flute

The musical instrument that is most often translated as “flute” or “pipe” in English is more or less universally used, so it’s typically translated directly with the applicable term.

Since its cultural significance is sometimes different it might be translated with a different instruments is some cases (see also below). When in Matthew 11:17 and Luke 7:32 the flute is mentioned as an instrument played at a wedding, the Chichewa (interconfessional translation, 1999) translates it as “we played the wedding drum for you” (source: Wendland 1987, p. 74), the Yakan and Kankanaey translations use “gongs” (source: Yakan and Kankanaey Back Translations), in Western Bukidnon Manobo “drumming” is used (source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation), and in Tagbanwa “stringed-instruments” (source: Tagbanwa Back Translation).

Or in Jeremiah 48:36 where the flute is used for mourning, Bassa uses “funeral drum” (source: Newman / Stine) or Hiligaynon, while using “flute,” makes the meaning explicit: “like a lonely music of a flute for the dead” (source: Hiligaynon Back Translation).

In the UBS Helps for Translators‘ Human-made Things in the Bible (original title: The Works of Their Hands: Man-made Things in the Bible) it says the following:

Description: The flute was a wind instrument consisting of a tube with a series of finger holes used to alter the tone. Some flutes were made of reed and could take several forms: the tube could be a cylinder or it could be more in the shape of a cone. There were instruments made of a single tube, while others had two tubes side by side. Often ancient double flutes or double pipes were arranged in a V-shape, with two separate reeds. One of these pipes had several holes while the other had only one hole and acted as a kind of drone, providing an unchanging tone to accompany the varying tones coming from the first pipe. Some pipes or flutes were made of other materials, such as wood, ivory, bone, or metal.

Usage: Sound was produced with the flute by blowing across an opening leading into a hole running inside the length of the instrument; in some cases the opening hole was in the end of the instrument while in others this hole was in the side of the instrument toward one end. With the reed pipe, on the other hand, a column of air was set in motion by blowing over a reed device, causing it to vibrate.

Translation: If there is no wind instrument available to translate “flute,” a different kind of wind instrument may be used.

The Hebrew word ‘ugav is usually understood to refer to a wind instrument. It is possible, however, that it is a generic term for “instrument” or even refers to a particular stringed instrument. In Job 21:12 and Job 30:31 it is identified as an instrument that expressed joy and contentment.

Psalms 5:1: The Hebrew word nchiloth appears only here in the Old Testament, and its meaning is uncertain. It may mean “wind instruments” in general or “flutes” in particular. Extra-biblical evidence indicates that it may have been an instrument played for funeral laments.

Matthew 9:23: Here NRSVue has “flute players”: According to Jewish tradition, even the poorest people were expected to have two flute players and a wailing woman for a funeral. In order to clarify the role of the flute players Good News Translation adds “for the funeral.” This information was immediately evident to a Jewish reader who was familiar with the funeral customs, but it will not be clear to other readers. Many cultures are familiar with the flute or other instruments that are played by blowing through a wooden tube. If no such instrument exists, then translators can say “those who played musical instruments for a funeral” or, as in Good News Translation, “musicians for the funeral.” See also flute players.

Men playing flutes (source: Louise Bass (c) British and Foreign Bible Society 1994)

Quoted with permission.

complete verse (Genesis 4:21)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 4:21:

  • Kankanaey: “Jubal was the younger-sibling of Jabal who had-as-descendants those who play guitars and nose-flute.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “His younger brother’s name was Jubal. He is the ancestor of those who play the lyre and the flute.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “Jabal had a male sibling/(brother) whose name was Jubal, who is the ancestor/progenitor of all who play harp and flute.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Later, Jabal was the first person who lived in tents because he traveled from place to place to take care of livestock. His younger brother’s name was Jubal. He was the first person who made/played a lyre/stringed instrument and a flute.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 4:21

His brother’s name: brother refers to a younger brother from the same mother. For languages in which the word “brother” can also include people in other relationships, it may be necessary to say something like “true [younger] brother.”

Father of all those means the one who originated, or the one who began, or who was “the very first one to play….” Lyre refers to a small stringed instrument of rectangular shape whose strings are all of the same length. The strings are plucked with the fingers as for the harp. Pipe, which is often translated “flute,” refers to a wind instrument made of reed, metal, wood, or ivory. These two instruments are mentioned together in Job 21.12; 30.31; Psa 150.4.

Lyre is translated “harp” by Good News Translation and others. However, it may be rendered by a term for a local stringed instrument such as the guitar. Pipe is often translated by the term for the local flute or other wind instrument; for instance, the term “bamboo” is used in some parts of the world. In the absence of any such instruments, it is possible to say, “The man who invented musical instruments,” “the first person to play music…,” or “the ancestor of those who are experts in playing music.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .