“Neginoth”
In the last article, we considered the meaning of the words “To the Chief Musician” in the title of Psalm 4, and translated them as “To him that overcometh”. The remaining words in this title are “on Neginoth”, ‘Be-Neginoth’ in Hebrew. The prefix ‘be’ denotes ‘in’ or ‘upon’, while ‘Neginoth’ is derived from the root ‘Nagan’, which means ‘to play’ (on a musical instrument). This verb is first used in 1 Samuel 16:16,17,18,23 and translated as ‘to play’. This ‘playing’ of David had such a powerful effect on Saul that “the evil spirit departed from him”. It seems likely that this was due, not so much to the musical talent of David, but rather to the ‘Spirit of Yahweh’ which was upon David from the day that he was anointed (v.13).
The musical instrument most used in biblical times was the harp, and therefore the same word “Neginoth” is translated in Habakkuk 3:19 as “stringed instruments”. The title “To the chief Musician on Neginoth” can therefore be translated as: “To him that overcomes on the stringed instruments (the harp)”. These stringed instruments were simply the vehicle used by Yahweh to reveal His Spirit, as David said in 2 Samuel 23:1,2
“David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the Elohim of Jacob, and the sweet Psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of Yahweh spake by (in) me, and His Word was in (upon) my tongue”.
In the case of Jesus, the instruments whereby the victory (over sin and death) could be obtained were ready prepared for him in the Book of Psalms. As he made these words his own, they became “the Word of Christ”, as the Apostle, in Colossians 3:16, calls the “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”. Luke 6:12 records of Jesus that “he continued all night in prayer to God”. The proper translation from the Greek, however, reads: “he continued all night in the prayer of God” (Greek – ‘en thee prosukee tou Theou’). Jesus did not spend the night offering his own compositions to God. He found his expression in the prayers of God, i.e. those provided by God for him. David, the originator of many of these psalms by the Spirit, must, like the prophets, have searched “what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow” (1 Pet. 1:11).
These instruments for overcoming are designed for our use also. In 1 Chronicles 25:1-7 we read of Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman, who prophesied with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and of their 288 sons, who were “instructed in the songs of Yahweh” (v.7). Our own fight to overcome sin in ourselves would be greatly helped if we were also instructed in the songs of Yahweh and knew how to use the Psalms in our struggle. King Hezekiah, after he was recovered from his illness, vowed to do just this: “Yahweh was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs (Hebrew – ‘nenagen’ – “we will play”) to the stringed instruments (Hebrew – ‘Neginothai’ – “my Neginoth”) all the days of our life in the house of Yahweh” (Is. 38:20).
The ending of Habakkuk’s prayer becomes much clearer if we translate the last verse fully from the Hebrew:
“Yahweh, my Adon (Lord) is my strength and he will make my feet like hind’s, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places to victory (Le-Menatseach) upon my stringed instruments (Neginoth)”.
That these instruments are those upon which the Psalms were composed is clear from Psalm 18:33, from where part of the last verse of Habakkuk is quoted. The fact that both Hezekiah and Habakkuk called the Neginoth “my Neginoth” does not mean to say that they composed their own prayers, but rather that through suffering they had learned to express themselves in the Holy Spirit words of the Psalms.
This Psalm 18 must have been a great source of strength to Jesus when: “The sorrows of hell (Hebrew – ‘Sheol’ – “the grave”) compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me” (Ps. 18:5).
His faith is expressed in the next verse (6):
“In my distress I called upon Yahweh, and cried unto my Elohim: he heard my voice out of his temple”, which, in Hebrew, is actually in the future tense:
“In my distress I will call upon Yahweh, and will cry unto my Elohim: he will answer my voice out of his temple”.
This use of the future tense shows how the Lord must have used these very words to prepare himself for the time when he would be crucified and slain. Scripture, then, seems to indicate that the last verse of Habakkuk’s prayer points to the necessity of using the Psalms, indicating their value in Christ’s and our own struggle to overcome, rather than being an example of how to musically interpret the titles of the Psalms.
Habakkuk’s prayer is a wonderful prayer, undoubtedly inspired by the Holy Spirit, and was certainly the ‘fruit of lips’, offered as a sacrifice of praise by him, as all prayers ought to be. There is no record, however, that this prayer was included in the book of Psalms or that it ever was used in the Temple services, let alone that it served as a model to understand the much earlier Psalms, as Thirtle claims it does. In any case, what would be the importance of addressing this prayer to a then non-existent Chief Musician?
In this prayer the word ‘Selah’ is used three times, while in Psalm 4 it occurs twice. The translation and spiritual meaning of this word, which is often used in the Psalms, although not in the titles, will be our next consideration in this series.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One