Was Satan in charge of music in Heaven?

That thinking appears to be taught in many parts of the Christian community. The teaching comes from a verse in the Kings James and New KJ Version of the bible. 

Ezekiel 28:13 says:

You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
was prepared for you on the day you were created.

The verse starts with someone in the garden. The bible is talking about the “prince of Tyre”, though it doesn’t say it, many Christian teachers say this represents Satan in the Garden. And if it’s really Satan, then this must further point to him having all this jewelry, and since it says he had timbrels and pipes, he must be involved with music.  

Note, the words: “timbrels and pipes”. This only appears in the King James and some of the older translations. New translations use “mountings and settings” Even though “timbrels and pipes” don’t appear in new translations, let’s continue with the Kings James. 

The original Hebrew word for “timbrels”; translates to a modern tambourine. This is a plausible translation and understanding. 

Looking at the word “pipes” is different. The original Hebrew word here is “ū·nə·qā·ḇe·ḵā” and the meaning is not fully known; it only occurs this one time in Scripture. The best translated understanding is “bezel” which is a raised grooved ring used to hold jewels. A bezel is usually circular. When you blow air through a circle with a groove in it, it makes a whistling sound. 

Does that mean this bezel is used as a musical instrument, a pipe or flute? We need to look at the context to find its meaning. “Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold” The context here is jewelry, not musical instruments.

Back to the timbrel, that’s musical right? Well, is it unreasonable to suggest that people sometimes wear sparkly dangling jewels that clink when they walk? Would a king wear such lavish jewels? Yes, And that fits the context of what’s written. 

So when King James translators were translating, it appears they decided that this bezel was a pipe, rather than a jewel mounting. Theologians then continued thinking along this line by suggesting “Satan had a wind instrument and a tambourine”. But looking at the context and reviewing the translations we come up with a different meaning. One that does not detour from the original context. Jewelry, not music. Maybe this teaching needs to be reevaluated in the Christian community and introduced as “some believe” rather than “this is truth”. 

https://biblehub.com/interlinear/ezekiel/28-13.htm

If you are curious, the NIV translates this same verse:

You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
carnelian, chrysolite and emerald, topaz, onyx and jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.^[a]
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.

Thanks Meg for the Greek and Hebrew translations. :)

Thanks for reading and please leave any comments below.