A player upon the" harp" or kinor (1 Samuel 16:16; 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Samuel 19:9). Elisha called for a minstrel to withdraw his mind from the outer world, so that his spirit might be in a state to receive the divine revelation (2 Kings 3:15). Music was often so used to prepare the frame for spiritual influences (1 Samuel 10:5-11) and to soothe an evil spirit of excitement, as when David played to calm Saul. In Matthew 9:23 the "minstrels" were flute players employed as professional mourners at a funeral (Ecclesiastes 12:5; Jeremiah 9:17-20; 2 Chronicles 35:25).