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Bob MacDonald

How will we sing the instruction of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible?

Torah, also known as the Pentateuch, refers to the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It is also called ‘the Law’, in distinction from ‘the Prophets’. Torah is sung through every year in the Synagogue. It sets the scene for the drama to unfold in the Hebrew canon. 

Everyone knows the beginning of Torah when the Mystery began the process of creating the world, In the Beginning. But what is this as Instruction for us? And how will we sing it in our own tongue? And how should we hear that ancient song?

These stories are among the most famous in the world. Reading them with the mind that they are entirely set to music will allow us to hear them with their tone of voice restored.

The Torah is volume 1 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

Energion Publications

The Hebrew Bible and Its Music

The Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

How will we begin the unfolding history of Israel after the giving of Torah?

We have heard the phrase, the Law and the Prophets. The Prophets are the second major division of the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophets recount the history of Israel after the giving of the Law. The first section of the prophets is the subject of four books: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Each of Samuel and Kings is traditionally divided into two parts.
 

Here we read of the occupation of the Promised Land, the early period of the Judges, the call of Samuel, prophet during the lives of Saul and David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, and we read of the progression of the kings of Israel from Solomon to the exile. What a saga! And all of it set to music in the very text itself.

The center between first and second Samuel contains the elegy of David over Saul and over Jonathan, his son. Its full sadness is to be known by hearing it recited with its music. To read with the music is an unforgettable reading of the Hebrew Bible.

The Former Prophets is volume 2 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings

How will we fathom the three great books of prophecies, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel?

These three books are the first section of the later prophets. 
Isaiah is filled with songs to be sung. Imagine the original melodies of the song for the vineyard, or the thrice repeated Holy of the Cherubim, and the musical shape of the Servant Songs. Imagine Jeremiah meditating on the first chapter of Genesis as he laments the destruction of the temple and the exile of the people. Imagine his sadness expressed in the music embedded in the text itself, and hear the music from Genesis 1 as a counterpoint. Hear the chanting of Ezekiel, from the likeness of the four living creatures, to the vision of the temple, to the name of the city.

Imagine comparing the music of the first dwelling specified in Exodus to that of the last, revealed in Ezekiel.

The Major Prophets is volume 3 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

The Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel

How will we think about the twelve?

Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi are considered a single book in the Hebrew canon. They are the third section of the prophets, the second major division of the Hebrew Bible.

We can hear in the music, the words of Amos, and his contemporary, Hosea, whose child was named Not-My-People, yet he sings about the count of the children of Israel as the sand of the sea. And Micah sings, like his contemporary, Isaiah, of swords into plowshares.

Zephaniah chants about the unclean bird and the porcupine, stopping over in the capitals of Nineveh. And thinking of that great city, who can forget the lilt of the Jonah cantata once it has been heard?

The Twelve is volume 4 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

The Twelve: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

What will unlock the mysteries of Torah and the Prophets for us?

The third major division of the Hebrew canon is called the Writings. The first section of the Writings contains the Books of Truth: Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. These three books introduce a variation in the musical scores. Their music illustrates the forms of the poetry.

Like the Torah, the Psalter is divided into five books. They are an immense score, tightly tied together by the integrative power of the music over their carefully repeated words and phrases. Hear how note piles on note to say after the exit from Egypt (Psalm 114), go on immediately to the next psalm: Not to us Yahweh not to us, but to your name give glory…

Let the simple learn the craft of music by singing the introduction to the Proverbs. Hear them with the music, because evidence they speak, and in the opening of the lips, uprightness.

The story of Job is constructed using both the music of the Psalms and Proverbs for its speeches, and the music of the other 21 books for its prologue, epilogue, and the words of the narrator. The narrator is quite aware of the structure of the dialogues, as is illustrated by the music.

The Books of Truth raise questions about how we are to hear and recite the Law and the Prophets.

The Books of Truth is volume 5 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

The Books of Truth: Psalms, Proverbs, Job

Where is a good starting point for reading the Bible?

Five scrolls constitute the second section of the third major division of the Hebrew bible. These are the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, and Esther.

