No historical personage comes more readily to mind than the biblical King David when the word "harp" is mentioned. Yet the instrument, kinnor, translated "harp" in the King James Version of the Bible, was not a harp at all, but a lyre. The other stringed instrument David played, nevel, translated "psaltery" by the KJV, was likewise not a psaltery, and it may not have been a true harp either.