Abstract
We can find in the Old Testament mšrr “singer” and šr “singer” which both derive from the verb šr (*šyr) “to sing”. We can find Mšrr only in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. Mšrr occurs several times with the word “Levites”, and denotes a singer which belongs to the temple, especially to the Jersusalem Temple, except in Ezra 2: 65 and Neh. 7: 67, in which case we can't determine the kind of singers. On the other hand šr does not occur in specific materials. From two examples (II Sam. 19: 36; Eccl. 2: 8) which denote the “palace singers” and four examples (I Kings 10: 12; II Chron. 9: 11; II Chron. 35: 25; Ps. 68: 26) where we can't determine the kind of singers, we conclude that šr does not mean the specific type of singer but referes to a singer in general.
Why does the term mšrr occur only in the so-called Chronicler? Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles stress that there was one form in the songs and instrumental music dedicated to Yahweh which were performed in the Jerusalem Temple based on the true faith in Yahweh. The group that proclaimed that the traditional form was very important might use the term mšrr and distinguish it from the other terms which refer to the singers not based on the traditional form from their point of view.
