the inauguration of the purified Temple under Hezekiah the
music of the Levites and priests sound in concert until all
the burnt offerings are laid upon the altar fire, and then
(probably as the wine is being poured on) began (without any
further thought of the priests) the song of the Levites, 2
Chron. xxix. 26 — 30. In the second Temple it was otherwise:
the sounding of the trumpets by the priests and the Levitical
song with its accompanying music alternated, they were not
simultaneous. The congregation did not usually sing with
the choir, but only uttered their Amen; nevertheless they
joined in the Hallel and in some psalms after the first clause
with its repetition, after the second with hallelujah (Maimo-
nides, Hilchoth Megilla, 3). 1 Chron. xvi. 36 points to a similar
arrangement in the time of the first Temple. Just so does
Jer. xxxiii. 11 in reference to the "Give thanks unto the Lord,
for He is good*. Antiphonal singing on the part of the con-
gregation is also to be inferred from Ezra iii. 10 sq. The
Psalter itself is moreover acquainted with an allotment of
the (
Hebrew characters), comp. (Hebrew characters) Ezra ii. 65 (whose treble was repre-
sented by the Levite boys in the second Temple, vid. on xlvi
1) in choral worship and speaks of a praising of God "in full
choirs", xxvi. 12, lxviii. 27. And responsive singing is of
ancient date in Israel: even Miriam with the women answered
the men ((Hebrew characters) Ex. xv. 21) in alternating song, and Nehemiah
(ch. xii. 27 sqq.) at the dedication of the city walls placed the
Levites in two great companies which are there called niir,
in the midst of the procession moving towards the Temple.
In the time of the second Temple each day of the week had
its psalm. The psalm for Sunday was xxiv, for Monday xlviii,
Tuesday lxxxii, Wednesday xciv, Thursday lxxxi, Friday
xciii, the Sabbath xcii. This arrangement is at least as old
as the time of the Ptolemies and the Seleucidse, for the sta-
tements of the Talmud are supported by the inscriptions of
Ps. xxiv, xlviii, xciv, xciii in the LXX, and as respects the
connection of the daily psalms with the drink-offering, by
Sir. 1. 14 — 16. The psalms for the days of the week were
sung, to wit, at the time of the drink-offering ((Hebrew characters)) which was
joined with the morning Tamid[1]: two priests, who stood on
- ↑ According to the maxim (
Hebrew characters) "no one singeth except over the wine."
