Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Five Scrolls: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, Esther
    The Five Scrolls: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, Esther
    The Five Scrolls: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, Esther
    Ebook127 pages1 hour

    The Five Scrolls: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, Esther

    By Bob MacDonald

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Where is a good starting point for reading the Bible?

    Five scrolls constitute the second section of the third major division of the Hebrew bible. These are the Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, and Esther.

    The Song, like the Psalms, is a key to our hearing of instruction. Ruth establishes the Moabite ancestry of David showing we must read about enemies more carefully. The music of the Lamentations moves us with four acrostic poems and a fifth poem of 22 verses of prayer to make new our days as of old. Sing the melody of Qohelet that adorns chapter 3, the time for every delight under the heavens. And party with Esther.

    These five books are short and represent pieces of the whole story, the Song a key, Ruth, a snippet of history, Lamentations, the tragedy of the destruction, Qohelet, the words of the shrewd, and Esther, ultimate social success (including taxes). They are like the elaborate bow on the whole unfathomable present that is the Hebrew Bible.

    The Five Scrolls is volume 6 of the series, The Hebrew Bible and Its Music.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEnergion Publications
    Release dateMar 4, 2019
    ISBN9781631996290
    The Five Scrolls: Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, Esther
    Author

    Bob MacDonald

    Bob MacDonald is a retired West Australian Police officer of thirty years experience. Bob's last day at school was his 14th birthday - commencing work, the very next day, in a timber mill in his home town of Pemberton, West Australia. He later self-educated and enlisted in the West Australian police force, retiring as a superintendent in the Internal Investigations Branch of the Professional Standards portfolio. Since retirement Bob has been working at remote aboriginal communities in Central Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. He also did a tour of duty on the island nation of Cyprus with the United Nations Blue Beret Peacekeepers.

    Read more from Bob Mac Donald

    Related to The Five Scrolls

    Titles in the series (10)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Christianity For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Famous Fathers In The Bible

      May 20, 2019

      Scripture is filled with people who we can learn much from. When it comes to the challenging vocation of fatherhood, several fathers in the Bible show what is wise to do—and what is not wise to do. Of course, the most important father figure in the B

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ethiopia Crusade

      Nov 25, 2022

      Ethiopia Crusade
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Building Your Inner Belief

      Aug 2, 2024

      Building Your Inner Belief
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Heresy Of Gnosticism

      Oct 2, 2020

      The Heresy Of Gnosticism
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Q&A

      Feb 20, 2020

      Q&A
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Writing In Rhythm

      Jun 19, 2019

      Often when people talk about “the music of language” they make it sound like a mere frill, something we add to “dress up” plain writing. I don’t agree with this view. At the heart of language, I hear music—word-music, akin in many ways to instrumenta

      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      THE poetry OF MUSIC

      Dec 7, 2023

      THE poetry OF MUSIC
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      This Battle Cry Is Heard Loud And Clear

      Jul 12, 2022

      Helen Charlston (mezzo-soprano), Toby Carr (theorbo) Delphian DCD34283 57:20 mins This recording spotlights heroines and tragediennes like Boudica, Ariadne and Dido as well as the poet Sappho and composer Barbara Strozzi. The programme includes some

      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      SHEET MUSIC & BOOK REVIEWS

      Sep 18, 2020

      Sally Cathcart Alfred Music ISBN: 9 781470 613440 (Bk 1); -613457 (Bk 2) Sally Cathcart is a piano teacher, ABRSM examiner, and co-founder of The Curious Piano Teachers, an online community for piano teachers. These two workbooks aimed at young begin

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Sheet Music Reviews

      Nov 18, 2022

      Books 1 & 2 Melanie Spanswick The Willis Music Company As their titles indicate, these are repertoire books (not method books) aimed at pre-Grade 1 beginners, starting with pieces in five-finger position centred around middle C. The pacing is nice a

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      THE CROSSROADS Robben Ford

      Jan 10, 2024

      Robben Ford is one of the most significant electric guitarists active anywhere in the world today. For over 50 years he has maintained a successful solo career as a blues singer, guitarist and composer, with a stream of successful releases to his nam

