2 Samuel 6:5

WEB

David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with harps, and with stringed instruments, and with tambourines, and with castanets, and with cymbals.

KJV

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, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.

Commentary

And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord,.... That is, before the ark, which was a symbol of the presence of the Lord: on all manner of instruments made of f ir wood: which is a general expression, the particulars follow; though instruments of different sorts are mentioned, and even some of metal, as cymbals, which were vessels of brass, they struck one against another, and gave a very acute sound, being hollow (g): even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals; harps, psalteries, and timbrels, are frequently met with; cornets, according to Kimchi, are such sort of instruments, that in playing upon them it required an agitation of the whole body. Now it was that David penned the sixty eighth psalm, which begins, "let God arise", &c. Psa 68:1 , words used by Moses when the ark set forward, Num 10:35 . (g) Suidas in voce