And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for so was the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.

And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps according to the regulation of David the king, and of Gad the seer, and of Nathan the prophet: for it was the commandment of the Lord by the hand of his prophets.

And he set the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with lutes, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the commandment was of Jehovah through his prophets.

And he appointeth the Levites in the house of Jehovah with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, by the command of David, and of Gad, seer of the king, and of Nathan the prophet, for by the hand of Jehovah is the command, by the hand of His prophets;

Then he put the Levites in their places in the house of the Lord, with brass and corded instruments of music as ordered by David and Gad, the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for the order was the Lord's, given by his prophets.

Also, he situated the Levites in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, according to the disposition of king David, and of the seer Gad, and of the prophet Nathan. For indeed, this was the precept of the Lord, by the hand of his prophets.

With cymbals, with psalteries - Moses had not appointed any musical instruments to be used in the divine worship; there was nothing of the kind under the first tabernacle. The trumpets or horns then used were not for song nor for praise, but as we use bells, i.e., to give notice to the congregation of what they were called to perform, etc. But David did certainly introduce many instruments of music into God's worship, for which we have already seen he was solemnly reproved by the prophet Amos, Amos 6:1-6. Here, however, the author of this book states he had the commandment of the prophet Nathan, and Gad the king's seer; and this is stated to have been the commandment of the Lord by his prophets: but the Syriac and Arabic give this a different turn - "Hezekiah appointed the Levites in the house of the Lord, with instruments of music, and the sound of harps, and with the Hymns of David, and the Hymns of Gad, the king's prophet, and of Nathan, the king's prophet: for David sang the praises of the Lord his God, as from the mouth of the prophets." It was by the hand or commandment of the Lord and his prophets that the Levites should praise the Lord; for so the Hebrew text may be understood: and it was by the order of David that so many instruments of music should be introduced into the Divine service. But were it even evident, which it is not, either from this or any other place in the sacred writings, that instruments of music were prescribed by Divine authority under the law, could this be adduced with any semblance of reason, that they ought to be used in Christian worship? No: the whole spirit, soul, and genius of the Christian religion are against this: and those who know the Church of God best, and what constitutes its genuine spiritual state, know that these things have been introduced as a substitute for the life and power of religion; and that where they prevail most, there is least of the power of Christianity. Away with such portentous baubles from the worship of that infinite Spirit who requires his followers to worship him in spirit and in truth, for to no such worship are those instruments friendly. See the use of the trumpets in the sanctuary, Numbers 10:2 (note), etc., and the notes there.

And he set the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet: for [so was] the (l) commandment of the LORD by his prophets.
(l) This thing was not appointed by man, but it was the commandment of God.

And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with psalteries, and with harps,.... To play upon, which were the three principal instruments of music used in religious worship, and what had been disused in the times of Ahaz:
according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king's seer, and Nathan the prophet; this sort of music was not commanded by the law of Moses, but was directed to by David under a divine influence, and was approved of by the prophets of the Lord here mentioned:
for so was the commandment of the Lord by his prophets; the Targum is,"for by the Word of the Lord was the commandment by the hand of the prophets.''

Hezekiah, moreover, restored again the music with which the Levites were wont to accompany the sacrificial act, and which David, with the prophets Gad and Nathan, had arranged. The ו consec. with ויּעמד expresses the secution of thought, and 2-Chronicles 29:25 corresponds to the 2-Chronicles 29:21. First, the beasts to be sacrificed were prepared for the sacrifice, and then to the Levites was committed the performance of instrumental and vocal music during the sacrificial act. In reference to the musical instruments, see on 1-Chronicles 15:16. The Levites were appointed to sing, "according to the command of David;" but this command was בּיד, by interposition of Jahve, viz., given by His prophets. David had consequently made this arrangement at the divine suggestion, coming to him through the prophets. With המּלך הזה cf. 1-Chronicles 21:9. נביאיו בּיד is in explanatory apposition to יהוה בּיד, and נביאיו is not to be referred to David, although David is called in 2-Chronicles 8:14 "man of God."