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 Music: Anacrusis and knocking (this page)

Church music issues

There are many verses in the Bible that talk about "praise" in terms of music.

More: A dark and enigmatic praise

• The modern Greek word "κιθάρα" (kee-THA-ra) ≈ "guitar".
• The modern Greek word "άρπα" (AR-pa) ≈ "harp"
• The modern Greek word "λύρα" (LEE-ra) ≈ "lyre".

The modern Greek word "κιθάρα" (kee-THA-ra) ≈ "guitar" is the source, through Latin and Arabic and Spanish, of the English word "guitar" and appears many times in the Bible.

• The ancient Greek word "κιθάρα" ≈ "lyre, lute".
• The Spanish word "guitarra" ≈ "guitar".
• The Latin word "cithara" ≈ "lyre, lute, guitar".
• The Arabic word "قِيثَارَة‎" (qi-ta-ra) ≈ "guitar".

In the context of his discussion on speaking in tongues, Paul uses a musical analogy in 1 Corinthians 14:7.

A harp guitar is a combination of a harp and a guitar.

One word for what appears to be a harp-like instrument is the ancient Greek word "κινύρα" ≈ "harp" which comes from the Hebrew word "כנוך" (kinnor) ≈ "wailing" which is a defective spelling of the Hebrew word "כינור" (kinnor) ≈ "wailing".

Details are left as a future topic.

In music terminology and symbology, an "anacrusis" is a pickup (unstressed) before the first strong beat of a phrase. The term is also used in poetic meter.

An anacrusis often happens at the beginning of a piece of music and is sometimes called a "pickup" phrase.

For example, the hymn "Morning has broken" has a pickup, or anacrusis, at the beginning.

The beginning phrases (and tune) of the Star-spangled banner start with an "anacrusis" (underlined)

Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light, ...

The English term "anacrusis" is from the modern Latin which is from the ancient Greek.

• The ancient Greek word "ανάκρουσις" (a-NA-kru-sees) ≈ "pushing up" which is from
• the ancient Greek word "ανακρούω" (a-na-KRU-o) ≈ "I push up".

The term has a connotation of "pushing up", "striking up" or "plucking up" (as in playing a musical instrument such as a harp). This "plucking up" or "striking up" is still used in music as in "strike up" a tune - even if there is no pickup or anacrusis at the start of the tune. There are two parts to the word "ανακρούω".

• The modern Greek prefix "ανά" (a-NA) ≈ "up".
• The modern Greek word "κρούω" (KRU-o) ≈ "I strike".

The prefix "ανακρου-" appears four times in the LXX (Septuagint), sometimes in a musical context.

The Greek prefix "κρου-" having to do with "striking" appears nine times in the GNT (Greek New Testament) and once in the LXX.

Here is the corresponding verse in Luke.

Here is the corresponding verse in Luke.

In Revelation, Jesus is knocking on the door at the church in Laodicea (model for the apostate church) asking them to open the door to let him in. The famous painting "The Light of the World" by English painter William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) has Jesus knocking on a door which has no door handle.

The door in the painting has no handle, and can therefore be opened only from the inside, representing "the obstinately shut mind" (Hunt, 1905, Wikipedia)

How many churches today do not let Jesus into their church? That is, they ignore or omit a lot of what Jesus says and only allow the part they like into their church.

There have been similar paintings on the same theme since Hunt's original work.

A perhaps more well-known modern painting is "Christ at Heart's Door" by Warner Sallman.

The progression from the original verse is that the "church" in the original letter is now a "person". Does this make a significant difference?