James 5:13

κακοπαθεῖ. See above, James 5:10.

ψαλλέτω. The word implies the accompaniment of a musical instrument. For psalmody among the Jews see Bp Lightfoot’s note on Colossians 3:16. He shews by quotation from Philo that it had reached a high development at this epoch: ποιοῦσιν ᾄσματα καὶ ὕμνους εἰς θεὸν διὰ παντοίων μέτρων καὶ μελῶν ἃ ῥυθμοῖς σεμνοτέροις�, Philo, de Vita Cont. § 3 (II. p. 476); πάννυχοι δὲ διατελέσαντες ἐν ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς, Philo in Flacc. 14 (II. p. 535). For the hymnody of the first Christians see Acts 4:24; Acts 16:25; 1 Corinthians 14:15; 1 Corinthians 14:26. It is probable that fragments of Christian hymns are to be found in the epistles, as in Ephesians 5:14 and 1 Timothy 3:16.