Genesis - 4:21



21 His brother's name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of Genesis 4:21.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe.
And his brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of them that play upon the harp and the organs.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of those who handle the harp and pipe.
and the name of his brother is Jubal, he hath been father of every one handling harp and organ.
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all players on instruments of music.
And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of those who sing to the harp and the organ.
Et nomen fratris ejus, Jubal: ipse fuit pater omnis contrectantis citharam et organum.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Here is the invention of musical instruments in their two leading varieties, the harp and the pipe. This implies the previous taste for music and song. It seems not unlikely that Zillah, the mother of Jubal, was a daughter of song. The fine arts follow in the train of the useful. All this indicates the easy circumstances in which the Cainites now found themselves.

Jubal - the father - i.e. The inventor of musical instruments, such as the כנור kinnor, which we translate harp, and the עוגב ugab, which we render organ; it is very likely that both words are generic, the former including under it all stringed instruments, and the latter, all wind instruments.

And his brother's name was Jubal,.... This was another son of Lamech by Adah, and his name differs only in one letter from his brother's:
he was the father of all such that handle the harp and organ: he was the inventor of instrumental music, both of stringed instruments, such as were touched by the fingers, or struck with a quill, as the "harp"; and of wind instruments, such as were blown, as the "organ", which seems not to be the same we call so, being a late invention; but however a pleasant instrument, as its name signifies. Jubal is thought by some to be the same with Apollo, to whom with the Greeks the invention of the harp is ascribed; and some have been of opinion, that the jubilee trumpet was so called from Jubal, Leviticus 25:9. Sanchoniatho (r) makes Chrysor or Vulcan, the same with Tubalcain, the brother of Jubal, to exercise himself in eloquence, songs and divination, confounding or mistaking the employment of the two brothers. The Arabs have such a notion of the Cainites being the inventors of music, that they commonly call a singing girl "Cainah" (s); and the Arabic writers (t) make Jubal to be the first inventor of music, and that the beasts and birds gathered together to hear him; the same that is said of Orpheus.
(r) Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 35. (s) Abulpharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 9. (t) Elmacinus, p. 8. apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 232.

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