The Song, like the Psalms, is a key to our hearing of instruction. Ruth establishes the Moabite ancestry of David showing we must read about enemies more carefully. The music of the Lamentations moves us with four acrostic poems and a fifth poem of 22 verses of prayer to make new our days as of old. Sing the melody of Qohelet that adorns chapter 3, the time for every delight under the heavens. And party with Esther.

These five books are short and represent pieces of the whole story, the Song a key, Ruth, a snippet of history, Lamentations, the tragedy of the destruction, Qohelet, the words of the shrewd, and Esther, ultimate social success (including taxes). They are like the elaborate bow on the whole unfathomable present that is the Hebrew Bible.

The Five Scrolls is volume 6 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

The Five Scrolls: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, Esther

What books remain and what do we learn from their placement?

The third section of the third major division of the Hebrew Bible has three books. First, Daniel, and he is not among the prophets. Second, Ezra-Nehemiah, treated as one book, records the return from exile and the rebuilding of the temple. And third, Chronicles, itself in two parts, recapitulates the history from Genesis to the end of Kings. Even the lists of names are set to music!

The music seals the whole canon. Read, sing, study, compose, learn, be thankful for the love that preserved these words, and be joyful.

The Remaining Writings is volume 7 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

The Remaining Writings: Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles

How do we see the decisions made by a translator of an ancient tongue?

This volume contains every word in the Hebrew Bible, in Hebrew and the English equivalent for each word as translated. The glosses provided are for a close translation for the Music. The sequence presented is by Hebrew stem, Hebrew word form, canonical sequence, chapter, verse, and word sequence. In principle, the entire translation can be reconstructed from this data.

The draft agreement of the translation with itself (concord) was aided by computer assisted pattern recognition. This volume is a searchable reference book. It makes the decisions of the translator as transparent as possible. 
We can dig deep into the translation process and be rewarded with the treasury of this beloved text.

A Biblical Hebrew to English Concordance is volume 8 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

A Biblical Hebrew to English Concordance: Reflecting the choices made in a close translation for the original music

How can we discover the differing senses of Hebrew words in translation?

The English to Hebrew section of this document shows in English alphabetical order which English word or words are associated with each Hebrew stem and the count of how many times this gloss is used. In the translator’s introduction, compromises, conundrums, and concord are discussed by example.

Seven major domains have been chosen to help analyse the words of the text. The Names domain is assigned to all proper names. Grammar is the domain assigned to those particles in language that ‘connect the dots’, prepositions, conjunctions, questions, pronouns, negatives, pointers, and some modifiers. The remaining five major domains are Creation, Culture, Engagement, Promise, and Trouble. Seven domains governing over 300,000 words made up of some 4,000 stems allow a certain limited ability to think about the contents of the Scripture in a slightly different way.

This work was done in response to the faithfulness evident in the lives of the patriarchs and prophets, the lives portrayed in the New Testament, and the love of the text exhibited by the Masoretes and the copyists up to the present day. These received texts were carefully preserved and recognized for their power to teach. We may enter into the process through the transparency exhibited in volumes 8, 9, and 10 of the Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

A is for Abandon is volume 9 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

A Is for Abandon: An English to Biblical Hebrew Alphabet Book

How can we describe and discuss the accents of the Hebrew Bible?

This volume is extracted from a music statistics database derived from the accents in the Leningrad codex. It is intended as a reference book and explanations for evaluating the data about the accents (cantillation signs) in the Hebrew Bible. It illustrates the effectiveness and clarity of the deciphering key that is used for the music.

Here we see at last a clear exposition of how to explain sequences of accents without the contortions required by a Ptolmaic view of them. Sequences of accents below the text describe musical phrases and intervals based on consecutive reciting notes. Accents above the text allow for ornamentation. This separation of function reveals astonishing beauty, restores the tone of voice, and clarifies the text.

The Progression of the Music is volume 10 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

The Hebrew Bible and Its Music - Bokserien

The Hebrew Bible and Its Music - Bokserien

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