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From: nmartola@ra.abo.fi (Nils Martola EXG)
Newsgroups: comp.text.tex
Subject: Re: Can someone tell me what NABLA means?
Summary: NABLA is one of the Greek equivalences to the Hebrew nevel
Message-ID: <334@ra.abo.fi>
Date: 19 Aug 90 13:09:02 GMT
References: <993@barsoom.nhh.no> <1380006@gore.com>
Organization: Abo Academy, Finland
Lines: 31

In article <1380006@gore.com>, jacob@gore.com (Jacob Gore) writes:
> / lowj_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (John "Travis" Low) / Aug 17, 1990 /
> > "The symbol [insert nabla here] (read, "del") is an inverted delta. In
> > older books this symbol is sometimes called a "nabla" because of its
> > similarity in form to an ancient Hebrew ten-stringed harp of that name."
> > 
> > I attempted to verify this with some references I have around the house,
> > but I couldn't find anything. Sounds semi-plausible, though.
> 
> From Davidson's _The Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon_, under
> "n\'evel", meaning 3: "a musical instrument, perhaps so called from its
> shape [meanings 1 and 2 are "bottle" and "jar"--J]; generally considered to
> have been a kind of lute".  (I don't see any forms that could be pronounced
> "nabla" or "navla" that can be used as nouns...)
> 
> Jacob
> --
> Jacob Gore		Jacob@Gore.Com			boulder!gore!jacob

The short summary tells it all; in the Hebrew Bible there are 
some occurrences of the word _nevel_, which refer to a musical instrument 
used in liturgic as well as in profane occasions (cf. for instance 1Sam
10,3; 2Sam 6,5; Amos 5,23; 6,5; Is 5,12; 14,11).  It is commonly assumed
that the instrument is a kind of harp or psalterion.  The old Greek
translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint) uses different words for
_nevel_; in some instances (e.g. 1Sam 10,3; 2Sam 6,5) no translation
at all is given, but a _transliteration_, that is NABLA.

Nils Martola
nmartola@ra.abo.fi (Internet)