In the only places of the New Testament where this word occurs, it is connected with two others of very similar import. 'Speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord' (; ). It has been conjectured that by 'psalms and hymns' the poetical compositions of the Old Testament are chiefly to be understood, and that the epithet 'spiritual,' here applied to 'songs,' is intended to mark those devout effusions which resulted from the spiritual gifts granted to the primitive church; yet in a production of the latter class is called 'a psalm.' Josephus, it may be remarked, uses the terms 'hymns' and 'songs,' in reference to the Psalms of David (Antiq. vii. 12. 3). Our information respecting the hymnology of the first Christians is extremely scanty; the most distinct notice we possess of it is that contained in Pliny's celebrated Epistle (Ep. x. 97): 'They sing a hymn to Christ as God.'
The hymn which our Lord sung with his disciples at the Last Supper is generally supposed to have been the latter part of the Hallel, or series of psalms which were sung by the Jews on the night of the Passover, comprehending Psalms 113-118; Psalms 113, 114 being sung before, and the rest after the Passover.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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