Greek word · G834
αὐλητής
aulētēs
flute player
A player of the aulos (αὐλός). The aulos was a reed pipe, usually played as a pair, and sounded much more like a shrill oboe or bagpipe chanter than a modern flute. Across the Greek and Jewish world it was played at weddings, banquets, sacrifices and funerals.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·
What it means
From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Matthew 9:23
- Range of meaning
A player of the aulos (αὐλός). The aulos was a reed pipe, usually played as a pair, and sounded much more like a shrill oboe or bagpipe chanter than a modern flute. Across the Greek and Jewish world it was played at weddings, banquets, sacrifices and funerals. At a death it supplied the dirge, the sung lament for the dead.
- Against the English
KJV and YLT have 'minstrels.' BSB, WEB, ESV and NASB have 'flute players.' NIV and NLT move toward 'pipes' or 'funeral music.' 'Minstrel' suggests a medieval wandering entertainer. 'Flute' suggests a soft silver concert instrument. Neither picture fits a hired funeral piper playing a penetrating reed pipe.
- How it drifted
'Minstrels' goes back to the sixteenth-century English Bibles (Tyndale, Geneva, then KJV), when the word still meant hired musicians in general. Today it brings to mind troubadours or nineteenth-century 'minstrel shows.' 'Flute' is the conventional dictionary gloss for aulos, but the modern instrument has a very different sound and image.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Mishnah Ketubbot 4:4 (Rabbi Judah): 'Even the poorest man in Israel should hire not less than two pipes and one wailing woman' for his wife's funeral. Josephus, Jewish War 3.437: when the false report of Josephus' death reached Jerusalem, 'many hired pipers, who led their dirges.' In Jeremiah 48:36 the prophet's heart 'wails like pipes' (Hebrew ḥalilim, Greek auloi) for Moab. Revelation 18:22 lists pipers among the sounds of a living city that fall silent.
From the study of Revelation 18:22
- Range of meaning
A player of the aulos, a reed-pipe usually played in pairs, one pipe in each hand. Its reedy, piercing sound was closer to an oboe or bagpipe chanter than to a modern flute. Aulos players were hired for drinking parties, weddings, sacrifices, processions and funerals.
- Against the English
'Flute players' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB) or 'pipers' (KJV, NIV). 'Pipers' is closer to the instrument.
- How it drifted
Older English used 'flute' loosely for any wind pipe. Today it calls up the silver orchestral flute, which sounds nothing like an aulos.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Matthew 9:23 has hired aulētai at the house of Jairus's dead daughter. Josephus (Jewish War 3.437) describes many people hiring pipers to lead dirges in Jerusalem after Jotapata fell. The Mishnah (Ketubbot 4:4) says even the poorest Israelite should hire at least two pipes and one wailing woman for a wife's funeral. Pipes were equally standard at Greco-Roman banquets and at pagan sacrifices.
Where it appears
Matthew · 1
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Matthew 9:23 αὐλητὰς flute players
When Jesus entered the house of the synagogue leader, He saw the flute players and the noisy crowd.
Here: Players of the aulos, a reed pipe with a piercing tone, hired for funerals. Their presence shows that the family had already accepted the death and had begun formal public mourning.
Revelation · 1
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Revelation 18:22 αὐλητῶν flute players
And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will never ring out in you again. Nor will any craftsmen of any trade be found in you again, nor the sound of a millstone be heard in you again.
Here: Players of the aulos, a double reed-pipe with a sharp, carrying tone. They played at banquets, weddings, sacrifices and funerals.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.