נֶבֶל

The word "נֶבֶל" (nevel) appears in the Bible many times as a term for an ancient stringed musical instrument. The exact nature of the biblical instrument is not known with certainty, but it was probably a type of harp or small lyre. In the ancient translations of the Bible, "nevel" is sometimes translated into Greek as "nabliōn" as well as "psaltērion" (a type of ancient harp, whose Greek name appears in the Bible in the form "pesanterin," the source of the Hebrew word "pesanter," piano). The use of "nevel" to describe the modern musical instrument we now call "harp" began in the 19th century. Judah Leib Ben-Zeev in his dictionary "Otzar HaShorashim" (1807) offered "nevel" as one of two possible translations for the German word Geige (violin), along with "kinnor." During the 19th century, these two words were used in Hebrew literature and press in reference to the modern musical instrument, until in the early 20th century the use of "kinnor" was established to describe the instrument we now call violin, and "nevel" was established as the term for the "harp." The choice of the term "nevel" to describe the modern harp makes more historical sense than "kinnor" for the modern violin, since in descriptions and paintings from the Middle Ages, King David is always depicted playing what we now call a "harp."