"Raise a song and strike the tambourine." Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba said, "The nevel (harp) is like a corpse (naveil)." Rabbi Shimon said, "The nevel is for itself, and the kinor (lyre) is for itself, and there are pegs and nails between them." Rav Huna said in the name of Rabbi Assi, "Through the leather that is not worked and through the pegs and nails."

And why is it called nevel? Because it makes all kinds of music decay. Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi Elai said, "In this world, it is through the pegs and nails (and how many pegs are there between them) that there are seven pegs in the kinor, as it says, 'Seven times a day I praise You' (Psalms 119:164). In the days of the Messiah, there will be eight, as it says, 'For the conductor, on the eighth' (Psalms 12:1). And in the future to come, there will be ten, as it says, 'On me is a decade and a nevel (harp)' (Psalms 92:4)."