Haik-Vantour The Psalmodic And The Prosodic

There are two main modes that Haik-Vantoura has discovered in her research: the Psalmodic and the Prosodic. The Psalmodic mode is mainly used in the books of Psalms, Proverbs and Job, and the Prosodic mode is mainly used in the rest of the Old Testament.
For the purpose of the following example, I will be concentrating on the Prosodic mode. The example we will look at is Exodus 10:4 “Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory.” This is seen in the Hebrew text as:

So let’s break down this verse in accordance to the three elements:

i) The Hebrew words only

ii) Vowel pointings

iii) Te’amim

Here below is the Prosodic mode with G natural and the te’amim symbols and their
names:

Please note in the prosodic mode above, that the tonic note is an E and does not start, as you would expect, on the C. So with this in mind Haïk-Vantoura mentions that the third degree (Tifha) can very well be raised from the note G natural to a G sharp. If a G natural is used this becomes the Phrygian Mode, if a G sharp is used this becomes the Phrygian Dominant mode.
So let’s take a look at a breakdown of Exodus 10:4 in the table below:

This is a score version of the above with the transliteration.

So as you can see from the te’amim, according to Haik-Vantoura’s deciphering the first te’amim marking is the note ‘D’. The singer will continue to sing the note ‘D’ on every syllable of each word until the next te’amim marking appears.
Please observe that the mode used here is the Phrygian Dominant mode. I have discovered that one of the common Jewish modes used today is the Phrygian dominant mode, which is also known as the Ahavah Rabbah mode. Incidentally, one of the most traditional Jewish songs “Havah Nagilah” uses the Ahavah Rabbah mode. This mode consists of the notes: E-F-G#-A-B-C-D-E.
Also using the same mode is a prayer and blessing recited daily, which is also called the Ahavah Rabbah prayer. The words Ahavah Rabbah means ‘great love’ and it is a blessing said to express the thanks of the people to God, the Creator, for His great love that He has shown to us. It is sung in the morning service before the Shema, which means ‘hear’ (Deut 6:4-9).
Whilst praying, the four corners of the tzitzit are gathered as they ask God to bring peace to the four corners of the earth. The tzitzit are knotted fringes found on the prayer shawl, worn in Israel in ancient times and today. These knots were spaced in a certain way which totalled up to 39 coils. This is the same numerical value as the name “Hashem Echad” meaning “God is One”. The words to the Ahavah Rabbah prayer, which is cantillated, are translated as:
“Deep is Your love for us, abiding Your compassion. We have put our trust in You, and You have taught us the laws of life. Be gracious to us so that we may understand and follow the teachings of Your word. Enlighten our eyes in Your Torah, that we may fulfill Your Mitzvot. Unite our hearts to love and respect Your name. We trust in You and rejoice in Your healing power, for You are the Source of our help. You have drawn us near to You in faithfulness. We lift up our voices and proclaim Your oneness, O God. In love, You have called us to You.”
Singing

Throughout history mankind has been singing. This is something that is inherent; it is a part of us. We like putting melody to words. Have you ever noticed that when you sing you find it easy to remember words? We can retain thousands of words once a melody is added. In fact, researchers say that the brain remembers words better when they are contained in a catchy, or memorable tune. Think of the many songs you have heard and known over the years, months or days. If you were to do a tally it may very well surprise you how many songs you actually know the words to. Our brain can store hundreds, and if we put our mind to it literally thousands, of songs in our memory ready to be retrieved at an instant. Music and singing has a formidable mnemonic ability that neuroscientists are just beginning to fathom. They are discovering that our minds are hardwired to acknowledge, sort, and recall patterns in music and singing much better than we remember patterns in just words.

But of course, God knew from the beginning that singing would help retain words, after all He created the brain. The custom of singing God’s Word is highly likely to have dated as far back as to the time of Moses. In Deuteronomy 31:19-22, God speaks to Moses and orders him to teach Israel a song so that they would not forget God. So we could say that singing today helps remind us of what God has done for us through His Son Jesus.

“Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them.” Therefore Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. (Deut 31:19-22)
There are many other references in the Bible to singing, suggesting that singing the scriptures was a common practice.
The Bible encourages us to sing many times in different situations and gives us an example of how people sang in good times and in bad times, (Acts 16:25-34, Luke 1:46-55, Exod 15:1-21, 2 Chron 20:21-22, 1 Sam 18:6-7, 2 Sam 22). However, nothing gripped more me as when I read that Jesus sang, yes Jesus sang. It can be easily overlooked. It tells us in Matthew 26:30 “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

When the Bible says ‘they’, it is referring to Jesus and His disciples. This was the time after they had taken part in the Lord’s Supper. But what amazes me is that Jesus knew that not long from then He would be betrayed, arrested, tried by Annas, tried by Caiaphas, tried by the Sanhedrin, tried by Pilate, tried by Herod and then by Pilate again. As well as this He was beaten, spat at, a crown of thorns placed on His head and He would endure a very cruel death by crucifixion, yet our Saviour sang.

When I think that Jesus knew what He was going to bare, even to the point of His sweat becoming as blood in the Garden of Gethsemane and yet He still sang; I am humbled and left in
awe. It is well acknowledged that the Last Supper was the Passover meal (Exod 12:1-30) and that the Jewish Passover liturgy included special hymns drawn from the book of Psalms (these were actually songs). These hymns were known as the Hallel meaning "praise" and consisted of Psalm 113 through to Psalm 118.

That’s not the only time that we read that Jesus sang. The Bible tells us that Jesus sang in the midst of the congregation (Hebrews 2:9-12). Also in Zephaniah 3:17 it says God “will rejoice over you with singing.”