ANTHEM, CANTICLE
(a) Didactic poem, translated from Heb. «masquil»: attentive, giving intelligence. This term appears in the title of Ps. 32; 42; 44; Four. Five; 52; 53; 54; 55; 74; 78; 88; 89; 142.
A term from this same root is translated in Ps. 32:8: “I will make you understand.” Another meaning of masquil is “poetic meditation.”
(b) Poem, generally short, spiritual meditation capable of being sung or chanted in the worship service. The book of Psalms is the oldest collection of hymns and songs.
Among the other masterpieces of the religious poetry of Israel are the songs:
of Moses (Ex. 15:1-19; Deut. 31:30-32:1-44),
of Deborah (Judges 5),
of Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1-10),
of Mary (Luke 1:46-55),
of Zechariah (Luke 1:68-79).
Mary’s song is called Magnificat, which is the first word in its Latin translation.
The singing of Hebrew psalms and songs was frequently accompanied by music (Ex. 15:20, 21; 2 Chr. 29:27, 28 cf. 1 Chr. 16:42; Is. 38:20).
In addition to religious compositions, there are also profane songs (Gen. 31:27; Num. 21:17, 18).
The praises of God were sung, and also, at times, the deeds of men (Ps. 28:7; 1 Sam. 18:6, 7).
With singing, joy and deep emotions were expressed, or games, laughter, or even mockery were reflected (Ps. 69:13; Jb. 30:9; Lam. 3:63).
The NT speaks of three types of songs:
the psalms,
hymns and
spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).
After the Passover meal, the night he was betrayed (Mt. 26:30), Christ and his disciples sang “the hymn,” undoubtedly the Hall-lel, comprising Psalms 113-118.
The name Hal-lel comes from the Heb. translated into Spanish by Hallelujah (“praise Jehovah”). The Jews sang Hall-lel during the Passover celebration.
The first Christians sang in public worship, and privately, to express their worship of God, to edify themselves, to strengthen themselves (Acts 16:25; 1 Cor. 14:26; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16) .
The Greek meter of Eph. 5:15; 1 Ti. 3:16 (cp. Rev. 15:3, 4), has allowed us to recognize in these passages fragments of hymns sung by the first Christians.
At the beginning of the 2nd century AD, under the reign of Trajan, Pliny the Younger reports that the Christians of Bithynia sang in honor of Christ, and that they worshiped him as God (Pliny, Ep. X.96).
In the table we present you can see the extent to which the authors of the NT used ancient materials to express the new events that occurred in relation to the fulfillment of God’s purposes in Christ.
Thus, Mary’s song is a hymn that she sings to God, bringing about on her day the long-awaited fulfillment of the prophecies of the past.