to be clear (orig. of sound · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
loud
שָׁ֑מַעSha.ma'
H8088
something heard · noun, common masculine singular absolute
cymbals
בְצִלְצְלֵיve.tzil.tze.lei-
H6767
a clatter · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
praise
הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּha.Lu.hu
H1984
to be clear (orig. of sound · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
sounding
תְרוּעָֽהte.ru.'Ah
H8643
clamor · noun, common feminine singular absolute
cymbals
בְּֽצִלְצְלֵ֥יbe.tzil.tze.Lei
H6767
a clatter · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Chronicles 15:16 And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick, psalteries and harps and…
1 Chronicles 25:1 Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophes…
1 Chronicles 15:19 So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass;
1 Chronicles 15:28 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymb…
1 Chronicles 25:6 All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of th…
2 Samuel 6:5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries…
1 Chronicles 16:5 Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and J…
1 Chronicles 13:8 And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, a…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 150:1–end
We are here, with the greatest earnestness imaginable, excited to praise God; if, as some suppose, this psalm was primarily intended for the Levites, to stir them up to do their office in the house of the Lord, as singers and players on instruments, yet we must take it as speaking to us, who are made to our God spiritual priests. And the repeated inculcating of the call thus intimates that it is a great and necessary duty, a duty which we should be much employed and much enlarged in, but which we are naturally backward to and cold in, and therefore need to be brought to, and held to, by precept upon precept, and line upon line. Observe here,
I. Whence this tribute of praise arises, and out o…
Praise him upon the loud cymbals,.... Or "cymbals of hearing" (x); that were heard with pleasure and delight, and afar off: the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it, "well sounding cymbals", which give a grateful sound to the ear; these were made of brass, 1 Chronicles 15:19; to which the apostle alludes, 1 Corinthians 13:1;
praise him upon the high sounding, cymbals; or "cymbals of shouting" (y), ovation or triumph; which were used on joyful occasions, as victories, deliverances, and the like; and were used also in the temple service, see 1 Chronicles 16:5; according to the Targum and Septuagint version, these were three stringed instruments; for so they render the word them in…
Psalm 150:1-6
1. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. 2. Praise him in, his might; praise him for the plenitude of his greatness. 3. Praise him with sound of trumpet, [306] praise him with psaltry and harp. 4. Praise him with timbrel [307] and pipe, [308] praise him upon chords, [309] and the organ. [310] 5. Praise him upon cymbals of sound, praise him upon cymbals of jubilation [311] 6. Whatsoever breathes, let it praise God. Hallelujah.
1. Praise God in his sanctuary. This psalm in general commends the spiritual worship of God, which consists in sacrifices of praise. By the sanctuary there is little doubt that heaven is here meant, as is often the case e…
The Church Fathers
The melodious cymbal reflects the active mind affixed on its desire for Christ; the joyous cymbal the purified mind inspired by the salvation of Christ.
"Praise Him on the well-sounding cymbals, praise Him on cymbals of jubilation" [Psalm 150:5]. Cymbals touch one another in order to sound, and therefore are by some compared to our lips. But I think it better to understand that God is in a manner praised on the cymbal, when each is honoured by his neighbour, not by himself, and then honouring one another, they give praise to God. But lest any should understand such cymbals as sound without life, therefore I think he added, "on cymbals of jubilation." For "jubilation" that is, unspeakable praise, proceeds not, save from life. Nor do I think that I should pass over what musicians say, that there are three kinds of sounds, by voice, by breath, by striking: by voice, uttered by throat and windpipe, when man sings without any instrument; by breath, as by pipe, or anything of that sort: by striking, as by harp, or anything of that kind. None then of these kinds is omitted here: for there is voice in the choir, breath in the trumpet, striking in the harp, representing mind, spirit, body, but by similitudes, not in the proper sense of the words. When then he proposed, "Praise God in His saints," to whom said he this, save to themselves? And in whom are they to praise God, save in themselves? For you, says he, are "His saints;" you are "His strength," but that which He wrought in you; you are "His mighty works, and the multitude of His greatness," which He has wrought and set forth in you. You are "trumpet, psaltery, harp, timbrel, choir, strings, and organ, cymbals of jubilation sounding well," because sounding in harmony. All these are you: let nought that is vile, nought that is transitory, nought that is ludicrous, be here thought of.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Cymbal, Cymbals — a pecussive musical instrument. Two kinds of cymbals are mentioned in (Psalms 150:5) “loud cymbals” or castagnettes, and “high-sounding cymbals.” The former consisted of our small plates of brass or…
Cymbals — (Heb. tzeltzelim, from a root meaning to “tinkle”), musical instruments, consisting of two convex pieces of brass one held in each hand, which were clashed together to produce a loud clanging sound;…
Music, Instrumental — Among instruments of music used by the Hebrews a principal place is given to stringed instruments. These were, (1.) The kinnor, the “harp.” (2.) The nebel, “a skin bottle,” rendered “psaltery.” (3.)…
Cymbal · Used in the temple service — Used in the temple service
Music · Instruments of: Cymbals — Instruments of: Cymbals
Praise · Accompanied with musical instruments — Accompanied with musical instruments
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The psalmist calls all people to praise God with instruments and dancing. flutes: These wind instruments are not mentioned as being used in Temple worship. • clanging cymbals: Temple musicians clapped two bronze bowls together as percussion instruments.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 150:5
Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Praise high upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let the clash of the loudest music be the Lord's: let the joyful clang of the loftiest notes be all for him. Praise has beaten the timbrel, swept the harp, and sounded the trumpet, and now for a last effort, awakening the most heavy of slumberers, and startling the most indifferent of onlookers, she dashes together the disks of brass, and with sounds both loud and high proclaims the glories of the Lord.
