Three Peculiarities of the Pentateuch 103 But no such ordinance in point of fact occurs, and the Penta- teuch stands in its primitive simplicity, destitute of any ordin- ance of music in connection with the ritual, except those pas- sages in which the blowing of the trumpets is enjoined at the Feast of Trumpets, the blowing of the trumpet throughout the land in the year of Jubilee, and the command, contained in a single passage (Num. 10:10), that in the day of glad- ness, and in the beginnings of the months, over the burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of the peace offerings the silver trumpets were to sound. No mention in connection with the ritual of cymbals, harps, timbrels, or psalteries; no mention of sacred song, or Levite singers. No music proper entered into the ritual, only the crude and warlike blare of trumpets. No ordinance of sacred song, no band of Levite singers. The duties of the Levites, in the Book of Numbers, are specially defined. The sons of Gershom were to bear the tabernacle and its hangings on the march; the sons of Kohath bore the altars and the sacred vessels; the sons of Merari were to bear the boards and bands and pillars of the sanctuary. No mention whatsoever of any ministry of sacred song. A strange omission this would be, if the “Priestly Code” (so-called) which thus defines the duties of the Levites, had been composed in post-exilic times, when Levite singers— sons of Asaph—cymbals, harp, and song of praise formed leading features in the ritual. Does it not seem that the Mosaic Code, enjoining no music but the simple sounding of the trumpet-blast, stands far behind these niceties of music and of song, seeming to know nothing o f them all? The third remarkable peculiarity to which attention is called is: THE ABSENCE OF THE DIVINE TITLE “ LORD OF HOSTS” FROM THE PENTATEUCH The first occurrence of this Divine title in the Bible is in 1 Sam. 1 :3: And this man went out of his city yearly to
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