Keluaran 15:20

15:20 Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand-drum in her hand, and all the women went out after her with hand-drums and with dances. ¹ 

Hakim-hakim 11:34

11:34 When Jephthah came home to Mizpah, there was his daughter hurrying out ²  to meet him, dancing to the rhythm of tambourines. ³  She was his only child; except for her he had no son or daughter.

Hakim-hakim 11:1

11:1 Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a brave warrior. His mother was a prostitute, but Gilead was his father. ⁴ 

1 Samuel 10:5

10:5 Afterward you will go to Gibeah of God, where there are Philistine officials. ⁵  When you enter the town, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place. They will have harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying.

1 Samuel 10:2

10:2 When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on Benjamin’s border. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you have gone looking for have been found. Your father is no longer concerned about the donkeys but has become anxious about you two! ⁶  He is asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

1 Samuel 6:5

6:5 You should make images of the sores and images of the mice ⁷  that are destroying the land. You should honor the God of Israel. Perhaps he will release his grip on you, your gods, and your land. ⁸ 

Mazmur 68:26

68:26 In your large assemblies praise God,

the Lord, in the assemblies of Israel! ⁹ 

Yesaya 24:8

24:8 The happy sound ¹⁰  of the tambourines stops,

the revelry of those who celebrate comes to a halt,

the happy sound of the harp ceases.

Yeremia 31:4

31:4 I will rebuild you, my dear children Israel, ¹¹ 

so that you will once again be built up.

Once again you will take up the tambourine

and join in the happy throng of dancers. ¹² 

[15:20]  ¹ sn See J. N. Easton, “Dancing in the Old Testament,” ExpTim 86 (1975): 136-40.

[11:34]  ² tn Heb “Look! His daughter was coming out.”

[11:34]  ³ tn Heb “with tambourines and dancing.”

[11:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “Now he was the son of a woman, a prostitute, and Gilead fathered Jephthah.”

[10:5]  ⁵ tn Or “sentries.” Some translate “outpost” (NIV) or “garrison” (NAB, NRSV, NLT) here (see 1 Sam 13:3). The noun is plural in the Hebrew text, but the LXX and other ancient witnesses read a singular noun here.

[10:2]  ⁶ sn In the Hebrew text the pronoun you is plural, suggesting that Saul’s father was concerned about his son and the servant who accompanied him.

[6:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “your mice.” A Qumran ms has simply “the mice.”

[6:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “Perhaps he will lighten his hand from upon you and from upon your gods and from upon your land.”

[68:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “from the fountain of Israel,” which makes little, if any, sense here. The translation assumes an emendation to בְּמִקְרָאֵי (bÿmiqra’ey, “in the assemblies of [Israel]”).

[24:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the joy” (again later in this verse).

[31:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Virgin Israel.”

[31:4]  sn For the significance of this metaphor see the note on Jer 14:17. Here the emphasis appears on his special love and care for his people and the hint (further developed in vv. 21-22) that, though guilty of sin, he considers them like an innocent young virgin.

[31:4]  ¹² sn Contrast Jer 7:34 and 25:10.