Song of the Sea
The Song of the Sea, also known as Az Yashir Moshe and Mi Chamocha, is a poem that appears in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Exodus 15:1–18. Its first two verses are repeated in verses 20 and 21, there said to be sung by Miriam and other Israelite women. The Song of the Sea was sung by the Israelites after their crossing the Red Sea in safety and celebrates their freedom after generations of slavery and oppression by the Egyptians.
The poem is included in Jewish prayer books and recited daily during Shaharit. The poem forms part of the sixteenth weekly Torah portion, parashat Beshalach. The Shabbat on which it is read is known as .
The poem also comprises the first hymn of the Eastern Orthodox canon, in which it is known as the Song of Moses. It is also used in the Catholic Church and other Christian liturgies the Easter Vigil, when the salvation history as believed by Christians is recounted. The Christian traditions follow Revelation 15:3 by calling it the "Song of Moses".
Origin
The Song of the Sea is noted for its archaic language. It is written in Hebrew that is much older than that of the rest of Exodus. Some scholars consider it the oldest surviving text describing the Exodus, dating to the pre-monarchic period. An alternative is that it was deliberately written in an archaic style, a known literary device. As such, proposed dates for its composition range from the 13th to the 5th century BCE.A study by Joshua Berman found that the Exodus sea account is an appropriation of the Poem of Pentaur on the Battle of Kadesh of Ramesses II based on a close textual analysis of both works. Berman asserts that the appropriation could have deliberate satirical intent, as part of an ideological battle with Ramesses II. Berman notes that the Kadesh illustrations also include an appearance of an Ark of the Covenant and Tabernacle, which are an Egyptian mobile altar, which traditionally were also golden boxes with winged Isis and Nephthys facing each other and a space for a god's cartouche to be seated between them.
Page layout
The Ashkar-Gilson Manuscript is a fragment of a 7th or 8th century Torah scroll that contains the Song of the Sea. Some scholars have argued that the "brickwork" pattern of the Ashkar-Gilson version shows that the Masoretes accurately copied earlier manuscripts. This pattern was not used in the Dead Sea Scrolls. A similar pattern is used in modern Torah scrolls, and the Ashkenazi and Sepharadi Torah scrolls differ from the Yemenite scrolls in the arrangement of the very last line.Text
| Masoretic Text | Transliteration | English translation |
| ' wayyōmərū lēmōr āšīrā lAḏonāy kī-ḡāʾō gāʾā, sūs wərōḵəḇō rāmā ḇayyām | 1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: "I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. | |
| ' ze ēlī wəʾanwēhū ĕlōhē āḇī waʾarōməmenhū | he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. | |
| Aḏonāy īš milḥāmā Aḏonāy šəmō | the Lord is his name. | |
| ' ūmiḇḥar šālīšāw ṭubbəʿū ḇəYam-Sūp̄ | he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. | |
| təhōmōṯ yəḵasyumū yārəḏū ḇimṣōlōṯ kəmō-āḇen | they sank to the depths like a stone. | |
| yəmīnəḵā Aḏonāy neddārī bakkōaḥ yəmīnəḵā Aḏonāy tīrʿaṣ ōyēḇ | was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy. | |
| ūḇərōḇ gəʾōnəḵā taharōs qāmēḵā təšallaḥ ḥarōnəḵā yōḵlēmō kaqqaš | you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble. | |
| ūḇərūaḥ appēḵā neʿermū mayim | the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. | |
| āmar ōyēḇ erdop̄ assīḡ aḥallēq šālāl timlāʾēmō nap̄šī ārīq ḥarbī tōrīšēmō yāḏī | ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’ | |
| nāšap̄tā ḇərūḥaḵā kissāmō yām ṣālalū kaʿōp̄ereṯ bəmayim addīrīm | and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. | |
| mī-ḵāmōḵā bāʾēlīm Aḏonāy mī kāmōḵā neddār baqqōḏeš nōrā ṯəhillōṯ ʿōsē p̄ele | is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? | |
| nāṭīṯā yəmīnəḵā tiḇlāʿēmō āreṣ | and the earth swallows your enemies. | |
| nāḥīṯā ḇəḥasdəḵā ʿam-zū gāʾālətā nēhaltā ḇəʿāzzəḵā el-nəwē qoḏəšeḵā | the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling. | |
| šāməʿū ʿammīm yirgāzūn ḥīl āḥaz yōšəḇē Pəlāšeṯ | anguish will grip the people of Philistia. | |
| āz nīḇhalū allūp̄ē Ĕḏōm ēlē Mōʾāḇ yōḥazēmō rāʿaḏ nāmōḡū kōl yōšəḇē Ḵənāʿan | the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away; | |
| tippōl ʿalēhem ēmāṯā wāp̄aḥaḏ biḡəḏōl zərōʿaḵā yiddəmū kāʾāḇen ʿaḏ-yaʿaḇōr ʿamməḵā Aḏonāy ʿaḏ-yaʿaḇōr ʿam-zū qānīṯā | By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone— until your people pass by, Lord, until the people you bought pass by. | |
| təḇīʾēmō wəṯīṭṭāʿēmō bəhar naḥalāṯəḵā ' | on the mountain of your inheritance— the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established. | |
| Aḏonāy yīmlōḵ ləʿōlām wāʿeḏ | for ever and ever." | |
| kī ḇā sūs Parʿō bəriḵbō ūḇəp̄ārāšāw bayyām wayyāšeḇ Aḏonāy ʿalēhem eṯ-mē hayyām wūḆənē Yisrāʾēl hāləḵū ḇayyabbāšā bəṯōḵ hayyām | 19 When Pharaoh's horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. | |
| wattīqqaḥ Mīrəyām hannəḇīʾā aḥōṯ Aharōn eṯ-hattōp̄ bəyāḏā wattēṣenā ḵāl-hannāšīm aḥarēhā bəṯuppīm wūḇimḥōlōṯ | 20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron's sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. | |
| wattaʿan lāhem Mirəyām šīrū lAḏonāy kī-gāʾō gāʾā sūs wərōḵəḇō rāmā ḇayyām | 21 Miriam sang to them: Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea. |
Ketuba of the Seventh Day of Pesach
The Ketubá del Seten Diya de Pesah is a liturgical poem in Ladino, describing Pharaoh's defeat in the Sea of Reeds. Most Jewish communities sing this poem on 21 Nisan, the seventh day of Passover. According to Jewish tradition, this is the day on which Pharaoh's army was drowned in the Sea of Reeds, and the Israelite people sang the Song of the Sea in gratitude for this victory.Presumably, this text is called a ketuba 'marriage contract' because the relationship between God and the Jewish people is traditionally described as a marriage, and the splitting of the sea is considered to be an important event leading to that marriage, which ultimately took place 42 days later, at Mount Sinai.
A tune for the Ladino poem along with the entire text itself can be found in Isaac Levy's Anthology of Sepharadic Hazzanut.
Musical settings
In Hebrew Cantillation, the Song is given a unique, festive tune, not bound to the ordinary trope marks.The following settings exist for the Song of the Sea:
- Cantique de Moïse Étienne Moulinié.
- Canticum Moysis Fernando de las Infantas.
- Cantemus Domino Ascanio Trombetti.
- Part Three of Handel's 1739 oratorio Israel in Egypt, entitled Moses' Song.
- Mirjams Siegesgesang, Op. 136, D. 942 by Franz Schubert.
Portions of the song are paraphrased in both of the melodic and textual variations of the popular African-American gospel music song, "O Mary Don't You Weep".