In the Beginning was Song: Singing in the Daily Life of Biblical Times

Singing was a fundamentally important part of daily life among the Jews in biblical times. That importance began at the very dawn of the Jewish people themselves.

Ancestors of the Jews were probably among the West Semitic Amorites who migrated from Sumer to Palestine early in the second millennium B.C.E. Later there was a period of residence and slavery in Egypt, where the Jews developed into a distinct people.

In the thirteenth century B.C.E., Moses guided the Jews out of Egypt and led them in singing the first great Jewish song, the joyful "Song of the Sea" (Exod. 15:1-18), which many congregations still chant as an integral part of the daily morning service. Returning to Palestine, the Jews developed the world's first lasting religion of ethical monotheism, Judaism.

During those developing centuries, Jews, first as nomadic shepherds and later as farmers, passed their traditions down from one generation to the next by song or versified recitation. The Jewish Bible, when it was finally written, was heavily influenced by musical structures and references.

About one-sixth of the Jewish Bible is in poetic form, undoubtedly reflecting the fact that much of it was originally created, and conveyed to others, through song. Many sections of the book are overt song texts, such as the Psalms and the Song of Songs (the Song of Solomon).

Stories throughout the Jewish Bible (known as the Old Testament among Christians) consistently show that ancient Jews used songs in virtually all aspects of their daily life. For example, people maintained Jewish history and teachings by singing the "Song of Moses" (Deut. 32) and the "Song of Deborah" (Judg. 5). Hannah, mother of the prophet Samuel, celebrated the birth of her son by singing a song of thankfulness (1 Sam. 2:1-10).

When Jewish officials were ready to dedicate the great wall of Jerusalem, they sought out the greatest singers of the time, Levite musicians, to sing at the ceremonies (Neh. 12:27). Solomon even gave advice about when not to sing to someone, specifically when the listener had a "heavy heart" (Prov. 25:20).