Bible Dictionary
Dulcimer
The dulcimer was a musical instrument mentioned among the instruments used before Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Babylon. The original term is uncertain, but it was probably a bagpipe or similar pipe instrument.
Definition
The dulcimer was a musical instrument named among those sounded before Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image. The original term is uncertain; proposed identifications include a bagpipe, lute, crooked trumpet, organ, lyre, or a similar pipe instrument.
Biblical Usage
The instrument is mentioned in Daniel 3:5, 15 in the list of instruments used when subjects were commanded to worship the golden image.
Historical Background
The supplied material considers a bagpipe, similar to the zampagna or zampogna of southern Europe and Asia, the most probable identification. It may have been introduced into Babylon by a Greek or western Asiatic musician.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(Heb. sumphoniah), a musical instrument mentioned in Dan. 3:5, 15, along with other instruments there named, as sounded before the golden image. It was not a Jewish instrument. In the margin of the Revised Version it is styled the “bag-pipe.” Luther translated it “lute,” and Grotius the “crooked trumpet.” It is probable that it was introduced into Babylon by some Greek or Western-Asiatic musician. Some Rabbinical commentators render it by “organ,” the well-known instrument composed of a series of pipes, others by “lyre.” The most probable interpretation is that it was a bag-pipe similar to the zampagna of Southern Europe.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(Heb. sumphoniah) a musical instrument, mentioned in (Daniel 3:5,15) probably the bagpipe. The same instrument is still in use amongst peasants in the northwest of Asia and in southern Europe, where it is known by the similar name sampogna or zampogna.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>dul'-si-mer. See MUSIC under Nebhel and Sumphonia.</p>