Dan. 3:5 is it stringed or wind instrument?

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Does the Aramaic word sabbeka at Daniel 3:5 refer to a stringed instrument or a wind instrument?

Some of the translations on the KJV-only view’s line of good Bibles vary in how they translate a word at Daniel 3:5. Wycliffe’s Bible has “sambuke,” Coverdale’s and Matthew’s Bibles have “shawmes,” Bishops’ Bible has “shawme,” and the Geneva and KJV have “sackbut.” Luther’s German Bible has “Geigen” [violin]. Which of these renderings on this KJV-only line if any is the better or more accurate rendering of the Aramaic word?

 

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The Oxford English Dictionary noted: “Coverdale 1535 (for what reason is not clear) renders the word by shawmes, thus taking it to denote a wind instrument; the Geneva translators, accepting this view, seem to have chosen the rendering ‘sackbut’ on account to its resemblance in sound to the Aramaic word” (XIV, p. 333). Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible suggested that the Geneva Bible translators used sackbut “from an impression that it was a form of the same word” (Vol. IV, p. 326). Laurence Vance, a KJV-only author, wrote: “The word was first used by the Geneva Bible for the obscure instrument in Nebuchadnezzar’s band due to its resemblance in sound to the underlying Aramaic word” (Archaic Words, p. 296). McClintock also suggested that the KJV “has evidently imitated the word [sambuca]” (Cyclopedia, III, p. 211).

 

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While shawmes and sackbut were both wind instruments, several sources maintain that the word used here in the original languages referred to a stringed instrument. For example, Wilson’s O. T. Word Studies defined the word as “a stringed instrument of music having four strings” (p. 364). The Davis Dictionary of the Bible asserted that “the name is evidently identical with the Greek sambuke, which was an instrument of music somewhat like the harp or lyre, but with only four strings” (p. 702). The Encyclopaedia Judaica suggested that the word sabbekha at Daniel 3:5 was Aramaized version of the Greek word sambyke (Vol. 12, p. 565). Theological Wordbook of the O. T. pointed out that “it is not sure whether the Greek borrowed from the Semitic or vice versa” (II, p. 1075). Either way, the Aramaic word and the Greek word would be referring to the same musical instrument. McClintock and Strong noted that “the sambuca was a triangular instrument with four or more strings played with the fingers” (Cyclopaedia, IX, p. 211). Fairbairn’s Standard Bible Encyclopaedia affirmed that it “was a stringed instrument” (Vol. IV, p. 313). Young’s Analytical Concordance defined or described sabbeka as a “harp-like instrument” (p. 829). Green’s Concise Lexicon gave this definition: “trigon, a triangular musical instrument with four strings, similar to a lyre” (p. 163). Fallows’ Bible Encyclopaedia characterized it as “a four-stringed triangular instrument like a harp” (IV, p. 1502).


Bridges and Weigle maintained that the Aramaic word sabbeka “means a ’trigon,’ a triangular lyre or harp with four strings” (KJB Word Book, p. 294). In the text in his commentary on the book of Daniel, Edward J. Young translated the word as “trigon,” and in his comments he noted that “the Greek instrument was of triangular shape with four strings” (p. 87). In his commentary on Daniel, John Walvoord identified it as a stringed instrument (p. 84). Leon Wood referred to it as “a triangular instrument of four strings, playing high notes” in his commentary on Daniel (p. 83). In their commentary, Jamieson and Fausset have this note: “a triangular stringed instrument, having short strings, the sound being on a high sharp key” (I, p. 626). Keil and Delitzsch’s commentary has this description: “a four-stringed instrument, having a sharp, clear tone” (IV, p. 123). In its first volume on Daniel, Barnes’ Notes on the O. T. concluded that “it seems to have been a species of triangular lyre or harp” (p. 209).


The Liberty Annotated Study Bible [KJV] has a marginal note “lyre” for “sackbut” (p. 1274). The Ryrie Study Bible [KJV] described it as “a triangular instrument with four strings that played high notes” (p. 1271). The Criswell Study Bible [KJV] indicated that it was “a four-stringed, musical piece with sharp, clear tone” (p. 982). The New Scofield Reference Bible has a marginal note that described it as “a stringed instrument, like a lute” (p. 900). Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible indicated that it is “another type of harp” (p. 859). The 1657 English translation of the Dutch Bible has a note that affirmed that “some render it an harp.“ The 1842 revision by Baptists has “lyre” instead of “sackbut.“ Furthermore, even the definition and note in Waite’s Defined KJB acknowledged that the word in the original languages referred to “a triangular musical instrument with four strings, similar to a lyre” (p. 1170). The Oxford English Dictionary pointed out that the rendering sackbut “is a mistranslation of Aramaic sabbeka, which the LXX and Vulgate render (doubtless correctly) by Greek sambuke, Latin sambuca, the name of a stringed instrument” (XIV, p. 333). Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible maintained that “’sackbut’ is unsuitable, for two reasons: it is a wind instrument; and whereas the sambuca was particularly shrill, the sackbut had a deep note” (IV, p. 326).