The next reference to music brings us to Laban and Jacob, hundreds of years after Lamech and Jubal. It gives a glimpse into how people party. Laban asks his son-in-law Jacob,
Why did you flee secretly and trick me, and did not tell me, so that I might have sent you away with mirth and songs, with tambourine and lyre? (Genesis 31:27)
Again, hundreds of years pass. Then the tambourine features again in the next reference. The Israelites escape from Egypt when God opens a path through the Red Sea. Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, leads the women in celebration.
Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. And Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the LORD, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea.” (Exodus 15:20-21)
Here, long after Jubal, and over four centuries after Jacob, is the Bible’s first mention of music in praise of God. Are you ready for the next surprise?