"Beside their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven: and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women" (Ezra 2:65).You could start with Ezra 2:65, which records 200 male and female Levitical singers returning from the exile. Psalm 68:25 for women playing tambourines in a worship context in the temple.
John Gill:
"Besides their servants and their maids, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred thirty and seven,.... This shows that the greater part of those that returned were of the poorer sort, since there were so few servants that belonged unto them; these came not into the above account:
"and there were among them two hundred singing men and singing women; among the servants, who were kept by persons of figure for their pleasure and recreation, see Ecclesiastes 2:8, for that these were such as were employed in sacred service is not so clear, especially the latter, though some conclude it from 1 Chronicles 25:5, but rather they were such as were employed at marriages, festivals, and funerals; though Jarchi thinks they were employed by the returning captives, to make them cheerful as they travelled along."
Every account of Levites appointed for song and the playing of instruments indicate males, and the sons of males. So as to the 1 Chronicles 25:5 passage Dr. Gill mentions:
vs. 25: All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
vs. 26: All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king's order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.
It seems the "all these" in verse 26 should naturally be taken to refer to the afore-mentioned sons.
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