ABSTRACT
Court orchestra of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus: musicians playing horizontal flute, cymbals, trumpets, lute, bells, nakers, and lyre. Wall painting at St Sofia cathedral. Kiev, early eleventh century CE GITTIT [Heb. gittî¨/tytg), (1) lit. “that which is from the town of Gath”; (2) a substantive formed from the verb niggēn/@gn, “to touch the strings”; (3) a derivative of the Hebrew noun ga¨, “a winepress” found in Judg. 6:11; Neh. 13:15; Isa. 63:2; Lam. 1:15; Joel 4:13 MT (3:13 in English versions), supposedly a stringed instrument. The phrase âal-haggittî¨/tytghAl[ is mentioned in the Tanakh* three times (in the headings of Pss 8, 81 and 84) and belongs to the category of unclear terms. It has different interpretations in scholarly literature. The majority of scholars assume gittit to refer to an instrument. It could mean a certain member of the stringed group derived from the Palestinian town of Gath (A. Sendrey),1 as the Targum claims in the heading of Ps. 8:
“on the kinnor that came from Gath” (âal-Âinnorā Äə’ayəÓê miggaÓ/tgm ytyad arwnkAl[u). It may also be a generic term describing the manner of playing the stringed instrument (G. M. Redslob, W. Gesenius) similar to binə¾înô¨ (see Neginot below) or an instrument played when treading grapes (J. Jahn). The first hypothesis is the most plausible and gains support from the biblical account of King David’s stay in “the land of the Philistines” with “Achish… king of Gath” (1 Sam. 27:1-4; 29:3). From there he could easily have brought back the local kind of lyre. According to another theory the word gittit is related to singing. If so, it probably signified a working song, sung while gathering grapes (W. O. E. Oesterley) or treading them out (F. Baethgen). Furthermore gittit may well be a particular tune for the psalms mentioned earlier (especially Ps. 81) that may have been sung at the feast of Tabernacles (Sukkah; J. W. Thirtle; cf. Judg. 9:27; Isa. 16:10; Jer. 25:30). All three theories have some support, though with certain reservations.2 The view that David brought back a female choir from Gath (A. Calmet) is very unlikely, since the participation of non-Jewish women in the Jewish rite was considered sacrilegious and would have been rejected. Only the wives and daughters of Levite singers were allowed to take part in the cultus. The thought of the “march of the Gittite guards” (F. J. Delitzch) is unrealistic too, because the priests, who maintained strict ritual purity would not have tolerated the singing of the sacred hymns (psalms) to a pagan tune. There is also a view that any musical rendition of the term gittit is unacceptable because of its incongruity with the instrumental terminology that had been established in ancient Jewish musical practice (C. Sachs). In Bible translations the interpretation of gittit varies. Some of them (early English, Italian and all Church Slavonic) follow the LXX (πèρ ληνν) and the Vulg. (pro torcularibus) and preserve the link with the winepress: for the pressis/pressours (WyclB), for the presses, for the winepresses (DouB), li torculari (BIM), umb dye weynpresse (NüB), om de wijnpressen (BNvW), de torcularibus (BLJ), w òî÷èëhõú (the original MS of the GennB and its main complete copies: SidB, JoachB, UvarB, also SkorB, OstB, MoscB, ElizB). But in most cases gittit is associated with instrumental accompaniment:3 auff der Gitthith vorzusingen (LB), sur Githith/Guittith (LyB, GenB),4 ad Gittith (CastB), op der Gittith (BGvW), na Gitteycký nástrog (KrB), na tim Gititu (TruPs), ná Gitycie (BudB),5 upon/on Gittit (BpB6, KJV, AJV, NASB), according to The Gittith (RSV, cf. NIV), on the…of Gath (NJB),7 sobre Gittit (SBE), op de Gittit (BNBG), accompagnement sur la harpe de Gat (BFC), na Gittit/Gittyt (BP), po Gitít (SSP), íà ìóñèêiéñêîì îðóäiè Ãàãèôèâú èìÿíógìîì (AmPs), на Гефском орудии (SynB), под аккомпанемент Гефа (WCBT), на гиттит (TanJer). Only in a few versions does it appear as a tune to a song: “set to a vintage melody” (MofB); “sulla melodia ‘I torchi’ ” (BILC). In Modern Hebrew gittit means a guitar.
