This attempt to fix the meaning of
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* This is also Dr Bisset’s leading argument now.
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the word as implying playing instead of singing, as used by the New Testament writers, was thoroughly set aside by Dr Porteous, by a variety of evidence, one part of which is thus concluded: “From these quotations from the Greek fathers, the three first of whom flourished in the fourth century—men of great erudition, well skilled in the phraseology and language of Scripture, perfectly masters of the Greek tongue, which was then written and spoken with purity in the countries where they resided; men, too, who for conscience sake would not handle the word of God deceitfully, it is evident that the Greek word ψαλλω signified in their time singing with the voice alone. Had they conceived otherwise, we may be assured that they had both sufficient firmness of mind and influence in the Church to have induced their hearers to have used the harp and psaltery in the public worship of God.”—Proceedings of the Glasgow Presbytery, 1808.
It is curious to observe how constantly, and with what pretence of learning, mistakes are repeated. In a late discussion, the correctness of our authorised translation of James v. 13 was
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confidently called in question, and it was affirmed that ψαλλετω meant to strike as on the lyre, and that the passage ought not to have been translated “let him sing psalms,” but, “let him play on an instrument.” The issue thus raised is a very broad and important one, being neither more nor less than whether instrumental music is Divinely appointed in Christian worship? It indicates, at all events, how far some hymnologists are prepared to go. If this idea is correct, the Christian Church in the early ages had entirely mistaken the meaning of inspired men, and so has our Church since the Reformation. We affirm, however, that ψαλλετω in James can mean nothing else than “let him sing psalms.” The substantive ψαλμος occurs not oftener than seven times in the New Testament; and its use there, apart from other evidence, would be sufficient to determine the meaning of the verb ψαλλω. The noun occurs three times (Luke xx. 42, xxiv. 44; Acts i. 20), where it refers to the Book of Psalms; once (Acts xiii. 33), where it refers to the Second Psalm; twice (Eph. v. 19; Col. iii. 16) where with other two words the rendering is “Psalms,
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hymns, and spiritual songs;” and once, (1 Cor. xiv. 26), “When ye come together every one of you with a psalm.” In regard to the verb itself, besides the passage in James and in Eph. v. 19, just referred to, ψαλλω only occurs three times in the New Testament; twice (1 Cor. xiv. 15) where its use absolutely excludes instrumental music, and must imply singing inspired songs or psalms—“I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also;” and once (Rom. xv. 9), “As it is written, For this cause I will confess to Thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto Thy name.” It is interesting to notice that the latter passage is exactly copied from the Septuagint (Psa. xviii. 49), and this affords a striking proof of the correctness of the rendering for which we are now contending. As thus quoted by the Apostle, we have an inspired rendering into the Greek verb ψαλλω of a Hebrew word which is usually translated “sing praises” or “sing psalms.” “Singing psalms” was the only authorised vocal praise of the Church of old. The question now, as every one knows, is not about the roots or the original meaning of words,
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but about the sense in which they were used by the inspired writers. ψαλλω never occurs in the New Testament, in its radical signification, to strike or play upon an instrument.
The forty or fifty high scholars of England through whose hands the authorised version of our Scriptures passed, were thoroughly acquainted with these things, and seldom fail, in matters of the least importance, to give, either in the text or in the margin, a correct version of the original language—although, of course, they were not infallible. In connection with this, it is not uninteresting, however, to observe how fully the correctness of our authorised version is confirmed by Luther and the early Reformers. Luther translates ψαλλετω (James v. 13), “der singe psalmen;” Wickliffe, “and seye he a salm;” Tyndale, “Let him sing psalmes;” and Cranmer, “Let him synge psalms.” Dean Alford, too, among recent critics, strong Episcopalian as he is, and interested in vindicating instrumental music, renders the word “Let him sing praise.” Mr Young, in his translation of the Bible “according to the letter and idioms of the original languages,”
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renders the passage, “Let him sing psalms;” and Dr Giles, late Fellow of Christ Church College, Oxford, in his New Testament, “translated word for word,” London, 1861, also renders it “Let him sing psalms.”