Shigionoth Music

Shigionoth,The prophet Habakkuk introduces his closing song this way: “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.”

Actually, a prayer set to music, according to Habakkuk 3:1. The shigionoth mentioned in Habakkuk 3:1 could be a reference to the content of the poem, the accompanying instrument, or to the song’s meter, its musical setting, or its tone. the word shigionoth carries the idea of “strong emotion,” “erratic wandering,” or “wild tumult.” Thus, the song was composed as a dithyramb (a vehement, impassioned poem).

Habakkuk 3 speaks of earthquakes, crumbling mountains, pestilence, floods, arrows, spears, and calamity; Psalm 7 describes vicious lions, trampled lives, rage, swords, flaming arrows, and violence. Both songs end with praise to the Lord for His deliverance from the surrounding trouble. And both songs mention the shiggaion or shigionoth.

The song should be sung “with impassioned triumph,” “with rapidity,” or “with abrupt changes of tune.”