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Traditional Irish (Slane) Lord Of All Hopefulness

      Jan 15, 2020

      In this issue we will be tackling the beautiful Irish folk song Slane, which is now perhaps best known as the melody of the hymn, Lord Of All Hopefulness. This melody is also used in other hymns, such as Be Thou My Vision, Lord Of Creation, To Thee A

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Record Reviews

      Jul 4, 2023

      Record Reviews
      13 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Schumann Arr. Liszt Widmung (dedication) S566

      Jan 19, 2024

      ABILITY RATING ADVANCED Key A minor Tempo Allegro maestoso Style Classical Will improve your ✓ Passagework ✓ Trills ✓ Sudden dynamic contrasts Widmung was composed by Robert Schumann in 1840, the year known as his ‘Year of Song’. It is the first pi

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Righteous Bender

      Jan 18, 2019

      A Righteous Bender
      11 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Classical

      Aug 10, 2021

      Reference Recordings RR-149. David Frost, prod.; Keith O. Johnson, rec. eng. These three symphonies, all dating from the first half of the 20th century, comprise so apt a program that I’m surprised no one did it before. The striking contrasts among t

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Music Of Language

      Jun 19, 2019

      Words can make magic. Skillfully put together into sentences, words can transfer ideas and images from a writer’s mind into the minds of readers—that, by itself, is powerful verbal magic. When we exploit the musical characteristics of language, we ca

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Record Reviews

      Sep 5, 2023

      Record Reviews
      14 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Listen To The Story Of The Drum

      May 1, 2023

      Listen To The Story Of The Drum
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Could Onomatopoeia Be the Origin of Language?

      Feb 13, 2024

      Bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuo nnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk! grumbles the thunder in Finnegans Wake, and there is, as far as I know, no longer example in English of onomatopoeia, or echo-mimesis, in which the

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Reviews

      Oct 31, 2023

      It seems Goldberg Variations are like buses this month, with two recordings both deserving of attention. Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque, in Chad Kelly’s string arrangement of Bach’s keyboard classic, offer a fresh take, while Icelandic virtuoso pia

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Carlos Santana

      Jun 28, 2024

      Carlos Santana
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Five Scrolls

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Five Scrolls - Bob MacDonald

      The Five Scrolls

      Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, Esther

      A close translation for the original music

      by
      Bob MacDonald

      The Hebrew Bible and its Music, Volume 6

      Energion Publications

      Gonzalez, Florida, U.S.A.

      2019

      The Five Scrolls

      Copyright © D. Robert MacDonald 2019, 2021 – all rights reserved.

      Cover Design: The author

      ISBN: 978-1-63199-629-0

      Energion Publications

      P. O. Box 841

      Gonzalez, Florida, 32560

      850-525-3916

      www.energionpubs.com

      2 October 2021 21:32

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4

      The Cover

      A fractal enclosing a treble clef suggests both the intricate organization of the Biblical language and the music embedded in the manuscripts.

      Other books by the author

      Seeing the Psalter, Patterns of Recurrence in the Poetry of the Psalms, Energion 2013

      The Song in the Night, According to the melody in the accents of the Hebrew text, Energion 2016

      (With Jonathan Orr-Stav) The SimHebrew Bible, The Hebrew Bible in Simulated Hebrew – with English Guide, Qualum Publishing 2021

      Books in this series

      1 The Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

      2 The Former Prophets, Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings

      3 The Major Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel

      4 The Twelve, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

      5 The Books of Truth, Psalms, Proverbs, Job

      6 The Five Scrolls, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, Esther

      7 The Remaining Writings, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles

      8 A Biblical Hebrew to English Concordance

      9 A is for Abandon, An English to Biblical Hebrew Alphabet Book

      10 The Progression of the Music, The Accents of the Hebrew Bible

      Preface

      Five books of the Old Testament are known as the Megillot, or the five scrolls. They are variously placed in English Bibles, but are a separate subsection of the Hebrew Bible.

