Sackbut

The sackbut belongs to the orchestra summoned to signal worship before Nebuchadnezzar's golden image in Daniel 3. UPDV renders the Aramaic instrument-name as lyre, slotted between harp and psaltery in the orchestral list. The instrument appears only inside that one chapter, named four times across the herald's edict, the people's compliance, the accusation against the three Hebrews, and the king's final ultimatum.

The Herald's Edict

The orchestra is named first in the herald's command at the opening of the test: "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). The lyre stands fourth in a six-instrument list, with the catch-all "all kinds of music" closing the inventory. The instrument-roster is set as the cue, and falling-down-and-worship is set as the prescribed response.

The Compliance of the Peoples

The same instrument-list is repeated as the peoples obey. "Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, lyre, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up" (Dan 3:7). The lyre keeps its fourth-position slot inside the orchestral cue.

The Accusation Against the Three

When the accusers come before the king to denounce the three Hebrews, they replay the king's decree back to him in the same instrument-language. "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). The orchestral list is reused verbatim as the legal hinge of the accusation.

The King's Final Ultimatum

The fourth and last sounding of the orchestra comes inside Nebuchadnezzar's personal ultimatum to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. "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). The instrument-cue is restated one more time, and the alternative — the burning fiery furnace — is named directly. The sackbut / lyre falls silent in the chapter after this verse.