Jewish legend has it that the song the Israelites sang after crossing the Red Sea and seeing Pharaoh’s host overwhelmed was “the second of the nine songs that in the course of history Israel sang to their God.” The tenth and final song will be the grand paean that Israel shall raise at their final deliverance.
We print the Song at the Red Sea below, followed by two Midrashim (quoted from the Soncino translations): one explaining that God required the angels to give first place to His children in singing the song of triumph; and the other showing God as restraining the angels from singing at the escape of the Israelites, for the Egyptians, also His creation, were being drowned, and shall there be rejoicing in heaven at the downfall of any of His children?
These two Midrashim wonderfully illustrate the tension in Judaism between the particular Jewish and the universal. It is often argued whether Judaism is the one or the other; it is neither, but both.—Ed.
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Then sang Moses and the children of
Israel this song unto the Lord, and
spoke, saying:
I will sing unto the Lord, for He is highly
exalted;
The horse and his rider hath He thrown into
the sea.
The Lord is my strength and song,
And he is become my salvation;
This is my God, and I will glorify Him;
My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
The Lord is a man of war,
The Lord is His name.
Pharaoh’s chariots and his host hath He cast
into the sea,
And his chosen captains are sunk in the Red
Sea.
The deeps cover them—
They went down into the depths like a
stone.
Thy right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
Thy right hand, O Lord, dasheth in pieces
the enemy.
And in the greatness of Thine excellency
Thou overthrowest them that rise up
against Thee;
Thou sendest forth Thy wrath, it consumeth
them as stubble.
And with the blast of Thy nostrils the waters
were piled up—
The floods stood upright as a heap;
The deeps were congealed in the heart of
the sea.
The enemy said:
“I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide
the spoil;
My lust shall be satisfied upon them;
I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy
them.”
Thou didst blow with Thy wind, the sea covered
them;
They sank as lead in the mighty waters.
Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the
mighty?
Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Thou stretchedst out Thy right hand—
The earth swallowed them.
Thou in Thy love hast led the people that
Thou has redeemed;
Thou hast guided them in Thy strength to
Thy holy habitation.
The peoples have heard, they tremble;
Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of
Philistia.
Then were the chiefs of Edom affrighted;
The mighty men of Moab, trembling taketh
hold upon them;
All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted
away.
Terror and dread falleth upon them;
By the greatness of Thine arm they are as
still as a stone;
Till thy people pass over, O Lord,
Till the people pass over that Thou hast
gotten.
Thou bringest them in, and plantest them
in the mountain of Thine inheritance,
The place, O Lord, which Thou hast made
for Thee to dwell in,
The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands
have established.
The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.
For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea.
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam sang unto them:
Sing ye to the Lord, for He is highly exalted:
The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.
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Midrash Rabbah
Then Sang Moses (Exod. 15:1). It is written: The singers go before, the minstrels follow after (Ps. 58:26). R. Johanan said: When the angels desired to chant song before God on that night when Israel crossed the sea, the Holy One, blessed be He, prevented them, saying, “My legions are in distress and you wish to utter song before Me?” Hence does it say, And one came not near the other all the night, as it is written, And one called unto another and said (Isa. 6:3, in reference to the cherubim). As soon as the Israelites emerged from the sea, the angels rushed in to be the first to utter song before God, but God said: “Let my children be the first to do so.” Hence it does say, Then Sang Moses.
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Gemara
R. Joshua B. Levi cited the text: And it shall come to pass that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, so the Lord will rejoice over you to cause you to perish (Deut. 28:63). He said: Now does the Holy One, blessed be He, rejoice in the downfall of the wicked? Is it not written, “as they went out before the army, and say, Give thanks unto the Lord for his mercy endureth for ever” (II Chron. 20:21); and R. Johanan said: Why are the words “for he is good” omitted from this thanksgiving? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, does not rejoice in the downfall of the wicked? And R. Johanan further said: What is the meaning of the verse, And one came not near the other all the night (Exod. 14:20—referring to Pharaoh and Israelites at the Red Sea)? The ministering angels wanted to chant their hymns but the Holy One, blessed be He, chided them, saying, “My creatures are being drowned in the sea, and shall you chant hymns?” R. Eleazar replied: He himself does not rejoice, but He makes others rejoice. [Megillah 10b]
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