CHAPTER VI.
Psallo with a Significant Parallel.

In our familiar words "touch" and "strike" which, according to the testimony of all the lexicons, exactly express the radical and primary meaning of psallo (ψαλλω), there is an almost exact parallel in their usage in English Literature with the usage of psallo (ψαλλω) in Greek Literature. In Webster's twelfth and thirteenth definitions of "touch," he gives: "to play on; as, to touch an instrument of music; to perform, as a tune; to play." In justification of this, he gives us Milton's rhythmic line: "They touched their golden harps," and the graphic words of Sir Walter Scott: "A person in the royal retinue touched a light and lively air on the flageolet." Then, to the same point are the words of England's greatest bard: "Soft stillness and the night become the touches of sweet harmony," meaning, of course, the musical notes or sounds of sweet harmony. Under the word "strike," the phrase, "to strike up," is defined by the same world-renowned authority as meaning "to commence to play, as a musician; to begin to sound, as an instrument."

Now, out of the eighteen meanings of the word "touch," and the twenty-one of the word "strike," [63] as given by this standard authority, how are we to determine the meaning of these terms when we meet them in literature? Shall we select one meaning and force it upon the word whenever and wherever we find an example of it to the exclusion of all the other meanings? If not, why not? For instance, because I find that the English word "touch," like the Greek ψαλλω, means to play on an instrument of music, shall I conclude that wherever I find an occurrence of the word, I have found instrumental music? If so, then when we read in the daily papers, or in some book, that an orator delivered a touching discourse, the good ship Germania touched at Queenstown, or of John Dryden's advice to an artist, "Never give the least touch with your pencil till you have well examined your design," we must understand, of course, that the orator made instrumental music with his discourse, that the Germania made instrumental music at Queenstown, and that the one-time poet laureate of England advises the artist not to make instrumental music with his pencil till he has well examined his design! This is precisely the course of reasoning pursued by those who fallaciously conclude that because they find the word psallo (ψαλλω) in the New Testament, they have necessarily found instrumental music. Why not conclude, as intimated in a previous chapter, that they have found "plucking the hair," "twanging the bowstring," or "twitching the carpenter's line?" The word has had all these meanings, and the standard [64] lexicons so declare. Such reasoning violates one of the fundamental principles of all interpretation in at least two particulars: 1. It ignores the fact that words not only often completely change their meaning in the course of time, but often have a variety of applied meanings at the same time. 2. It is in total disregard of the context, a principle, the importance of which is recognized by all reliable authorities in exegesis. Governed by these sound principles of interpretation, no one ever has any difficulty in understanding the words "touch" and "strike" in English literature, nor the word psallo (ψαλλω) in Greek literature.

From the premises thus far submitted, even if it were a fact that the word under review had not undergone any change of meaning at the opening of the New Testament period, still those who claim that a given passage authorizes instrumental music because it contains the word psallo (ψαλλω), are guilty of the petitio princippii, or the fallacy of begging the question. They assume the very point in dispute by assuming that the use of a musical instrument inheres in the word. No lexicographer known to the author has ever so claimed. The fallacy which lurks here has done much mischief, and the author respectfully engages here and now to expose it with a simple statement of incontestable facts.

We here introduce another interesting parallel. In the light of usage as reflected in the lexicons, the instrument no more inheres in psallo (ψαλλω) than [65] water does in baptizo (βαπτιζω). In fact, at this point there is an interesting analogy between the two words. You can baptize without water, and you can psallo without an instrument of music. Βαπτιζω means to dip or immerse, regardless of the particular element in which the action takes place, and the word ψαλλω means to touch or strike, regardless of the particular object touched or struck. These are the inherent ideas in these words running through all their varied uses, and they are the key to the meaning in every instance whether the word be used literally or metaphorically. Water does not inhere in βαπτιζω, nor does an instrument of music in ψαλλω. When we meet with the word βαπτιζω in Greek literature we have to learn from the context, or from some other source than the word itself, what the element is in which the action takes place. It may be water, it may be fire, it may be the Holy Spirit, it may be suffering, or it may be some other element, the element itself never inhering in the word. So precisely when we meet with the word ψαλλω, the word itself does not indicate the object touched, or the instrument used. It may be the hair or beard, it may be a carpenter's line, it may be a bowstring, it may be a harp or other instrument of music, or, metaphorically, it may be the human heart. If we psallo with a bowstring, that is the instrument; if with a carpenter's line, that is the instrument; if with a harp, guitar, or organ, that is the instrument; and if with the human heart, that is the instrument.

Thus, the context of a word, or the time when, and sometimes the place where, it was used, is often the only means of determining its import; and, touching the New Testament usage and meaning of psallo in particular, it specifically says that Christians are to "psallo with the heart" (ψαλλοντες τη καρδια 'υμων, making melody with your heart, Eph. 5: 19). This is the only "psalloing" mentioned in its inspired pages, and therein incorporated as a part of Christian worship.