Chant
Chant
(פָּרִט, parat´, to chatter, spoken contemptuously; Sept. ἐπικρατέω) occurs only in Am 6:5, where the passage, "That chant to the sound of the viol," may be rendered, "That sing to the sound of the harp." The Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate read, "who sing to the sound of the psaltery;" and the margin of our version gives "quaver." Josephus informs us that the instrument here termed nebel was of a triangular shape, and carried in the hand. In the paintings on the monuments at Thebes we find players on the harp in the act of singing to the sound of their own music. (See the cut below.) Similar scenes are depicted on the Assyrian monuments. SEE MUSIC. Both among the Jews and the Egyptians musical instruments were chiefly played upon by women: the Psalmist, describing a musical procession,' says, "The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels" (Ps 68:25). SEE HARP.
