King James Bible Dictionary

(1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Kings 1:40; Isaiah 5:12; 30:29). The Hebrew word halil, so rendered, means "bored through," and is the name given to various kinds of wind instruments, as the fife, flute, Pan-pipes, etc. In Amos 6:5 this word is rendered "instrument of music." This instrument is mentioned also in the New Testament (Matthew 11:17; 1 Corinthians 14:7). It is still used in Palestine, and is, as in ancient times, made of different materials, as reed, copper, bronze, etc.

A wind instrument of music.

Used in religious services
1 Samuel 10:5; Isaiah 30:29
Music, Instruments of

(Heb. chalil). The Hebrew word so rendered is derived from a root signifying "to bore, perforate" and is represented with sufficient correctness by the English "pipe" or "flute," as in the margin of (1 Kings 1:40) The pipe was the type of perforated wind instruments, as the harp was of stringed instruments. It was made of reed, bronze or copper. It is one of the simplest, and therefore probably one of the oldest, of musical Instruments. It is associated with the tabret as an instrument of a peaceful and social character. The pipe and tabret were used at the banquets of the Hebrews, (Isaiah 5:12) and accompanied the simpler religious services when the young prophets, returning from the high place, caught their inspiration from the harmony, (1 Samuel 10:5) or the pilgrims, on their way to the great festivals of their ritual, beguiled the weariness of the march with psalms sung to the simple music of the pipe. (Isaiah 30:29) The sound of the pipe was apparently a soft wailing note, which made it appropriate to be used in mourning and at funerals (Matthew 9:23) and in the lament of the prophet over the destruction of Moab. (Jeremiah 48:36) It was even used in the temple choir, as appears from (Psalms 87:7) In later times the funeral and death-bed were never without the professional pipers or flute-players, (Matthew 9:23) a custom which still exists. In the social and festive life of the Egyptians the pipe played as prominent a part as among the Hebrews.

PIPE, noun [Eng. fife.]

1. A wind instrument of music, consisting of a long tube of wood or metal; as a rural pipe The word, I believe, is not now the proper technical name of any particular instrument, but is applicable to any tubular wind instrument, and it occurs in bagpipe.

2. A long tube or hollow body; applied to the veins and arteries of the body, and to many hollow bodies, particularly such as are used for conductors of water or other fluids.

3. A tube of clay with a bowl at one end; used in smoking tobacco.

4. The organs of voice and respiration; as in windpipe.

5. The key or sound of the voice.

6. In England, a roll in the exchequer, or the exchequer itself. Hence, pipe-office is an office in which the clerk of the pipe makes out leases of crown lands, accounts of sheriffs, etc.

7. A cask containing two hogsheads or 120 gallons, used for wine; or the quantity which it contains.

8. In mining, a pipe is where the ore runs forward endwise in a hole, and does not sink downwards or in a vein.

PIPE, verb intransitive To play on a pipe fife, flute or other tubular wind instrument of music.

We have piped to you, and ye have not danced. Matthew 11:17.

1. To have a shrill sound; to whistle.

PIPE, verb transitive To play on a wind instrument. 1 Corinthians 14:7.

PI'PED, adjective Formed with a tube; tubular.

PI'PE-FISH, noun A fish of the genus Syngnathus.

PI'PER, noun One who plays on a pipe or wind instrument.

PIP'ERIDGE, noun A shrub, the berberis, or barberry.

The piperidge of New England is the nyssa villosa, a large tree with very tough wood.

PIP'ERIN, noun A concretion of volcanic ashes.

1. A peculiar crystalline substance extracted from black pepper. The crystals of piperin are transparent, of a straw color, and they assume the tetrahedral prismatic form with oblique summits.

PIPE-TREE, noun The lilac.