The Song of the Sea (), also known as Az Yashir Moshe ( "then Moses will sing") and Mi Chamocha ( "Who is like You?"), 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 (siddurim) 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 (. It is one of only two sections of the Torah scroll written in a layout different from simple columns. The other section is the Song of Moses at the end of Deuteronomy, in the 53rd weekly portion (parashat Ha'azinu).
The poem also comprises the first hymn of the Eastern Orthodox canon, in which it is known as the Song of Moses.The Psalter According to the Seventy (1987). Boston: Holy Transfiguration Monastery. . 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.e.g. Methodist Worship Book The Christian traditions follow Revelation 15:3 by calling it the "Song of Moses" (not to be confused with the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy). Origin The Song of the Sea is noted for its archaic language, written in a form of Hebrew 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 view 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 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 (New International Version)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 waʾarōməmenhū2 "The Lord is my strength and my defense; 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 šəmō3 The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name.ūmiḇḥar šālīšāw ṭubbəʿū ḇəYam-Sūp̄4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea.təhōmōṯ yəḵasyumū yārəḏū ḇimṣōlōṯ kəmō-āḇen5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.yəmīnəḵā Aḏonāy neddārī bakkōaḥyəmīnəḵā Aḏonāy tīrʿaṣ ōyēḇ6 Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy.ūḇərōḇ gəʾōnəḵā taharōs qāmēḵātəšallaḥ ḥarōnəḵā yōḵlēmō kaqqaš7 "In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.ūḇərūaḥ appēḵā neʿermū mayim8 By the blast of your nostrils 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 assīḡaḥallēq šālāl timlāʾēmō nap̄šīārīq ḥarbī tōrīšēmō yāḏī9 The enemy boasted, ‘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 yāmṣālalū kaʿōp̄ereṯ bəmayim addīrīm10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.mī-ḵāmōḵā bāʾēlīm Aḏonāymī kāmōḵā neddār baqqōḏešnōrā ṯəhillōṯ ʿōsē p̄ele11 Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?nāṭīṯā yəmīnəḵā tiḇlāʿēmō āreṣ12 "You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies.nāḥīṯā ḇəḥasdəḵā ʿam-zū gāʾālətānēhaltā ḇəʿāzzəḵā el-nəwē qoḏəšeḵā13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.šāməʿū ʿammīm yirgāzūn ḥīl āḥaz yōšəḇē Pəlāšeṯ14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia.āz nīḇhalū allūp̄ē Ĕḏōm ēlē Mōʾāḇ yōḥazēmō rāʿaḏnāmōḡū kōl yōšəḇē Ḵənāʿan15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away;tippōl ʿalēhem ēmāṯā wāp̄aḥaḏbiḡəḏōl zərōʿaḵā yiddəmū kāʾāḇenʿaḏ-yaʿaḇōr ʿamməḵā Aḏonāy ʿaḏ-yaʿaḇōr ʿam-zū qānīṯā16 terror and dread will fall on them. 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 naḥalāṯəḵā17 You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance— the place, Lord, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.Aḏonāy yīmlōḵ ləʿōlām wāʿeḏ18 "The Lord reigns for ever and ever."kī ḇā sūs Parʿō bəriḵbō ūḇəp̄ārāšāw bayyām wayyāšeḇ Aḏonāy ʿalēhem eṯ-mē hayyām wūḆənē Yisrāʾēl hāləḵū ḇayyabbāšā bəṯōḵ hayyām19 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 wūḇimḥōlōṯ20 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 Mirəyāmšīrū lAḏonāy kī-gāʾō gāʾāsūs wərōḵəḇō rāmā ḇayyām21 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 (also called 'The Ketubah of the Seventh Day of Passover' ) 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:
(French) Étienne Moulinié. (Latin) Fernando de las Infantas. Ascanio Trombetti. Part Three of Handel's 1739 oratorio Israel in Egypt, entitled Moses' Song. (Miriam's Song of Triumph), Op. 136, D. 942 by Franz Schubert.
Some of the song features in the 1998 animated film The Prince of Egypt. The text consists of a few selected lines and paraphrases from the Hebrew text inserted in the bridge of the song "When You Believe" (before the parting and in the reprise).
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".
References
External links A collection of articles on the Song of the Sea from a Jewish perspective. at Chabad.org Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:1b-18) Reconstructed