      The Song of Songs

      Ruth

      Qohelet (or Ecclesiastes)

      Lamentations

      Esther

      This close translation was initially developed to show in English the intricate patterns of repeated words in Hebrew poetry. Having discovered the inferences concerning the music at a conference on the Psalms in 2010, the author decided that the whole corpus of the Hebrew canonical text should be approached to allow English speaking readers some understanding of the music. The translation retains the order of Hebrew words wherever reasonable, so that changes in reciting note and ornaments can be in English on the same syllable that corresponds to the Hebrew.

      The line breaks have been chosen to correspond with the major rest points as indicated in the Hebrew manuscripts by the accents. These are the cadences in the music. The music has been derived through automation based on the deciphering key developed by Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura in the latter half of the twentieth century. All the music is available as noted below, though only a small portion of it has been performed.

      In the English text of this volume next to the verse number, you may see a letter. This letter is the first note of the verse if the first note is not the default (e). Such a first note indicates that the verse is somehow related to what has come before it. The nature of the relationship is not specific. You the reader / singer must decide how the opening relates to what has been already. When you see a ~, it indicates an ornament on the first note.

      The notes of the scale in the default mode for the text of the prose books are c, d, e, f, g#, A, B, C. Absolute pitch is not important. Sing the music wherever it is comfortable for your voice. For instruction on the music, see The Song in the Night.

      The music for all 929 chapters of the Hebrew Bible is all available online through the pages at https://meafar.blogspot.com.

      This edition includes minor changes to the translation from 2019-2021.

      Table of Contents

      Preface

      Introduction to the Bible and its Music

      The Song

      Ruth

      Lamentations

      Qohelet

      Esther

      Acknowledgements

      List of Musical Examples

      Score 1 An example of the music from Ruth 2:16

      Score 2 Better than wine

      Score 3 Foxes

      Score 4 The ornamented you

      Score 5 Refrain

      Score 6 North wind and south

      Score 7 Security

      Score 8 The alliterative answer to the foxes

      Score 9 Many waters

      Score 10 Like the hart, ayalim, a plural cipher for Elohim

      Score 11 Where you go, I go

      Score 12 The lilt of the music, a story to be chanted

      Score 13 The precedent for a traditional greeting

      Score 14 Whose is that lass?

      Score 15 She is from Moab

      Score 16 The middle of the night

      Score 17 The successions of Perez

      Score 18 Aleph, Ah in such solitude

      Score 19 Ayin out of sequence

      Score 20 The sole mid-verse rest in the chapter

      Score 21 A reward

      Score 22 Gold poured out in the streets

      Score 23 Turn us and we will be turned

      Score 24 Utter futility

      Score 25 To everything there is a season

      Score 26 They haven't a clue

      Score 27 An impatient verse without a rest

      Score 28 Heart on the right or on the left

      Score 29 Taxation over the earth

      Introduction to the Bible and its Music

      This reading of the Bible is in seven sections according to the divisions of traditional Judaism. First the three major divisions: Torah, Prophets, and Writings. Torah is not further subdivided. The prophets are subdivided into three: the former prophets, and the latter prophets, which in turn are in 2 sections: the three major prophets, and the twelve. The Writings are similarly divided into three: The books of truth, Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, the five scrolls (the subject of this volume), The Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Qohelet, and Esther, and the remaining writings, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles.

      What is unique in this reading?

      Music

      This English reading of the Hebrew Bible is intended to be the ground for an underlay to the musical score. The deciphering key of Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura is a full musical clarification of the text, not just verse by verse but as a whole. The shape of each part of the text becomes transparent.

      RUTH_002_016-1

      Score 1 An example of the music from Ruth 2:16

      The music is presented with the Hebrew underlay. The translation is close so that a non-Hebrew reader can know what the words signify. In this case,

      And even pilfer, pilfer for her from the bundles,

      and discard them and let her glean, and do not rebuke her.

      The scores show every change in reciting note and by the bar line, the accentuation of the words, and the rest point for the recitation. The reciting note is an indication of tone of voice. In this verse, bundles is on the rest note and the recitation continues on the rest note, the subdominant, to discard the pilfered stalks so Ruth will have plenty to glean. Recitation on the subdominant has a restful aspect evident for example in

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1