{{short description|Principal percussion instrument of the ancient Israelites}} {{For|the album|Timbrel (album)}}

{{Infobox instrument | image = Deff - Tambourine, p. 579 in Thomson, 1859.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Judean tof<ref>{{cite book|page=579|last=Thomson|first=W. M.|title=The Land and the Book; or Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery of the Holy Land, Volume II|location=New York|year=1859}}</ref> | background = percussion | names = adufe, deff, tabret, tof | classification = [[Frame drum]] | hornbostel_sachs = 211.311 | hornbostel_sachs_desc = [[Directly struck membranophone]] }}

The '''timbrel''' or '''tabret''' (also known as the '''tof''' of the ancient [[Hebrews]], the '''deff''' in [[Arabic]], the '''adufe''' of the Moors of [[Portugal]]) was the principal [[percussion instrument]] of the ancient [[Israelites]]. It resembled either a [[frame drum]]{{sfn|Sendry|1969}} or a modern [[tambourine]].{{sfn|Schlesinger|1911}}

==History== The word timbrel is used in the [[Hebrew Bible]] in both singular and plural form, so as to suggest the former referred to a hoop of wood or metal over which was stretched a parchment head; while the latter was perhaps used to designate the tambourine with bells or jangles fixed at intervals in hoops. A tambourine is essentially a wooden frame drum with jangles or bells round the edges.{{sfn|Schlesinger|1911}} In {{Bibleverse|Nahum|2:7|KJV}}, where the word "tabering" occurs in the [[King James Version]], it means beating on the breast, as drummers beat on the tabret.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} {{citation needed span|date=April 2023|The Israelites learned to use the timbrel during their sojourn in [[Egypt]]}}, and in the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]], Kathleen Schlesinger stated "it has been suggested that as the Egyptians used it to scare away their evil spirit [[Typhon]]",{{sfn|Schlesinger|1911}} the word tof is derived from the latter. The tabret or timbrel was a favorite instrument of the women, and was used with dances, as by [[Miriam]], to accompany songs of victory, or with the [[harp]] at [[banquet]]s and processions; it was one of the instruments used by [[King David]] and his musicians when he danced before the [[Ark of the Covenant]]. It was also used in the valley of [[Hinnom]] at the sacrificial rites.{{sfn|Schlesinger|1911}}

John Keats mentions timbrels in [[Ode on a Grecian Urn]], written in 1819: "What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?"

==See also== *[[Tabor (instrument)]]

==Notes== {{reflist}}

==References== * {{EB1911|first=Kathleen |last=Schlesinger |author-link=Kathleen Schlesinger |wstitle=Timbrel |volume=26 |page=981}}

==Further reading== *{{cite book|title=The World of Islam, Faith, People and Culture|editor-first=Bernard|editor-last=Lewis|year=1976}}{{page needed|date=January 2018}} *{{cite book|title=Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary|url=https://archive.org/details/musicalinstrumen00marc|url-access=registration|first=Sibyl|last=Marcuse|year=1975|location=New York|publisher=W. W. Norton|isbn=0-393-00758-8}}{{page needed|date=January 2018}} *{{cite book|title=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]|edition=2nd|editor1-first=Stanley|editor1-last=Sadie|editor2-first=John|editor2-last=Tyrrell|editor3-first=Laura|editor3-last=Macy|year=2001}}{{volume needed|date=January 2018}}{{page needed|date=January 2018}} *{{cite book|title=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]|edition=1st|editor1-first=Stanley|editor1-last=Sadie|year=1980|volume= 6 Entry "Frame drum" |page=739}}

{{Frame drums}}

[[Category:Hand drums]] [[Category:Membranophones]] [[Category:Israeli musical instruments]] [[Category:Ancient Hebrew musical instruments]]