Cymbal

Cymbals (Hebrew metziltayim, tzeltzelim) were paired plates of beaten bronze, struck together to mark accents in liturgical music. The Hebrew Bible names them as part of the percussion section of the Levitical orchestra established by David and Solomon: 'with cymbals, harps, and lyres' (1 Chronicles 15:16; 2 Chronicles 5:12–13). Asaph and Heman led the cymbal-section in worship before the Ark. Surviving bronze cymbals from Mediterranean archaeological contexts — small to medium discs about 8–15 cm across, often dished and with a central hole or loop for a thumb-cord — match the descriptions in Psalm 150:5, which distinguishes 'loud cymbals' (clashing) from 'high-sounding cymbals' (a brighter ringing tone). Paul's famous line in 1 Corinthians 13:1 — 'if I speak with the tongues of men and angels but have not love, I have become a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal' — turns on the same instrument: a brilliant, attention-grabbing noise that signifies nothing without the love it is meant to accompany.