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The Song of the Sea (Hebrew: שירת הים, Shirat HaYam; also known as Az Yashir Moshe and Song of Moses, or Mi Chamocha) is a poem that appears in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible, at Exodus 15:1–18. It is followed in verses 20 and 21 by a much shorter song sung by Miriam and the other women. The Song of the Sea was reputedly 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 in the morning shacharit services. The poem also comprises the first ode or hymn of the Eastern Orthodox canon, where it is known as the Song or Ode of Moses. It is also used in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and other Christian liturgies at the Easter Vigil when the history of salvation is recounted. These traditions follow Revelation 15:3 by calling it the "Song of Moses" (not to be confused with the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy).

In Judaism, the poem forms part of the sixteenth weekly Torah portion, or parshat Beshalach. The Sabbath on which it is read is known as Sabbath of the Song (שבת שירה). It is one of only two sections of the Sefer Torah (Torah scroll) that is written with a different layout from the normal simple columns. The other section written differently is the Song of Moses at the end of Deuteronomy, in the 53rd weekly portion, or parshat Ha'azinu.

Origin

The Song of the Sea is noted for its archaic language. It is written in a style 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 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 Rabbi 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

Ketuba of the Seventh Day of Pesah

The Ketubá del Seten Dia de Pesah (or כתובה ליום השביעי של פסח – Ketuba Le-yom Ha-shebi`i shel 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 Mt. 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

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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 (French) Étienne Moulinié.
• Canticum Moysis (Latin) Fernando de las Infantas.
• Cantemus Domino Ascanio Trombetti.
• Part Three of Handel's 1739 oratorio Israel in Egypt, entitled Moses' Song.
• Mirjams Siegesgesang (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

1. The Psalter According to the Seventy (1987). Boston: Holy Transfiguration Monastery. ISBN 0-943405-00-9.
2. e.g. Methodist Worship Book
3. Russell, Brian D. (2007). The Song of the Sea: The Date of Composition and Influence of Exodus 15:1-21. Peter Lang. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-8204-8809-7.
4. Russell, Stephen C. (2009). Images of Egypt in Early Biblical Literature. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 142–143, 145. ISBN 9783110221718.
5. Thomas B. Dozeman (2009). Exodus. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 331. ISBN 978-0-8028-2617-6.
6. Wong, Gregory T.K. (2007). "Song of Deborah as Polemic". Biblica. 88 (1): 1–22. ISSN 0006-0887. JSTOR 42614746.
7. Berman, J. (2017). "." 'The Exodus Sea Account (Exod 13:17–15:19) in Light of the Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II'
8. Hess, Richard (2016). The Old Testament: A Historical, Theological, and Critical Introduction. Baker Academic. p. 10. ISBN 9781493405732.
9. The World's Greatest Book: The Story of How the Bible Came to Be. Museum of the Bible. 19 September 2017. p. 152. ISBN 9781945470561. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
10. The Last Two Lines of Shirat Hayam. YK Sofer Blog. 18 July 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
11. Levy, Isaac (1965). Antologiya shel Hazzanut Sefaradit [Anthology of Sepharadic Hazzanut]. Vol. Three Pilgrimage Festivals. p. 409, #335.
12. "YUTorah Online - The Shirah Melody in the Ashkenazic and Sephardic Traditions (Cantor Macy Nulman)". www.yutorah.org. 20 August 2006. Retrieved 2021-03-15.

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

• Crossing the Red Sea
• Canticles
• Documentary hypothesis
• Jewish prayer and ritual texts
• Pesukei dezimra
• Siddurim of Orthodox Judaism
• Jewish poetry
• Moses
• Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings