[Translation: EF/Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses. —Admin1]
This is from Torah for Dummies by Arthur Kurzweil:
As the Pharaoh’s horse came into the Red Sea and the Egyptians drowned, Moses and the Israelites sang a song together known as Shirat Ha Yam (sheer-aht ha yahm; the Song at the Sea). The song commemorates the miracle of the Israelites’ escape from Egypt’s armies through the divided sea. The song appears in the standard Jewish Prayer book and has become a part of the daily liturgy. . . . It’s interesting to see the way in which a Torah scribe writes the verses of this song in the Torah scroll. The verses are set up to look like a brick wall. Remember that there are strict and exact laws for writing a Torah. In the case of the Song at the Sea, it must be written in 30 lines exactly the way it has been written since the beginning of the writing of the Torah scrolls. [Image is from: Images for Torah scroll about Song of the Sea– Report images]
Shemoth 15
1 Then sang Moshe and the Children of Israel this song to YHVH, they uttered (this) utterance: I will sing to YHVH, for he has triumphed, yes, triumphed, the horse and its charioteer he flung into the sea! 2 My fierce-might and strength is YAH, he has become deliverance for me. This is my God-I honor him, the God of my father-I exalt him. 3 YHVH is a man of war, YHVH is his name! 4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he hurled into the sea, his choicest teams-of-three sank in the Sea of Reeds.5 Oceans covered them, they went down in the depths like a stone. 6 Your right-hand, O YHVH, majestic in power, your right-hand, O YHVH, shattered the enemy.
7 In your great triumph you smashed your foes, you sent forth your fury, consumed them like chaff.
8 By the breath of your nostrils the waters piled up, the gushing-streams stood up like a dam, the oceans congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 Uttered the enemy: I will pursue, overtake, and apportion the plunder, my greed will be filled
on them, my sword I will draw, my hand-dispossess them! 10 You blew with your breath, the sea covered them, they plunged down like lead in majestic waters. 11 Who is like you among the gods, O YHVH! who is like you, majestic among the holy-ones, Feared-one of praises, Doer of Wonders! 12 You stretched out your right-hand, the Underworld swallowed them.
13 You led in your faithfulness your people redeemed, guided (them) in your fierce-might to your holy pasture.
14 The peoples heard, they shuddered; writhing seized Philistia’s settlers,
15 and then, terrified, Edom’s chieftains, Moav’s “rams”- trembling did seize them; then melted away all Canaan’s settlers.
16 There fell upon them dread and anguish; before your arm’s greatness they grew dumb like stone.
ArtScroll Tanach comment: Nations will be unsettled by the coming of the [Israelites], but for different reasons.
- The Philistines had massacred large numbers of the tribe of Ephraim, who had left Egypt prematurely on the mistaken notion that the time of the redemption had arrived. Thus, the Philistines feared that they would be the objects of revenge.
- Ammon and Moab had no reason to fear, since their lands were not part of Eretz Yisrael — in fact, the [Israelites] would later be commanded not to attack them —but their hatred of Israel was so great that they could not tolerate the idea that the nation would be independent in its own land.
- The Canaanites had reason to melt, for they were about to be displaced. Those who were far felt fear; but those who were closer were in greater danger and therefore felt terror. (Rashi)
18 Let YHVH be king for the ages, eternity!
19 For Pharaoh’s horses came with (their) chariots and riders into the sea, but YHVH turned back the sea’s waters upon them, and the Children of Israel went upon the dry-land through the midst of the sea.
20 Now Miryam the prophetess, Aharon’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her, with timbrels and with dancing.
21 Miryam chanted to them: Sing to YHVH, for he has triumphed, yes, triumphed, the horse and its charioteer he flung into the sea!
Arthur Kurzweil in Torah for Dummies notes:
After the Song at the Sea appears in the Torah, Miriam the sister of Moses and Aaron is mentioned by name for the first time. The Torah says that “Miriam took a drum in her hand, and all the women followed her with drums and dancing” (Exodus 15:20). According to Torah commentators, Miriam’s drum was more like a tambourine or a timbrel.
22 Moshe had Israel move on from the Sea of Reeds, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They traveled through the wilderness for three days, and found no water.23 They came to Mara, but they could not drink water from Mara, because it was mar/bitter. Therefore they called its name Mara.
24 The people grumbled against Moshe, saying: What are we to drink?
25 He cried out to YHVH, and YHVH directed him (to some) wood which he threw into the water, and the water became sweet.- There he imposed law and judgment for them, and there he tested them.
26 He said: If you will hearken, yes, hearken to the voice of YHVH your God, and what is right in his eyes will do, giving-ear to his commandments and keeping all his laws: all the sicknesses which I have imposed upon Egypt, I will not impose upon you; for I am YHVH, your healer.
S6K: At this point and even on the night of Passover, the Israelites had no more reason NOT to listen to the VOICE of YHWH who had proven to them that HE was indeed their ‘Elohiym and had brought them this far, having witnessed miracle after miracle that demonstrated HIS power over Egypt’s non-gods as well as over the forces of nature.
As early as this time, no longer slaves physically but probably still enslaved in their mentality, it was not easy to suddenly shed a lifetime of bondage and start acting like freedmen overnight. Evidently, their liberation from Egypt only meant they would be serving another MASTER, albeit a benevolent one with a divine agenda set for them in preparation for His ultimate plan for mankind.
The gradual self-disclosure of this God who revealed His name as YHWH through His redemptive acts for this people should make any human bow down in awe and listen intently to His commands. As early as this time, before the giving of TORAH on Sinai, what commands were known to them to obey?
- For one, listen to the Voice of YHWH;
- for another, do what is right;
- and give ear to His commands,
- and keep all His appointments.
Out of Egypt and in the wilderness where a slave was now free to give his allegiance to his Liberator, what was so difficult about obeying when their very survival depended on this God? They were completely under His protection and care; His providence had been clearly demonstrated. What was so difficult about recognizing that this YHWH was unlike all other gods of human imagination, certainly unlike the gods of Egypt? Had He failed them so far? And yet, here comes another infamous blight on the record of these newly liberated slaves, as if their Egyptian masters could even compare in providing for their very needs.
(Of course it is easy to judge others in hindsight, knowing what we know today . . . in their shoes, we might have acted exactly the same way.)
27 They came to Elim; there were twelve springs of water and seventy palms, and they camped there by the water.
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