King David, the temple, and the halleluyah chorus

Judaism, Fall, 1998 by Shubert Spero

The regular Levitical singing, if indeed it was maintained throughout all of these turbulent centuries, was overshadowed by the complex, colorful sacrificial cult presided over by the Cohanim, descendants of Aaron, who had explicit warrant in the Priestly Codes found in the Torah. But the power of the Levites and of song was not to be gainsaid. We have a rare detailed description of an event that took place during the period of the First Temple in the reign of Jehoshaphat (875-851 B.C.E.), one of the more God-fearing kings of Judah. Fearing an impending invasion in the south by a coalition of the Transjordan nations of Moab, Ammon, and tribesmen from the area of Mt. Seir, Jehoshaphat "proclaims a fast throughout all Judah to seek help of the Lord." At an assembly "before the new court in the house of the Lord," the King offers a moving prayer to the Lord, "God of our Fathers" ending with the words, "we know not what to do and our eyes are to Thee."(41) Then we are told that the "spirit of the Lord" came upon Jahaziel, the Levite of the sons of Asaph, who arose and prophesied a great victory for Judah on the morrow.(42)

And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground . . . and the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korachites stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with exceeding loud voice. . . . And when he had taken council with the people, he appointed them that should sing unto the Lord and praise with the beauty of holiness [lehadrat kodesh] as they went out before the army and say: "Give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy endureth forever. . . ." And when they began to sing and to praise. . . .

Then they returned to Jerusalem with joy . . . and they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.(43)

At a time of national crisis, in a religious event that starts with fasting and prayer and ends with great hope and thanksgiving, we find the primary means of religious expression taking the form of the singing of praises to the Lord to the accompaniment of music. While the singing is initiated by the Levites, the people joined in, and the song continues not only in the Temple court but also as the army moves to the field of battle. It is interesting to note that the passage that had by then become a popular refrain: "Give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy endureth forever" was part of David's original psalm recited before the Ark and continues to be sung in the synagogue today.

It is reported that at the beginning of the Second Temple period Ezra and Nehemiah organized a joyous consecration of the newly completed walls around Jerusalem: "Then I brought up the Princes of Judah upon the walls and appointed two great companies that gave thanks and walked in procession. One company went to the right upon the wall and the other company that gave thanks went to meet them with half of the people."(44) Each of these thanksgiving companies was led by a group of Levites who had been brought up from the surrounding villages and were from families who had been the singers and Temple musicians during the First Monarchy.(45) Their function was "to keep the dedication with gladness, with thanksgiving and with singing, with cymbals, psalteries and with harps . . . the musical instruments of David the man of God."