Dulcimer

The dulcimer appears only in Daniel 3, in the recurring catalogue of instruments that signal the moment of forced worship before Nebuchadnezzar's golden image. The word stands at the end of the named instruments, just before the catch-all "all kinds of music."

The signal to bow before the image

The herald announces the rule of the dedication: "that at what time you⁺ hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you⁺ fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up" (Dan 3:5). When the accusers bring word that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have refused, they repeat the catalogue back to the king: "You, O king, have made a decree, that every man who will hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, will fall down and worship the golden image" (Dan 3:10). Nebuchadnezzar gives the three a last chance in the same words, attaching the threat: "Now if you⁺ are ready that at what time you⁺ hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, you⁺ fall down and worship the image which I have made, [well]: but if you⁺ don't worship, you⁺ will be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god who will deliver you⁺ out of my hands?" (Dan 3:15).