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Old & New Testament Greek Lexical Dictionary Greek Lexicon
Strong's #5567 - ψάλλω
- Thayer
- Strong
- Mounce
- to pluck off, pull out
- to cause to vibrate by touching, to twang
- to touch or strike the chord, to twang the strings of a musical instrument so that they gently vibrate
- to play on a stringed instrument, to play, the harp, etc.
- to sing to the music of the harp
- in the NT to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song
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ψάλλω, fut. ψᾰλῶ LXX Judges 5:3; : aor. ἔψηλα Pl. Ly. 209b, etc., and in LXX ἔψᾱλα Psalms 9:12, al.: — pluck, pull, twitch, ψ. ἔθειραν pluck the hair, A. Pers. 1062: esp. of the bow-string, τόξων χερὶ ψάλλουσι νευράς twang them, E. Ba. 784; κενὸν κρότον Lyc. 1453; ἐκ κέραος ψ. βέλος send a shaft twanging from the bow, APl. 4.211 (Stat. Flacc.); so μιλτοχαρὴς σχοῖνος ψαλλομένη a carpenter's red line, which is twitched and then suddenly let go, so as to leave a mark, AP 6.103 (Phil.): metaph., γυναῖκας ἐξ ἀνδρῶν ψόγος ψάλλει, κενὸν τόξευμα E. Fr. 499.
II mostly of the strings of musical instruments, play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and not with the plectron, ψῆλαι καὶ κρούειν τῷ πλήκτρῳ Pl. l. c., et ibi Sch.; ἐάν τις ψήλας τὴν νήτην ἐπιλάβῃ Arist. Pr. 919b15; μουσικώτατος ὢν χατὰ χεῖρα δίχα πλήκτρου ἔψαλλε Ath. 4.183d; opp. κιθαρίζω, Hdt. 1.155, SIG 578.18 (Teos, ii B. C.); πρὶν μέν σ' ἑπτάτονον ψάλλον (sc. τὴν λύραν) Ion Eleg.3.3: abs., Hdt. l. c., Ar. Eq. 522, Hippias (?) in PHib. 1.13.24; κόραις Men. Epit. 260; ψάλλειν [οὐκ ἔνι] ἄνευ λύρας Luc. Par. 17: — Prov., ῥᾷον ἤ τις ἂν χορδὴν ψήλειε 'as easy as falling off a log', Aristid. Or. 26(14).31.
2. later, sing to a harp, LXX Ps. 7.18, LXX Psalms 9:12, al.; τῇ καρδίᾳ Ephesians 5:19; τῷ πνεύματι 1 Cor. l. c.
3. Pass., of the instrument, to be struck or played, ψαλλομένη χορδή Arist. Pr. 919b2; also of persons, to be played to on the harp, Macho ap. Ath. 8.348f.
ψάλλω; future ψαλῶ; (from ψάω, to rub, wipe; to handle, touch (but cf. Curtius, p. 730));
a. to pluck off, pull out: ἐθειραν, the hair, Aeschylus Pers. 1062.
b. to cause to vibrate by touching, to twang: τόξων νευράς χειρί, Euripides, Bacch. 784; specifically, χορδήν, to touch or strike the chord, to twang the strings of a musical instrument so that they gently vibrate (Aristotle, probl. 19, 23 (p. 919b, 2)); and absolutely, to play on a stringed instrument, to play the harp, etc.: Aristotle, Plutarch, Aratus (in Plato, Lysias, p. 209 b. with καί κρούειν τῷ πλήκτρω added (but not as explanatory of it; the Schol. at the passage says ψῆλαι, τό ἄνευ πληκτρου τῷ δακτύλῳ τάς χορδας ἐπάφασθαι); it is distinguished from κιθαρίζειν in Herodotus 1, 155); the Sept. for נִנֵן and much more often for זִמֵּר; to sing to the music of the harp; in the N. T. to sing a hymn, to celebrate the praises of God in song, James 5:13 (R. V. sing praise); τῷ κυρίῳ, τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ (often so in the Sept.), in honor of God, Ephesians 5:19 (here A. V. making melody); Romans 15:9; ψαλῶ τῷ πνεύματι, ψαλῶ δέ καί τῷ νοι<, 'I will sing God's praises indeed with my whole soul stirred and borne away by the Holy Spirit, but I will also follow reason as my guide, so that what I sing may be understood alike by myself and by the listeners', 1 Corinthians 14:15.
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ψάλλω ,
[in LXX chiefly for H2167 pi. (Judges 5:3, Psalms 7:17, al.), also for H5059 pi. (1 Samuel 16:16 ff, al.);]
1. to pull, twitch, twang (as a bowstring, etc.; Æsch., Eur., al.), hence,
2. absol.,
(a) to play a stringed instrument with the fingers (Hdt., Plat., al.);
(b) later, to sing to a harp, sing psalms (LXX); in NT, to sing a hymn, sing praise: James 5:13; c. dat. pers., Romans 15:9 (LXX), Ephesians 5:19; dat. instr., 1 Corinthians 14:15.†
Copyright © 1922 by G. Abbott-Smith, D.D., D.C.L.. T & T Clarke, London.
