The Hebrew word in ( 2 Kings 3:15 ) properly signifies a player upon a stringed instruments like the harp or kinnor [HARP], whatever its precise character may have been, on which David played before Saul, ( 1 Samuel 16:16 ; 18:10 ; 19:9 ) and which the harlots of the great cities used to carry with them as they walked, to attract notice. ( Isaiah 23:16 ) The "minstrels" in ( Matthew 9:23 ) were the flute-players who were employed as professional mourners, to whom frequent allusion is made. ( 2 Chronicles 35:25 ; Ecclesiastes 12:5 ; Jeremiah 9:17-20 ) [E] indicates this entry was also found in Easton's Bible Dictionary